Cynical vs. Sincere/Radical
In class we talked about this topic of categorizing animated films by those which are cynical and those which are intended to spark some change or conversation. I think this is one of the most important divisions in animation and that any kind of animation for adults can be placed in these two categories. With cynical animations such as Celebrity Deathmatch, the artists are purely trying to poke fun at something just for the sake of doing so. Often, the subjects of these films are pop culture, and I think they provide an important role in creating a sub or counter culture movement. However with films such as Persepolis, the artists are obviously trying to do something different than poke fun at pop-culture. They are trying to make a comment on something in society and hopefully direct some sort of change out of it. Neither of these two types of animation are necessarily better or worse as they both provide important roles in the world of adult animation, but I think there is an important distinction here.
I think that the categorization of these two types of films seems debatable to me. "Cynical" usually refers to something that is self-centered or only interested in itself. I think that this doesn't necessarily apply to these films such as Celebrity Deathmatch, because even films that seem to be just "poking fun" often have a secondary layer of meaning. Well, that can be said for pretty much anything but I find that if you take something such as a fart joke from south park, used in the right context it can provide for a different meaning. Just a different perspective that I was thinking about.
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