the nost dangerous cartoon

About fifteen years ago, one cartoon had generated more controversy than any other. When MTV, a controversial station in its own right, premiered ‘Beavis and Butthead’, parents were outraged by the language depicted on the show. A lot of money and effort has gone into the ongoing attempt to ban the show’s airing, but through all this, ‘Beavis and Butthead’ has gained in popularity. Is this show really that bad? Or are we worrying more about what is on TV than what is in our children’s minds?

The first incident that brought ‘Beavis and Butthead’ under fire was when two kids playing with matches burned down their parents mobile home. The court that heard the case decided MTV and ‘Beavis and Butthead’ were to blame and not the parents through neglect in the kids supervision and up bringing. The court stated in its decision that since the show depicted in one episode that playing with fire was cool, the kids did not know better than to recreate the same situation, but these same kids did not jump out of a window clutching a rug after seeing ‘Aladdin’. Were these kids really forced into their actions by watching a single cartoon episode or was this as easy way for their parents to attempt to recoup their losses at the cost of a “rich corporation”.

With the outcome of the law suit and pressure from many parents groups, the show under went a couple of minor changes. The air time of the show was moved from 8 P.M. to 11 P.M. A disclaimer has also been added to the front of every episode to help protect the weak minded that may be watching. Are we, as a viewing public, really that gullible that we need this disclaimer for us or our kids?

The language of the show has been questioned many times, especially when parents begin to hear their children first start using it at home. The problem with blaming ‘Beavis and Butthead’ with the language is that it has been used around schools far longer. The parents do not hear the language used around school, but they can hear ‘Beavis and Butthead’‘s language and assume that is the source. The language material also attributes to the shows success because it uses language the kids can both understand and recognize. A list of the offensive language used on the show could be quite large, but some of the famous ones include: sucks, butt munch, cool, kick your ass, and the famous laughs ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha.

Many actions depicted on ‘Beavis and Butthead’ can be dangerous and/or illegal, and this has caused great concern amongst parents groups. The observant viewer that sees Beavis playing with a chain saw or Butthead blowing up a bowling ball can also see that they can get hurt in the end. If people do not understand that it is dangerous to do these things, is that ‘Beavis and Butthead’ or their parents?

Today we are spending thousands of hours and millions of dollars trying to stop a light hearted cartoon. When there are far worse things out there that we are ignoring. The internet has plans for many types of bombs that are easy to make like the Oklahoma City bombing, several plans for atomic bombs, and rampant child pornography. All of these crimes are wide spread over the internet, yet parents are far more up set over a trivial cartoon show. It is time we prioritize the evils of society and begin to work on the worst of these and leave poor Beavis and Butthead alone.

No, I do not feel ‘Beavis and Butthead’ is morally wrong.

Recently cartoons have taken a far harder turn toward the outlandish. ‘Family Guy’, ‘Trippin the Rift’, ‘Drawn Together’, and the newly crowned king of controversy ‘South Park’. Hands down cartoons have really enjoyed poking fun at many sexual topics, but ‘South Park’ has really pushed the envelope poking fun of many religions. When the show poked fun at the Sciencetology cult, it unleashed a humorous firestorm of protests, but the worse of this was the network running ‘South Park’ caved in on the sciencetology show and refuses to re-air the show. This shocked me and I started worrying how eroded our First Amendment Free Speech rights have become.

My worries came to full fruitition recently in a two part ‘South Park’ episode. ‘South Park’ parodied ‘Family Guy’ and the showing of the Prophet Mohammed. Comedy Central decided to censor the images of the Prophet Mohammed. While I can understand why they did this, part of me is totally outraged by the fact this was done. As the episodes says, “Either you can laugh at everything or you can not laugh at anything.” I agree whole heartedly with this. Once censoring starts, where will it stop and who really has the right to decide? I don’t want to see America under Homeland Security laws so strict and censorship so rampant we will make Nazi Germany look like a Church social.

It’s time to stand up for our freedoms, all of them. While you or I may not agree with what a show or a person may want to say, it is our duty to defend their right to say it to the death or what have our liberties gotten us besides soft and malleable.