I was recently in a position to do just that when I introduced the girls to Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner.
I have always loved them and their other Warner Brothers cousins. As a kid there was nothing better than Bugs, Daffy, Road Runner and a bowl of excessively sugary cereal on Saturday morning. I was a little hesitant to share this sacred piece of my cultural heritage with my children. Were they old enough? What if they didn’t like it? Or worse, what if they didn’t get it?
It took a couple of cartoons for them to really get into it. Their admirable compassion got in the way at first — they felt bad for ole Wile E — but soon they were cracking up as we watched the Super Genius fail time and again to catch that speedy bird. Now, I understand that people might have a problem with the “violence” exhibited in these cartoons, but really, at its core, it’s just a predator chasing its prey. It’s nature. Wile E. doesn’t do any of this out of spite. It isn’t malicious. He’s just hungry.
Go ahead and compare this to a lot of other cartoons that are popular today. For instance, look at that yellow underwater vegetable and his friends. They are mean. They are angry, brutish, disrespectful and destructive. Sure they come to a happy ending when it’s all over, and we can all feel good that friendship rules the day, but those few moments of positive message are dwarfed by the negativity and venom of the previous 20-odd minutes.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but give me a pair of rocket powered roller skates or a 500-pound anvil and keep your new-fangled crusty burger, thanks.
P.S. While I’m thrilled that they love my friends from the cartoon desert, my girls think Spongebob is awesome too. Can’t win ‘em all.