I am entering the world of cartoon obsession slowly with Wee 'Burb. At 19 months, she doesn't have much of an attention span, though she will come crawling as fast as she can when any of the following theme songs come on: Elmo's World, Bubble Guppies, and The Simpsons (what? She doesn't know the difference). And since my roommate introduced her to Elmo on YouTube, she just shouts "ELMO" at every computer she sees. So I can see the obsession building.
Recently, Shine waxed nostalgic about the best and worst cartoon heroines for our daughters.
Thankfully, one of my FAVORITES made the good girl list. Jem! Jem! She's truly outrageous, truly truly outrageous!
Here's what Shine says about our girl Jem:
If your daughters have never seen Jem, she may be worth an introduction. For a cartoon, she's one heck of a woman. Not only does Jem front an arena rock band, she's a big-time music producer—a rarity in the real-life male dominated industry. Jem also runs a non-profit foundation that supports foster kids, 12 of whom live with her and the Holograms at their sweet pad.
So who made the worst list? Wilma from The Flinstones was billed as an abuse survivor. Tinkerbell was written off as the nymph she is. And did you guys know this about Smurfette??!!
Totally true cartoon backstory of how the only lady Smurf (until 2008) came into being: evil Gargamel created her from clay to sabotage the pleasant, woman-free (they probably call it 'smurfy') way of life in Smurf Village. When she was found out as nothing but a two-bit seductress, she was shamed in Smurf court. Papa Smurf, kind-hearted leader or lecherous, racist tyrant depending on your outlook, took pity on her and broke the spell Gargamel used to create her. Here's where she gets even worse: once Papa removed her dark powers, her brown, frizzy her turned to blond, wavy locks. Also her flats became heels. And her white dress got embellishments.
I thought she was just slightly slutty in her smurfy way! I had no idea she came with a back story.
So let's talk cartoons, people. What should I allow my kiddo to watch? What do you remember about your childhood cartoons? I recently introduced Wee 'Burb to Fraggle Rock and she loves it. I'm scared to find out the back stories of some of those! Especially since I am convinced Trash Heap is Edna Garrett in trash form. Do you even care about role models, or is it just a good way to keep them quiet for a few mintues so you can pee?
Recently, Shine waxed nostalgic about the best and worst cartoon heroines for our daughters.
Thankfully, one of my FAVORITES made the good girl list. Jem! Jem! She's truly outrageous, truly truly outrageous!
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| Source: Wikipedia |
Here's what Shine says about our girl Jem:
If your daughters have never seen Jem, she may be worth an introduction. For a cartoon, she's one heck of a woman. Not only does Jem front an arena rock band, she's a big-time music producer—a rarity in the real-life male dominated industry. Jem also runs a non-profit foundation that supports foster kids, 12 of whom live with her and the Holograms at their sweet pad.
So who made the worst list? Wilma from The Flinstones was billed as an abuse survivor. Tinkerbell was written off as the nymph she is. And did you guys know this about Smurfette??!!
Totally true cartoon backstory of how the only lady Smurf (until 2008) came into being: evil Gargamel created her from clay to sabotage the pleasant, woman-free (they probably call it 'smurfy') way of life in Smurf Village. When she was found out as nothing but a two-bit seductress, she was shamed in Smurf court. Papa Smurf, kind-hearted leader or lecherous, racist tyrant depending on your outlook, took pity on her and broke the spell Gargamel used to create her. Here's where she gets even worse: once Papa removed her dark powers, her brown, frizzy her turned to blond, wavy locks. Also her flats became heels. And her white dress got embellishments.
I thought she was just slightly slutty in her smurfy way! I had no idea she came with a back story.
So let's talk cartoons, people. What should I allow my kiddo to watch? What do you remember about your childhood cartoons? I recently introduced Wee 'Burb to Fraggle Rock and she loves it. I'm scared to find out the back stories of some of those! Especially since I am convinced Trash Heap is Edna Garrett in trash form. Do you even care about role models, or is it just a good way to keep them quiet for a few mintues so you can pee?
10 comments:
OMG Jem! There will neverbeanother like her. In all honesty, I will probably play her for my son. There are a lot of good and evil subplots that occur, with the Misfits and the other evil producer.
I also couldn't get enough of the Muppet Babies and Garfield.
My 6 year old LOVES the original looney tunes! Loves her some Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner! My 2 year old is in love with SpongeBob!! And I do mean love... We also watch WordGirl and Magic School Bus!
I'll admit it- I am a snob about a lot of things, including TV. IMO, most cartoons "for kids" are actually not for kids, but for their parents, filled with cynical, negative characters and jokes/storylines that are not age appropriate. Ex: Chip and Dale. Are they cute? Yes. Are they sweet? No. They're assholes. They spend entire episodes f-ing with people and laughing about it. So do we watch TV? Sure- he's watching Dinosaur Train right now. But I carefully scrutinize everything. Some other shows he likes (3 1/2 yo): Pingu (on Netflix), Wonder Pets, Calliou, Little Bear. Movies? Robin Hood, Cars.
I can still sing the WHOLE theme song to Jem.
(Whooooaah JEM! Is truly outrageous... truly, truly, truly outrageous.)
I have to say, sometimes we turn it on the Disney Channel and just let it ride. I know he doesn't know anything, but there are no commercials that might sneak up and be really nasty for him to watch. Anyway. I really love Phineas and Ferb...it's very funny for adults and cute for kids. Other than that, I like Jake and Neverland Pirates, also on Disney.
God, I'm lame.
i so hated jem. and he-man and she-ra. and all of those cartoons of that era. give me tom and jerry. scooby do, anything from hanna barbera. i'm pretty sure we should let them watch any cartoons they want. how much more can a cartoon damage them than any of the reality shows or even some of the commercials that are out there today?
Um yeah... my two watch cartoons and way more than they should. I'm ok with most of the shows on Nick Jr. (the channel they watch most often). My only consolation is that my kids are learning stuff from it (don't judge! ;-)
And... Jem. Love, love, love her! She was on in the mornings before I went to school and I always watched her while eating my breakfast. I miss that show!
My husband had a student named after Jem. At first it made me feel old. Now it makes me feel awesome.
I remember Jem! I so wanted her outrageous earrings but my parents were NOT of the same mind.
I hate that my kid watches TV. But I too need 5 minutes of peace and quiet so I DVR things like Imagination Movers and Max and Ruby. I love the little preview they always have about how each show helps your kid develop this or that. I don't believe it but it allows me to be at peace with my 5 minutes so what can I do??
What Smurfette was created by Gargamel??? I"m shattered. Isn't it funny, growing up, I never questioned why she was the only girl in Smurfland? And OMG I totally thought I was the only one who remembered Jem. Man I loved her and Rio together.
Oh back to your question. Hmmm. Donut isn't quite watching cartoons yet, but I have a few "good" cartoons I won't mind her watching--like Veggie Tales. Famous last words though b/c I bet she'll end up watching the Simpsons too.
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