Adult Themes in Cartoons
Colt Keller
Sociology 8th hour
Mrs. Neumeyer
21 March 2014
Throughout time, more and more people have realized that cartoons have changed from something sweet and educational, to something more sinister and full of adult themes. Cartoons contain adult themes, but how many? It's believed that newer, or more modern cartoons will have more adult themes then ones aired at a later date, because of the more openness of today’s culture towards adulthood. By using content analysis, I watched two cartoons: two episodes of Adventure Time and one episode Pokemon in order to watch the same amount of TV. I watched the episodes and wrote a list of predefined adult themes: Violence, which is the physical abuse conflicted on someone you are not close to, adult issues such as internal struggles, parenting choices, lifestyle choices, Etc., sexual references, the use of anything sexual, pickup lines, sexual innuendos , provocative language, anything more sexually advanced then a child should be speaking, language, anything provocative, or extremely offensive, substances, any kind of drug, illegal, tobacco, alcohol, Etc., nudity, anything showing that is restricted by school dress code, or not normal for children to wear, very short skirts, or revealing tops, stereotypes, anything stereotypical, dangerous behaviors, anything that could convince child to do something that could cause themselves, or others injuries, or could be fatal, abuse, verbal, emotional, or physical attacking of someone they know, or are close to, such as a mother hitting a child, or a child bullying another child, and religion, anything depicting, or hinting towards a certain religion, such as the characters being inside a church, or saying God openly. Many cartoons openly discuss these things, or make them a main theme or topic in their shows. It is hard to miss things such as violence or nudity, but through research and analyzing these shows, it’s been depicted that these cartoons hold a significant
Sociology 8th hour
Mrs. Neumeyer
21 March 2014
Throughout time, more and more people have realized that cartoons have changed from something sweet and educational, to something more sinister and full of adult themes. Cartoons contain adult themes, but how many? It's believed that newer, or more modern cartoons will have more adult themes then ones aired at a later date, because of the more openness of today’s culture towards adulthood. By using content analysis, I watched two cartoons: two episodes of Adventure Time and one episode Pokemon in order to watch the same amount of TV. I watched the episodes and wrote a list of predefined adult themes: Violence, which is the physical abuse conflicted on someone you are not close to, adult issues such as internal struggles, parenting choices, lifestyle choices, Etc., sexual references, the use of anything sexual, pickup lines, sexual innuendos , provocative language, anything more sexually advanced then a child should be speaking, language, anything provocative, or extremely offensive, substances, any kind of drug, illegal, tobacco, alcohol, Etc., nudity, anything showing that is restricted by school dress code, or not normal for children to wear, very short skirts, or revealing tops, stereotypes, anything stereotypical, dangerous behaviors, anything that could convince child to do something that could cause themselves, or others injuries, or could be fatal, abuse, verbal, emotional, or physical attacking of someone they know, or are close to, such as a mother hitting a child, or a child bullying another child, and religion, anything depicting, or hinting towards a certain religion, such as the characters being inside a church, or saying God openly. Many cartoons openly discuss these things, or make them a main theme or topic in their shows. It is hard to miss things such as violence or nudity, but through research and analyzing these shows, it’s been depicted that these cartoons hold a significant