GuitarBizarre

Edit: Holy text wall batman. Apparently I have a lot to say on the subject of media formats and creative mediums!

Its a medium. Like any medium, it can be leveraged to deal with topics and material both childish and adult.

Music? Well, there are nursery rhymes, there's bubblegum pop, there's sexually charged pop (most of it), there's Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, then there's Marylin Manson, and you can keep going, right the way through metal, up to grindcore and beyond.

The topics discussed in music vary to every possible facet of humanity, and are come at from many angles. The medium is very widely, and very effectively leveraged to put across all sorts of messages.

The same can be said of Television - There are kids shows, childrens TV, action series, and again, we can continue all the way through until we've dealt with politics, religion, violence, sex, and combinations of all the above. Much TV material is absolutely not interesting to, or aimed at, or suitable for children - but just as much of it IS all of those things, and so once again, we see a medium leveraged for the benefit of not just one group but all groups.

What about videogames? Well, again, there are childrens games, there are teenage games, skill games, RPG, horror, violent, sexual, competitive and social - all sorts of games with all sorts of content aimed at all sorts of people of all sorts of ages.

Animation? Well, sure, there's Rhubarb and Custard and Superted. You get a little older in terms of the "intended" age range, watch Dangermouse. You outgrow that, you watch something like Fillmore, or Freakazoid. Older again, you can find stuff to watch like Bleach or Initial D, older again you might find some of the horror or thriller series like Monster, or Blood+ to be appealing, all the way up until something like Hellsing or Black Lagoon, both of which feature either graphic violence and/or deal with extremely challenging material which wouldn't be suitable for children at all.

And thats without even touching on something like outright porn - After all, porn exists in ALL those mediums - TV, Film, Audio, even animated, as the threadstarter points out.

And here's the really interesting bit - Using music as an example, since we're on a music forum -

Lets take the "journey" of a persons musical taste throughout life.

Well, as a kid, nursery rhymes.
A little older, there might be a few chintzy pop songs on the radio to listen to, but nothing of any great weight, and even if it is sexual (Backstreet boys "Am I sexuaaaaall...yeeaaaaah... am I the only ooooneee? Yeaaaaah).
A little older again - probably musically little changes apart from a few different songs, but as adolescence and education set in, the sexual content in much music becomes more evident.
A little older again, perhaps a chance meeting with someone turns this person on to Nirvana - So begins a journey through rock music, starting with Nirvana singing about teenage angst, through all the dark and serious topics dealt with between Grunge and heavy metal. Alice in Chains singing about heroin, Nirvana's "Rape me", etc.

At the end of the journey this person finds themselves an adult, in their mid 20s or so, and might either listen daily to Slayer, Anal cunt, and Sisquo's Thong Song, or they'll at least have an awareness of such if they've bothered to explore their medium in any depth.

And has this person stopped enjoying any of that older music they listened to when they were a kid? Well, maybe, but I'd argue that the open minded among us don't. Gotye, for example, released a MEGAhit, "Somebody That I Used To Know".

That song has a very adult context - a nasty breakup. The matter is dealt with in such framing that I believe it is clear this isn't some teenage breakup - its a breaking down and response to a very real, very adult relationship.

But the intro is...what? Baa baa black sheep. And it works. It makes sense musically. its engaging. There's no reason why people can't still happily enjoy that little tune - if they want to.

And you'll see this with any music lecturer - They'll go on for HOURS about how boring it is to hear the same chords and patterns and licks repeated all day. But if you talk to them about a nursery rhyme and ask them to explain how it works and why it works - Well, actually, in my experience most music teacher will sit there and explain exactly that - With GENUINE enthusiasm! Their eyes will light up and they'll relish the opportunity to get back to the absolute basics of music and show you, the pupil, why even the smallest thing about music, the simplest things you heard when you were a child, are exciting and interesting.

Thats how it is with music, and in fact, thats how it is in any medium - EVEN if the material genuinely IS childish, and IS aimed at younger audiences, there's no reason there can't be something about that material that is worthwhile from a more adult perspective - As a child, nobody was capable of analysing and pulling apart baa baa black sheep - but as adults, we can do that and gain an appreciation for how something so simple was actually crafted with a very deft skill.

On the same token, with something like television, people get nostalgia and a new perspective opens up on those old kids shows they watched, like Art Attack!. Sure, its no longer the same experience it was as a kid, but there's no reason someone can't sit down and watch an old episode of Art Attack, and enjoy it, perhaps laughing at the poor production, or having a giggle at how outlandish it seems now, when it was perfectly "normal" as a kid.

What about games? How many people are out there who don't really play games, but will still have a good time if you throw pacman in front of them? Or who can hum along to the mario theme? Tons! And even people who play serious, hardcore competitive games, or games with hyper-violent themes, can share that same experience of going back to pacman and saying "This was really good!".

There are still people out there to this day competing for the highest scores in retro games - There's even a documentary called King of Kong.

And some of that competition is very niche, but very heated - Look at the speedrun marathon that speeddemosarchive organised - Awesome Games Done Quick - Most of the games being played there are childish, 8-Bit NES or 16 Bit SNES games, that these people have found a hobby in trying to break them and complete them faster than anyone else.

And these people aren't crazy manchildren or freaky nerds - Sure, they're geeky, but thats immaterial - they're mature enough and dedicated enough to fly across a country, and do their thing in front of thousands to raise money for charity - Over $400,000 in the last event!

And why? Because they're not concerned with what their age group is "supposed" to enjoy. They just enjoy what they enjoy and thats that. And because enough of them did that, they're their own awesome little group that does great things for each other and for people with breast cancer.

So ultimately, why should animation be any different? There's a lot out there. Some of it is good, some bad, some childish, some adult, and every variation thereof.

But I tell you what - I'm never going to think Dangermouse or Hong Kong Phooey were uncool, and I'm never going to hear the theme tune to Rhubarb and Custard without some measure of happiness. I'm also not going to be coy about the fact Freakazoid contained a TON of pop culture references that the kids it was aimed at simply never would have gotten.

I'm also not going to tell you that Fairy Tail isn't fun to watch at any age, and I'm not going to tell you Hellsing or Black Lagoon are in any way for children - despite both of them being actually, pretty damned good.

So watch whatever you want - Someone is always going to think its complete ****, and hell, if you've got bad taste, they may well be right. But its not because its animation, or music, or film - it'll just be because it is what it is.

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