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How Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs Changed Popular Culture

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"It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV." This is the opening line in the theme song to Seth McFarlane's "Family Guy", which rings true thanks in no small part to the impact the show had on the industry. "Family Guy" is a show that continues to push what can be shown on cable television. It is filled to the brim with raunchy jokes and dark humor aimed to make adults laugh. Believe it or not, another show that had a very similar impact on television was a kids' show. Steven Spielberg's "Animaniacs" changed what could be shown on kids' television just like "Family Guy" changed what could be shown on cable television. It pushed for more adult humor and pop culture references while still being a quality family show. …show more content…

"Animaniacs" does not shy away from using political commentary or referencing real-world events as jokes in its episodes. "Even in the show’s opening theme song, the Warners gleefully point out that they’re 'gender-balanced, pronoun neutral, and laughably diverse,' both bowing to and ribbing today’s cultural mores" (Asay 3). Many of the jokes in "Animaniacs" comes from poking fun at these real-world things. The episode Cutie and the Beast repeatedly makes fun of the Republican party, only to make fun of the Democratic party in the ending as well. "Family Guy" does the same thing, but arguably even more so. There have been entire episodes dedicated to dealing with issues of legalization of drugs or political parties. It often purposely tries to get a rise out of viewers by directly making fun of certain groups, opinions, and events. Both shows do the same thing, in often somewhat similar …show more content…

How could a kid's show compare to something as adult and raunchy as "Family Guy"? People especially believe this because cable networks were much more strict on what could be shown during the time period "Animaniacs" was aired. "It [Animaniacs] was a show for adults masquerading as a cartoon for kids" (Wong 2). While "Animaniacs" is technically a show for children, it pushed the limits of what could be shown on children's networks of the time. Jokes were written for the adults just as much if not more than for the kids. Constant pop culture references, witty dialogue, and innuendos fill the show with plenty to chew on in an arguably more tasteful way than how "Family Guy" does it. While "Animaniacs" has its fair share of controversial lines, by being a show for kids and adults both, it is able to be witty without depending too much on controversy or shock value to get a laugh. Like "Family Guy", it still very much uses these tactics, though. Both shows are able to take the jokes far enough to either make the viewer laugh or make the viewer

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Television programs often retain an aspect of reality in order to relate to the audience and commentate on social issues. Although both The Goldbergs and The Twilight Zone address controversial issues such as gender roles, insanity, and ethnic stereotypes, genre differentiates their approach and their audiences’ receptiveness to change. Whereas The Goldbergs, an ethnic sitcom, addresses the external world using comedic relief, The Twilight Zone, a science fiction program, delves into the human mind using imagination. Despite their common efforts to direct social change, the programs are inverse images of one another, and The Twilight Zone’s genre structure allows it to resonate more with the audience. From 1949 to 1956, The Goldbergs dominated television as the first televised sitcom.

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Today’s generation watches a lot of television because we like to be entertained. Most people like to watch comedy shows because they can relieve stress from their day of work or they just want to relax. Either way, people like to laugh and feel good about themselves. The show that I think does this the best is “Parks and Recreation” because they incorporate a good story line with a lot of humor that can make most everybody laugh. “Parks and Recreation” is one of the best shows, not only in its category but in all categories combined.

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Lets say you are flipping through channels on your television and it lands on some marathon on retired cartoons, suddenly you witness what seems like meaningless violence and nasty images. If you have seen Ren and Stimpy in the past you most likely have a schema of the stupidity portrayed by Ren the personified cartoon Chihuahua with serious anger issues along with bad hygiene, and his roommate Stimpy, a good tempered fat blue cat who acts as dumb as he looks. They both experience troubles and handle them in their own ways. Although this show doesn't appear insightful on the surface and usually lacks moral endings, it can reveal perspectives on society that perhaps cant be seen in any other way. (relate with disagreement) It's easy to see

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However, Peacocke fails to recognize that Family Guy airs tamed comedy for entertainment by demonstrating how many elements that are portrayed on the show exists in our society today without intentionally hurting its viewers.

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This serves to objectify Asians for comedic effect and reinforces the stereotype that they are exotic and foreign. According to James J. Yoo, “By ridiculing Asians in this way, Family Guy perpetuates the myth that Asians are forever foreigners” (Yoo, 2011). This type of humor perpetuates a dangerous form of racism that sees Asians as inherently different and inferior in addition to being offensive. Additionally, Family Guy frequently employs offensive and crude stereotypes in its jokes, using Asia as a punchline.

