Kids' Stuff

Have you ever skipped out on enjoying something because it was "for kids"? Stayed home the night all your friends went to see that final installment of the Harry Potter franchise or pass on that new young adult novel the internet is fawning over? Teased your buddy for being a Brony or your girlfriend for shipping Korra and Mako? 

Image Source: http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Shipping
I'm more of a Masami fan myself...

What if I told you that it's okay to enjoy media marketed towards kids and young adults? 

What if I told you that you're actually missing out by omitting it on principle? 

First, I think it's important to examine why the thought of consuming children's media can be unappealing or uncomfortable.

1. Simplicity - we worry that stories for kids will lack complex plot or characters

2. Silliness - we feel that the content will be silly or cater too much to "children's humour."

3. Innocence - we think a lack of adult themes, such as violence or sexuality, will make the story boring.

4. Unrelateable characters - we're not sure what we will find in common with a cast of children and/or anthropomorphic animals.

5. Image - we don't want to be considered immature or childish for willingly consuming media intended for people well below our age range.

Now, before I begin unboxing these, I want to clarify what children's media I am taking about. Obviously, shows like Dora the Explorer and books like Spot Goes on a Picnic are significantly more simplistic than shows like Adventure Time and books like Tuck Everlasting. I'm not trying to convince anyone to enjoy ALL children's media, but to discourage people from dismissing it simply because the target audience is under 18. So I will be focusing primarily on plot-driven narrative aimed at children able to cognize and mentally examine the world and people around them.

Okay. So, simplicity. I think this is simply (ha, see what I did there) a misconception. Many narratives written for consumption by the younger generations are as complex and believable as their mature-rated counterparts. Again, I'm going to mention the Studio Ghibli films. My Neighbour Totoro and Ponyo are both aimed at children age 5+ and yet both feature a complex and gripping narrative about family, nature and the spirit world. Books like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and a Wrinkle in Time are well known for their complexity. The first an allegory for the story of Jesus and the second incorporating intense concepts of space-time theory and mathematics.

Frozen is a wonderful example of the complexity of children's narratives. It has spurred countless debates between adults about hidden subtexts and the subversion of many tropes generally employed by Disney films. Check out Idea Channel's breakdown of the film for instance.

I also think it's important to realize who the real audience of children's media is. Rarely do children consume media independently, but are often accompanied by at least one adult - a parent, babysitter, teacher, etc. If Disney wants a child to buy a movie ticket to see their newest blockbuster, they need to entice the child's entire family. Their movie must be fun and entertaining for young children, engaging for older children, and yet still enjoyable for the parents. Writers have to cleverly craft a story deep enough for adults and with enough surface value to amuse the children who can't really follow what is going on. 

This brings me to silliness and humor. The flexibility that the movie and TV industry must have to appeal to whole families extends to comedy. Anyone who has watched Nickelodeon shows or many Disney movies could tell you that there is very often humor included "just for adults". Jokes that go over children's heads.

Here's a list of some of the jokes you may have missed when you were a kid.

Even ignoring these jokes, I would argue that the humor in children's content can still appeal to all ages. Ask most parents. They'll tell you how much they still laugh when watching shows like Looney Toons, Spongebob Squarepants, or Fairly Odd Parents. Ask anyone who has watched a Pixar movie if children's films can be funny. 

Robert Munch is a great example of the sweet, clever humor of children's books. Some great YA novels have setups and gags that could make anyone laugh out loud include Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle series, J K Rowling's Harry Potter series and Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series.

And don't get me started on games. Mario, Ratchet and Clank, Sly, Little Big Planet. Each has its own brand of hilarity accessible to all ages.

All of the aforementioned have a well crafted sense of humor that mixes brilliant timing, intelligent setups, and, yes, silliness. And if you try to tell me silliness only appeals to children, please explain the popularity of comedians like Will Ferrell, Jim Carey and Amy Poehler. Not to mention most action films...

Image Source: http://pandawhale.com/post/16088/theres-power-in-looking-silly-and-not-caring-that-you-do-amy-poehler

Just as clean humor can appeal to a universal audience, so can PG rated content. A film, book, or game does not require adult-rated content to be entertaining to adults. If you really believe violence and sexuality are paramount to a film's worth, you are saying those are the only meaningful elements of human interaction. Which is fine if you think that, but kinda disturbing.

