Animated Films and Children

I think that cartoons may have a slight affect on children.  There are so many cartoons and animations out there that are aimed at children, and not just the popular things.  Each one of them has their own impressions that they are trying to make on children.  "Little Bill", "Veggie Tales" the Disney Movies, "The Simpsons", "Ren and Stimpy", "Dora the Explorer", "SpongeBob" and many other programs.  If "Ren and Stimpy" affects children I would be very worried about myself because that show is not truly meant for children.  And if it was meant for children, times have changed to say that it is no longer meant for children.  In twenty years who is to say that it won't be a show meant for children again.  We are growing up in a generation of either helicopter parents, or the best friend parent and I think that controlling everything a child watches, or every video game that they play is a bad Idea and that letting them do whatever they want is a bad idea.  I think every once in a while parents should sit down with their children after watching a program and see what they think about it.  But these days parents don't do that sort of thing.  Children also need to be exposed to other ways of thinking, and perhaps these cartoons listed above, and the ones Lehman talks about, play a role in that.  Most everybody said in their blogs that they did not see the racist jokes, or see the adult humor until they went back and watched the films as adults; and that is from their favorite cartoons that they seemed to know by heart.  For the most part I think children have the ability to look past such stereotypes because to them they are just watching the film or show for the plot or for the music.  I think children look up to their parents and siblings and peers more than they look up to any film, animated or not.  Not to mention almost everything is a stereotype when in a cartoon; whether it be a president, or a "bad" kid, or a "good" kid, or "dumb" kid, the "cheap" one, the "stubborn" one... or what have you.  It is the dichotomy between stereotypes that people find amusing.
 no wonder Obama won ;)