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The article “South Park and the Carnivalesque” written by Alison Halsall delves into both parody and satire within the context of the program. South Park’s Carnivalesque humor, or carnival laughter “is a method by which popular culture in general, and South Park in particular, provides liberation from constraint” (Halsall 24). South Park makes it a point to use humor that provokes the inherent “dirtiness” that we contain, in an attempt to expose cultural aspects that generally go undiscussed (Halsall 34). Through profanity, South Park brings carnival humor down to the basic grotesque humor that serves to “critique linguistic sanitation” (Halsall 34).

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Analysis of this subreddit revealed that, given the fictional universe of superheroes and the supernatural events in The Boys, engagement with its allegorical characters interferes with the show’s intended social commentary. Introduction. Creators of satire have kept their craft alive and gained the interest of broader audiences by fictionalizing “inspiration” from the real world to make a statement for change, whether discreetly or not. Although media production is ultimately backed by the fame and profit that can come from a well-constructed narrative, still of primary importance is the need to evoke change through social commentary. Though satire can exist without comedic elements, comedy tends to be a naturally occurring aspect of satire, as it is imperative for viewers to also mock the absurdity being presented to them.

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Satire can have many serious repercussions, including public backlash. Though satire can come off offensive, it is paramount to not censor who we are as people. Many comedies have and can cross the line of what people find acceptable in modern day America. Albeit our constitution guarantees the right to liberation of speech, it is often challenged by the public who find some satirical comedy to be morally disputable. As our society grows, so does our consciousness on what is politically correct and falls under our moral values.

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The greatest influence of this being the animated series and longest running family sitcom; The Simpsons. The show originally started off as an animated short on the Tracy Ullman show in 1987. Later, in 1989 being picked up as its own series on Fox. The show focuses on the Simpsons family. Revolving around a satirical view on the middle class family.

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Challenging Stereotypes: How “Modern” Is Modern Family? The show won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in each of its first five years and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four times. If you have never heard about “Modern Family," you have never seen comedy. Modern Family is an American television show that portrays the ‘Modernism’ in families nowadays in America.

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The show strives to expose all the preconceived notions and beliefs society has put in place and mocks ALL stereotypes. The show portrays both low and high culture in general and makes fun of them, but at the same time does not encourage it. Most people who watch Family Guy can relate strongly. That’s because the show acts like a mirror and we the audience are forced to take a look at ourselves, but at the same time providing amusement and humor for the reflection.

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Another sector of Cartoon Network would be Adult Swim, which premiered in September of 2001. Adult Swim aired in the afternoons on weekdays, and it specialized in cartoons and tv shows directed towards adults. It originally had shows like Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Cowboy Bebop, and it more currently exhibits shows like Rick and Morty, American Dad, Bob’s Burgers, and Family Guy

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What 's more, it is unseemly for young people and they shouldn 't be presented to deductive dialect or sexual setting. On the other hand, funnies don 't generally spin around a certain gathering for instance, religion, racial gathering or any others. Truth be told, everybody including our kids are presented to all these distinctive sorts of issues. By perusing a comic novel, as well as all through an ordinary day in or outside the family unit. Since it 's intended to happen and we have no control of it, then again we can control how we respond.

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“The people screaming on this side, and the people screaming on that side are the same people. And it’s okay to be somewhat in the middle, laughing at both of them”. These are the words of Trey Parker, the co-creator of the adult animated television show South Park. The show is known for tackling all kinds of topics and current events, from race, politics, religion and everything in between. Since it’s inception, the series has grown to be a cultural phenomenon.

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If the adults now go and look back at children cartoons they grew up watching, they can see that there were some points at which their childhood cartoon character did something which isn’t meant for a young mind, following are some examples; Showed in the picture above is a snapshot from the show Edd, Ed & Eddy as you can see Edd has a collection of a few magazines which are not for kids below a certain age, this picture tells us how even kids cartoons have some adult references Another adult reference in the show “Johnny Bravo” where a sexual reference is given by a girl being blindfolded in a children’s game This here is something that everyone will get, Rugrats which is only for young kids, Grandpa tells the kids that he’s going to watch something, after they fall asleep. This refers to an adult movie.

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