Blogpost 8: Super Mario: What Parents Need to Know

When I was a kid, having a video game means you're a cool kid. Now, playing video games means you are definitely normal.  Most of the people nowadays have Ps3 or Ps4, Personal Computers, Laptops, or smartphones, and that only means that technology is evolving fast as much as games do. I played a lot of video games like Poke'mon, Street Fighter, Tetris, most of them are 2d, pixelated, and blurred graphics, but, there is one game that always catches my attention, or should I say, "our" attention. It is none other than the jumpy plumber, Super Mario. Super Mario is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. Despite it's cartoonish feeling, it also renders with 3D (Nintendo's current console - 3DS). Just like a normal gamer, I'm not into details so that it surprised me to find out that Super
Mario tackles heavy issues in our society.

Based on the first article that I read entitled "From Dtoid's Golden Archives: Dec 19, 2006" , on the website destructoid.com, written by Anthony Burch, this game  tackles about how we grow up without even realizing the hidden messages of the game. Super Mario eats mushroom people. It depicts racism because of the fat Italian, Americanized lingo, Mario always portrays. Then Mario is always addicted to mushrooms and likes to murder everyone that gets in his way. As he quoted, "Actually, when you think about it, Mario's got it pretty easy: almost none of his enemies actively try to attack him, so the only thing he really has to worry about is falling down bottomless pits and getting hit by Bowser's traps. And, really, how hard is it to avoid non-sentient weaponry?"  I've been an avid fan of that game for years, but, honestly,  I have no Idea super Mario can be so gruesome. To know that he is a murderer, I'm kind of thinking that he is a psycho. Just like what I tackled back in my three previous blogs, the word 'Psycho' has been defined from psychological to scientific perception. Now that cartoons are suddenly evolving into gaming, kids are very much influenced by what they play. Anthony didn't just open another shocking revelations for cartoon-based games like Super Mario, but also opens our idea about 'racism' because of some of the jokes presented that might hurt other races. People might imitate these utterances, and unknowingly, might commit racial discrimination, too.

I've read another article entitled, "The Problem With Cartoons: They’re All Racist!", written by Amid Amidi, on the website cartoonbrew.com . The article revolves around the issue in New york Times Magazine, back in 2012. They've used cartoons to exaggerate things and ended up patronizing racism in every joke. As he quoted, "Marche seems to lack a fundamental understanding of the cartoon medium, an art form whose essence is rooted in caricature and exaggeration. He finds offensive stereotypes everywhere he looks, including Blue Sky’s Ice Age, DreamWorks’ Madagascar and Pixar’s Monsters, Inc." It is true that racism is very rampant  nowadays, especially in cartoons. But, we can't deny the fact that cartoons and games are equal in terms of entertainment value. They are both being played and watched  by the kids at the age of seven, and some, even at a much younger age. In cartoons you could watch for hours, while in games for weeks.

Racial discrimination nowadays is being opposed by many people because of its bad impact on a person's behavior. I believe that it is one form of bullying that assassinates the victims" social life. Shows on television, especially cartoons, must be carefully-inspected to avoid bad effects that might ruin the young generation's future. These children are those who easily embrace the language they watch in cartoon shows or games.  We must consider that "Values are caught, not taught". In this case, children must be well-guided by the parents in watching cartoons like Super Mario because aside from enjoying them, they can also adapt easily to the values they present.

Blogpost 7: Ben 10: Bad or Good?

Since I was a kid, I've  always wanted to become a super hero.  I guess all the kids out there aspire to be one due to the movies or television shows that they watch with superhero as the main character. But, sad to say, it's just a fantasy because none of us has super powers. Well, Ben 10 may be a substitute for it. To believe that aliens do exist is a huge fallacy or just a fiction. But, what does Ben 10 do in our daily life? How does it affect our society nowadays? It is true, based on my recent topics that cartoons are very powerful nowadays, because they are happily viewed by the children under the age of seven that these future leaders may inherit or emulate the values they watch on television. Hence, we must pick what we watch. But, Ben 10 is one of the popular cartoon shows in our generation being followed by young viewers on Cartoon Network. Is Ben 10 good or bad?

Based on the first article that I've read entitled "Ben 10 and Power Rangers' cause under seven to have nightmares' survey finds", in the website dailymail.co.uk, written by Laura Clark,  there's a behavioral effect on watching shows like Power Rangers, and especially, Ben 10. She surveyed moms and school teachers who think what made their children act the way it's not supposed to be. And 70% leads to cartoon shows like Ben 10. As she quoted "Some children's television shows are so violent they give youngsters nightmares". It may sound exaggerated but some words of it were true. It is a fact that children nowadays prefer to watch sci-fi action scene and imitate it while their parents are out or without probation. This goes same as wrestling. A child fantasize himself/herself as a superhero in which the kid doesn't even understand what a real superhero is. It is not about fighting, it's about helping.

