Cartoons can't smoke no more

[Xerus]

In Filmation's final series, Bravestarr. There was a villian named Skuzz who's always seen smoking a cigar and coughing a lot and it drove everyone crazy. His fellow villians keep telling him it's stupid to smoke.

 

[anytimepally]

Being that when i grew up i had cartoons telling me not to smoke.

they could bring back the "knowing is half the battle!" guy from GI Joe

In Filmation's final series, Bravestarr. There was a villian named Skuzz who's always seen smoking a cigar and coughing a lot and it drove everyone crazy. His fellow villians keep telling him it's stupid to smoke.

if they were going to have smoking in cartoons, maybe more of this would be a good idea

His respnose was simple, "Name one that smoking has ever affected the character or the story."

this is exactly why I don't think this should be such a big deal

 

[Teheheman]

It's not a big deal but it is. You know? It's not a big deal as far as storylines go, but it is a big deal as far as censorship goes. You have cartoons that pretty much curse and do anything else, but a cigarette is where you draw the line. Like I said, parental responsibility, but you know they can only watch them for so long. Then do something like communicate or talk to your kids. Don't let not watching them all day be an excuse for them smoking. Talk with them, that's what the dinner table is for or just sit there and have a nice chat or something. It helps, trust me, I'm not a dad but I have parents who taught me well. My dad smokes, he's done it for over 30 or so years. He knows it's bad, he knows he should quit, but he doesn't. Same with my sister. But they're adults, I'm not gonna tell em what to do.

Daniel

 

[CensoredAlso]

I try to occasionally mention to my friends that they should quit. There's a fine line, you don't want to bug them too much. But then again, it is their life we're talking about. And sometimes they're happy to know I care.

 

[Erine81981]

they could bring back the "knowing is half the battle!" guy from GI Joe

That's another one i remember too. That they should Randall. Have cartoon characters talk about how bad it is for people to smoke. Why not even the Muppets have a commerical where some guys are smoking and have a kid walking by and one of them say "Here try this." And the kid says no that stuff is bad for you.
Then have Kermit on the other end of the street with the kid telling that was a good choice you made. Why not that.

 

[Drtooth]

But I'm going to unpopularly say that I'm glad they're cracking down on bad eating habits. It's not about being thin and pretty (at least it shouldn't be), it's about prolonging your life.

No... it's about being pretty and thin... it's also about Doctors abusing the medical system by worrying us about the "Obesity" episdemic and selling us weight loss crap instead of actually finding cures for diseases. Once you can cure all disease, you don't need to go around purchasing placibos that cartoon viruses push on TV....

I would go into how the weight problem is socio-economic with a touch of Psychiatry, but since this is about smoking...

I feel that smoking in certian cases can improve the character. If they have a visable vice, you can see there's a flaw to the character. Plus, I don't get how they can't have villains or greedy industrialists smoke cigars anymore, it shows them as disgusting, and able to buy up fancy cigars and lighting them with 100 dollar bills and all that stuff that made them look villainous and covetous in the first place.

Now, I for one hate smoking, and I think people should stop eating poorly if they can help it... but we should work with THESE people, and not ones with a thick black outline encasing their bodies. Fiction is fiction. This is right up there with the nuts that ban Harry potter books because they promote black magic. Oh yeah... little Billy's going to disect a live goat and drink his blood for show and tell. Sure.

Censorship is censorship. I'm not saying we should have hard core porn on ABC at 8:00 PM. (Actually, I hate how porn furthers the misconception that the human body is a shameful thing, and not a work of beauty) I'm saying that if you want to get rid of smoking in TV G, Y, or Y7... be my guest. But anything TV PG and up... smoke away. And Bad guy thugs should carry guns in action shows....

 

[CensoredAlso]

Some people make it about being pretty and thin, and that's wrong. People shouldn't be made to feel like losing weight will make their problems go away. It disturbes me the shallow attitude our society and media has now.

But eating better should be about prolonging your life. And it is important because you can cure all the diseases in the world, but that won't make eating bad things OK. Plus I imagine most people in this country have eating problems rather than major diseases.

But I do agree that smoking can occasionally demonstrate that a character is bad or has an attitude. Some kids may think that's cool even if it's the bad guy. But again, it's their parents job to intervene there. Parents need help finding the time and gaining the wisdom. That's what's needed, not TV censorship.

 

[anytimepally]

I was watching TV yesterday and noticed that characters on The Boondocks still smoke, so this isn't ALL cartoons... also, I'd like to point out that no one can actually stop someone from drawing a smoking character in a cartoon.. they may not be able to get a distributor or get it on TV, but people can still draw whatever they like

 

[CensoredAlso]

Ah, yes that's true. An artist's ability to draw isn't being hindered and that's good. Though some argue that being told you may not get a distributor pretty much amounts to censorship, just indirectly.

Btw, I also wish they'd bring back the "knowing is half the battle" stuff on TV. Maybe it wasn't the successful advertisers hope it would be. But it showed that our media and society cared. Without all those PSAs, the landscape seems much darker.

 

[Drtooth]

Some people make it about being pretty and thin, and that's wrong. People shouldn't be made to feel like losing weight will make their problems go away. It disturbes me the shallow attitude our society and media has now..

That's basically what the big glowing box be tellin' everyone. I knw there's a difference between eating healthier to look good and to lose weight... but I wouldn't doubt for a minute that is what's happening. I get the vibe that there's a thin supremisist group (getting a vibe being different than what's really happening), that's trying to push "obesity episdemics" and stuff trying to make fat people feel horrible about themselves. And you know what happens when fat people feel terrible about themselves, don't you?

I mean, it's ideal to be thin. But it's also ideal to be rich, good looking, etc. they way everyone's pushing it, they're making it out that if you're 30 pounds over, you're gonna die tomorrow. Not to mention ads for Subway or Special K that imply that if you indulge once, you wind up low class strapped up to an oxegen machine and married to an equally slovenly mate.

I'm kinda hijacking this thread with this, though. Men are afraid of being not manly enough and women are afraid of being fat. That's how corporations sell products. I mean, nothing wrong with losing weight. It's a good thing to do. but then there are people who are perfectly happy being the size they are, and don't want "You're gonna die, you disgusting looking hideous blob" shoved down their throats every five minutes.

In every given society there will be people who smoke, drink, eat, etc. to a near excess. We just have to worry about those who are in excess.

That said, I really think this should all be left to the artists. But then again, if cartoons were left to the artists, Ren and Stimpy wouldn't have had such a crappy 3rd season onward.