Influence of Animation

I believe that animated films or TV shows most definitely have the power to shape the impressions of young people, but only to a certain extent.  Children are a lot smarter than people give them credit for, but to assume that kids understand the deeper meanings that a lot of these cartoons present is absurd to me.  We discussed in class how most of the shows we grew up watching as kids such as Tom and Jerry and The Looney Tunes were first produced during a time of racial segregation.  The cartoons were targeted towards adults and had several racial stereotypes mixed into the storyline as a way to entertain a mature audience that understood the deeper meaning of the jokes.

On the contrary, kids who see these cartoons are entertained by the more obvious sequences of humor.  For example, how Tom from Tom and Jerry is always getting hurt in his attempt to catch Jerry, or in The Looney Tunes, how roadrunner is always finding ways to allude Wile E's crazy contraptions. These scenes can certainly have an affect on young children because of the "monkey see, monkey do" affect.  If a kid sees violence presented in a humorous way on television, it may lead them to believe that violence is a humorous thing in real life too.  However, as far as influencing kids impressions of certain issues such as race or gender roles, I still believe that the messages, that were originally intended for adults, are too complex to shape the minds of young children.