Cartoons are going too far

Although it is not my usual forte, I, as many other young adults in the United States, have willingly exposed myself to the mind-numbing, ‘adult' cartoons on today. The ones I am referring to in particular are The Simpsons, South Park, and anything found on Adult Swim – American Dad, Robot Chicken, Family Guy, etc. These shows are responsible for billions of laughs to people all across the country, but the issues people are laughing at are serious. Domestic violence, gay rights, animal cruelty, drug abuse, prejudice and many other real life struggles are satirically made fun of throughout the course of the episodes. Is comedy worth demeaning such serious problems? 

My answer is no; today's cartoons are going too far. Laughing about issues that have devastated the lives of so many people is not something that can be comical towards someone who has gone through that particular problem, or anyone close to them. There are things that can be laughed at that are not such serious issues we are facing in America. For example, South Park mocks the computer game World of Warcraft and those who play it. Issues like that can be light-hearted and extremely funny. A few episodes later, that very same show makes fun of those with testicular cancer – an issue that is in no way, shape, or form a thing to laugh at. 

When asking fifty FC students across the campus, they all had mixed feelings on the issue. Michelle Derak, a student majoring in Paralegal Studies, stated, "I could care less what is playing on Adult Swim because I would never watch such mindless television." For those of us who cannot help but flip through the channels and land on one of these shows, student Jarrod Alagao shared his opinion, "You can't take life so seriously. These shows do it for the ratings, and people like to laugh about serious things because it takes a lot of the reality out of it."  Even though Jarrod makes an excellent point, student Ramon Alvarez hits the issue dead on, "There are plenty of things to make fun of in the world. Stay away from the serious issues and focus your attention on the ones that aren't at the expense of others going through real life problems."