Serious Cartoons: The Underrated Medium

Hey everyone!

Well, I'm halfway through my final semester at BYU! I'm both excited and terrified. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been pretty swamped with school and work. This post is something I've been working on for a while and I finally got it ready!

So I was recently talking to someone about an anime show that I really liked. I mentioned that it was really violent, and that person just blankly stared at me and said, "But it's a cartoon." I've also heard the statement, "it's just a cartoon," which implies that it couldn't have any substance.

You would not believe how many times I've heard this idea and how I've tried to convince people otherwise. But a lot of people just can't get past the misconception that cartoons can't be violent or profound because, well, they're cartoons. They're supposed to be for kids, right?

Well, not as often as you think. A lot of people have difficulty taking animation and comics seriously.

The Joker from The Dark Knight Returns. Yep. Lot's of blood. 

To be fair, the idea of taking animated shows seriously probably feels like a joke to a lot of people. Cartoons are generally associated with kids, so people assume that if it's a cartoon, it's a kids' show. Even the word cartoony has become a definition for something seen as lighter and more childish.

But in reality, I've seen many animated shows with incredibly adult situations that no child would be ready for. The same goes for comics. Most people assume that comics are for kids when really the exact opposite is the case, particularly in the case of DC comics and Marvel. Sure, they have comics for kids, but their main stuff deals with a lot of adult themes. A hero is always getting beaten within an inch of his/her life and there's often a sexual theme going on as well. And there's blood. A lot of blood.