The reason I love children's and young adult stories so much is that they are generally a safe place. I have been feeling more and more lately that I'm coming across unnecessary violence and thematic elements in adult media. Whether this is for shock value or a justification for the media being deemed "mature" or "for adults", I'm not sure.  When I really don't feel like stomaching another bloodbath or rape scene, I know kids' movies and books are a pretty safe bet. 

That's not to say they don't contain dark or "adult" issues. Many children's narratives - the Lion King, Bridge to Terebithia, and Old Yeller for instance- include death as a central theme. They deal with responsibility and guilt for a death, coping with the death of a family member, and questions of an afterlife. Post-apocalyptic worlds and human survival are also very mature themes commonly included in media for kids. Nausicaa and Wall-E are both films that handle these topics very meaningfully while still being appropriate for children.

Image Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coraline/
The "Other Mother" from Coraline

There are many other examples of adult or dark themes in children's media. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series criticizes religion, questions the morality of humankind and the very nature of spirituality itself. Neil Gaiman's Coraline, aside from being genuinely frightening, deals with family flaws and the fragility of child-parent relationships. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is riddled with dark scenarios as you fulfill a dead man's wish to save his illegitimate (and technically unborn) children from a band of pirates, rescue a girl from her father who she has locked in a closet, and many other similarly tragic circumstances. A bit of a spoiler (though it occurs about 10 minutes into the film), but Up deals with a couple coping with their inability to have children and the husband later coping with the loss of his wife. The list goes on.

Image Source: http://oninfertileground.com/infertility-in-film/
Most heartbreaking movie opening... ever.

I would like to think that the complexity of the plots and the mature elements presented make it easy to understand how the characters in a children's book or show can be relatable. They undergo complicated situations, they face difficult decisions, they ask questions that adults ask themselves. Elsa, from Frozen is the embodiment of many women's difficulty to come to terms with who they are in order to claim autonomy and independence. Not to mention a very human representation of the challenges faced by those with differing abilities or skills. The song Let it Go has even been considered a metaphor for expressing one's sexuality and "coming out of the closet."

Image Source: http://movies.disney.com/frozen/products
... and now it's stuck in your head

For those that find it difficult to relate to a character because they are a child - I think this is a problem many parents face regularly. I think a lot of frustration between pre-teens/teens and their parents is that the issues they view as important or crucial are viewed as petty to adults. Parents see teenage romance as fleeting and fun while forgetting that their son or daughter likely views it as very serious. Though a high school social drama will likely have no bearing on a person's overall life, it is significant in that moment. 

As I've mentioned before, fiction is important because it helps us relate and empathize with characters that may be challenging for us. We are given a unique perspective into the lives of people different from ourselves. More empathy can only be beneficial.

Finally, we come to image. What kind of image does it create when an adult consumes children's media? 

In all honesty, I don't think this question should matter at all. Does it make you less of an adult when you admit to reading The Hunger Games? Does it make you immature if you watch Adventure Time instead of The Walking Dead? Are you childish for playing Pokemon?

Let me word this differently. Is it immature of you to enjoy the things that make you happy? Does it make you an adult by hiding or denying when you find something entertaining? 

Image Source: http://cartoonpacks.com/adventure-time-wallpapers-and-backgrounds.html

Emmy loves listening to the Wiggles. So every day, we set her up in her play area, and put on a Youtube playlist of the Wiggles while she dances around. (We turn off the screen so she doesn't get distracted by the video.) The other day I noticed something disturbing - nearly all of their videos have 50% downvotes versus upvotes. The comments also reflected this. 

"Gay losers," some said.

"This shit is so stupid. Only kids watch this," said others.

I saw not a single, legitimate complaint about the content and the hate was generally directed at the show being for children. Personally, I'm given the impression that these are individuals who are unsure of their own maturity (and potentially their gender identities as well). They prove to themselves, and anyone who will listen, that they are adults by showing their vehement disdain for anything aimed at children. As though it is stupid and vulgar. 

As most people probably agree, all it does is make them seem even more childish.

I want to close this post with one of my favourite quotes. I have used it many times, but I feel it is a valuable truth. It comes from Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, which I highly recommend.