'The Voice' Crowns Its Winner
Mitch Kellaway: Father's Day as a Transgender Man
Looney Tunes get bloody in art exhibition
Filed under: Big Kids, Tweens, Teens, In The News, Media
Those classic cartoons we loved as children may have been violent, but they could have been much worse. When Bugs Bunny gets shoved off a cliff, he doesn't splatter into bloody pieces. He just gets up and walks away from the bunny-shaped indentation he left on the ground. When Tweety ends up in Sylvester's mouth, he doesn't crunch up into bird bits. He gets spat out whole. Looney Tunes cartoons are violent, but they never show the reality of the consequences of the violence. At least they don't on television. Those consequences are displayed in all their bloody glory in a new art exhibit by James Cauty called "Splatter". On display at London's Aquarium Gallery, the show features the famous Looney Tunes characters like you've never seen them before. There is a blood-soaked Daffy Duck minus his head, which has been blown off by a gun-toting Bugs Bunny. There's Jerry, having finally been caught by Tom, hacked into small, bloody pieces. And Tweety is nowhere to be seen, but Sylvester's blood-covered mouth gives you a good idea where he went.
The exhibit is described as 'unrelenting acts of blood and discomfort never previously witnessed on the Cartoon Network' and is intended to shock. "Its very difficult to shock kids these days - you have cartoon characters being shot in the head and walking off cliffs, so we have decided to replace them with something more realistic," says the 51-year-old artist.
Despite the 'Parental Advisory Content' warning on the exhibit, kids are enjoying the show. "It's amazing work, and from the reactions we've had to it so far, children have loved it," says gallery owner Steve Lowe. "It should be a very successful show, and will raise lots of questions about violence in the media and in our culture."
Do the kids like it just because they recognize the characters? Or have children really become so desensitized to violence that it no longer shocks them?
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
Recently Asked
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion "Father" Trailer
Father is dead set to destroy the Kids Next Door so he can rule the world unopposed. See Father in action in this character gameplay trailer for Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion.
-
Liberty Kids - Boston Tea Party
The Episode Boston Tea Party from the kids cartoon, Liberty Kids.
-
Cartoon Stickers Help Kids Eat Fruits
Kids are more likely to eat fruit if it has a cartoon sticker.
-
Toon Goggles - Cartoons For Kids iPhone App Review
Toon Goggles is a children's entertainment online channel offering an unlimited amount of child and parent friendly cartoons (clips, trailers, episodes, and features). Toon Goggles is a completely safe and protected web site for children of all ages to view cartoons that have never been available to them.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-08-2008 @ 11:31AM
vacelts said...I think the kids enjoy it because they recognize the characters and we as adults are exposing them to more and more violence.
http://redlightnaps.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/looney-tunes-exhibit/
Do you think are we as society doing too much to encourage this trend among our children that the more, bloodier violence is a good thing? Are we setting up our children for trouble in the future?
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 2:10PM
LS said...From the article, a statement by the "artist" James Cauty: ""I'm a parent myself, and if I saw pictures like that I would think of something kids would really love, because it's no holds-barred violence. "
Kids would love it because it's no-holds-barred violence.
What are we TEACHING our kids????
I get that the stated premise of this exhibit is that kids don't learn consequences from cartoons like this. But that's why they're not on tv anymore! Drawing up stuff from 20 years ago, that today's kids don't watch seems to me to be more of a capitalistic move than an altruistic one.
Now, if the artist had used characters from today's shows - perhaps transformers, or the oh-so-popular anime - I might have a different opinion.
I still wouldn't bring my son to see this.
I also disagree with the artist on a second level: most kids can tell the difference between "silly" and "mean" or "violent". Kids know that dropping an anvil (assuming they could 1. find one, and 2. lift it) on a character is silly and unrealistic. They also know that rabbits, chickens, cats, mice, and ducks can't really talk, and that it's highly unlikely that that selfsame duck is going to have a close encounter with a martian.
It is harder to distinguish between fantasy and reality with today's cartoons depicting humans in war settings. Those are more violent, in my opinion.
Reply