Now Entering Stone Cold Steve.. wait no?! That’s not it. What else could I be talking about? In the early nineties with the Warner Brother Studio’s Batman Animated Series was being made. The Censors made a lot of complaints and made them change a lot of things. The Broadcast Standards and Practices made a list of nine things couldn’t be shown. They were; Guns, Drugs, Breaking Glass, Alcohol, Smoking, Nudity, Child Endangerment, Religion, and Strangulation.
Now after the recent storyline, with Scotty and Jake flying through the glass. After finishing that page, I realize a couple things. Well one thing, I have broken four out of nine of those rules. I have shown smoking, guns (lots of guns) Child Endangerment (how couldn’t I right?!) and now breaking glass.
This got me thinking. What is appropriate for kids? I mean, a lot of those points I understand and agree with. However how you do you a children show and not show child endangerment? I can understand a couple of things, religion, drugs and nudity. After making this thought I remember Batman Beyond episode with Slappers. A drug based off of venom, that teenage boys in athletics where taking. This was a child show, showing drugs.
I’ve been reading some Terry and the Pirates, an old news paper comic strip by Milt Caniff. In the comic, I’ve been introduce to a character named Big Stoop (Best name ever!) However another character cut out his tongue. Now I don’t know if they showed them doing it. However, just even talking about it is a big,WOW. I mean news papers are more censored then television ever has been.
It use to be ok to show children with guns, I mean how else are they going to find villains? Now a days it’s unthinkable to show a child with a gun. The other way to get around this was, well let’s make every villain a robot. So that way if get’s destroyed, it’s just a toaster. I’ve notice shows are going back to human villains.
I do try/feel like this is an all ages strip. The way I judge is simple, would I show this to my grandmother? The answer is a simple yes. This strip might not cut it for tv but I will always make it safe for children. Take it easy guys.
-Greathouse
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