Mature Animation Targeted at Children

We've disguised before in class that animation doesn't have to be for kids, that mature adult stories can be told and this is celebrated, as it should be. But this has gotten me thinking about a problem that has been growing online.

See as we all know parents, despite the growth of animated series and movies coming out for more mature audiences, still see animation as a safe medium intended for children. We saw this similarly for super hero films where parents tried to take their kids to see Deadpool despite the rating... and the trailers? I digress, parents can be ignorant, but even the more diligent parents are getting tricked and mislead by disturbing online videos. Animated videos (and also live action) with disturbing visuals hiding behind the likeness of Mickey Mouse, Elsa, Spiderman and other highly searched for children's characters on youtube. As the video explains youtube's algorithm and the autoplay button can eventually lead children from watching a harmless letters and numbers video to very disturbing content.

One question he poses is who's behind it, what's there intent? Are these trolls? Is it compiled by a computer, or is there some malicious intent behind this? It's an issue that many are only just becoming aware of. Handing your child a tablet to keep them quite and giving them little over site while on websites like youtube can leave them unprotected from some serious trauma.

As much of this is largely animated I wanted to see what you all thought: Were you aware of this issue? How do you think we got to this point? Who might be making these videos? And how are the families you know trying to combat this?


Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 17, 2018 at 11:38 PM

    These babies are horrifying. The fact algorithms, and even people, generate such tainted and money grabbing content is really disheartening. Adsense from these videos should be regarded as cursed blood gold.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bratz: Rock Angelz is the movie I didn't know I needed

Image
This weekend, I watched the hit 2005 animated movie Bratz: Rock Angelz. This movie was one of the first Bratz films in CGI, and let me tell you- the plot is ALL OVER THE PLACE. The girls start a fashion magazine and use stolen passes to get into hot London punk clubs, but when they lose their passes they decide that the only way to get into the gig is to become a rock band? This movie can be considered capitalist propaganda- the Bratz shop in order to destress about their problems, and it's an implemental part of their lives. They don't have jobs either- Jade has an internship, but only for three hours until she is fired. Chloe meets a TRASH British prince and ignores her best friend Yasmin who finds celebrity judge Byron Powell's (I don't make this stuff up) dog, Ozzy. Jade and Sasha try to do a photo shoot for the magazine, but Sasha micromanages the whole thing and makes her friend feel bad! And this whole time, there's these two evil blond twins (Kaley Cuoco PLA
Read more

Does Animation Have to Make You Laugh?

Something that I have taken note of lately is how you barely ever find any mainstream animation that doesn't have some semblance of comedy integrated into it. For example, when was the last time you saw a Disney movie that didn't make you laugh (or at least try to)? And when was the last time you saw an adult cartoon that wasn't making a joke every 10 seconds. My point is, mainstream animation has seemed to simplify itself into a single tone: Comedic. Even in the films that are primarily covering serious topics there is typically a comic relief character to add some lighthearted fun to the film. But do all films need this? Is it necessary for all animation to try and entertain us in the exact same way? My answer is no and I wish that more animation studios and their production companies would realize this. One thing I don't think many people realize is that animation can be lighthearted without being funny. When I say you don't have to be funny all the time, that
Read more

She-ra is my new favorite gay icon

She-ra is a Netflix original spinoff of the he-man franchise. I was never a fan of the original show, but I thought I'd check she-ra out and I'm glad I did. It's a fun show, and I wish we had more like it when we were kids. It's one of the few kids shows where women outnumber men in the lead cast, and there's so much gay but it's not like "woah look at all this gay!" It's a lot more subtle, and I think that's great. Of course, there are more seasons to come, but I'm glad that the first one showed as much restraint as it did. I feel like if we treat LGBT people as special, it'll only perpetuate the idea that they're something "other" than straight people. It's important that our pop culture reflects the idea that gay people are just, you know, people. Take all that with a grain of salt though, I'm a straight cis white guy. I just wanted to start a conversation.
Read more