On the second article that I read entitled, "Television to blame for decline in pupil behavior", in the website theguardian.com , written by Anthea Lipsett, it  flows with the first article that I read. It tackles how kids are not supervised by parents while watching T.V. shows, such as Ben 10. She also surveyed parents who are having difficulty with their own children. She comes up with the conclusion that most kids being rude, have been the effect of watching cartoon shows. As she quoted, "It is worrying that some of the youngest pupils do not know what behavior is acceptable and when they should use it, and cannot differentiate between what they have seen on TV and real life." It is true that most of the kids can't differentiate real life to fantasy world. As much as phantasm is involved, these kids always live in illusion and will always live in this kind of world if not properly supervised by their parents in watching cartoons like Ben 10.

In the end, Ben 10 is an alien show who can save the world. Well, none of us has the capability to save many people using super powers, but, we have decisions that can save them. Cartoons will always have good and bad effect to mankind, but, it is not a hindrance to reveal it's true mystery. The bad effects are sometimes overpowering the good ones, which bring about negative impact on the children's moral values. Let this mystery be our guide that our youngster must be protected from this alarming power of Ben 10. Their good behaviors are the best weapons to fight evil forces in our society, not any fictitious superhero that they idolize.

Blogpost 6: Frozen: The Coldhearted Conclusion

"Conceal, don't feel, don't let them now." We all know Disney's new Movie: Frozen, but, did we all know its secrets? well, hold your Mickey ears, because this is going to choke hard on guys out there. I have been an avid fan of watching Disney movies in which the love story revolves around the Prince and the Princess. It was cute, and heartwarming to see a boy and a girl, fall in love with each other, against all odds. I guess that is the typical Disney Movie we all love, but, Frozen is going against the typical love story we all love to watch. This Movie is about a diversion of something new, yet, not all new is something good. In that, we can all agree about. Frozen is obviously a feminist fairy tale.

On the first article that I read entitled "Disney’s “Frozen”: The Feminist Fairy Tale We’ve Been Waiting For (With No Prince Charming)", in the website feminspire.com, written by Shelby Rosten, she discussed how awful Disney's advertising when it shows Olaf is the main center of this movie, which is not. She summarized the whole story revolving Elsa and Anna's true act of Sister's love. Disregarding Kristoff's heroic act but not ending up marrying Anna in the end. As she quoted"I wish Disney had made a movie with Princesses of color. I wish they’d made Princesses with a different body type. I wish they’d done a lot of things. But this movie is an incredibly moving, entertaining tale at its heart about two sisters." In my opinion, Disney should give Olaf, the snowman, a lot of exposure, because he is the only reason why I watched this Film. They should give more explanation on Elsa's powers, and Anna and Kristoff should be together. But, in the end, as Shelby Rosten said, "I wish Disney had made a movie with Princesses of color,"  that should be more interesting and more appealing to the audience as far as I could think of. Despite the fact that Olaf didn't die, let's go through the reality that this is a Feminist Movie! Hooray! for the Girls, Nay for the Guys.

It is  true that feminism makes this movie looks so bad. So  the Second article I read was about "How Feminists Continue to Make Women Look Bad…", in the website .patheos.com  written by Katrina Fernandez. She writes about how women generally brags about something even if it's stupid. She tackles abortion and her memories as an activist before and compared it to the feminist activists right now, and she ended up putting it to shame. As she quoted, "Quit condemning your Past Self with the hindsight knowledge you have today." It is true that we must forgive ourselves for the past mistakes that we did in the past and not to live with it in the present. These values must not strike on women alone, but for us guys too, because I believe that neither of us is right nor wrong.

To sum it all up, Disney's Frozen is so overrated that it made Olaf melt. It is a fact that feminism is lingering in our world today. Scary, because one's act is breeding in the child's brain that will affect his future. We must negate this false thinking that women are superior than men, not because I'm a guy, but because I believe in the equality of each and everyone of us. And I think Olaf will be happy to see that way.

Blogpost 5: Oggy and the Cockroaches: Little Monsters

Watching t.v. shows all day makes me want to cry a river, because everyday there's always the same old cartoon episodes I've watched before. When I was a kid, I used to watch Tom and Jerry. It gave me laughter when these two characters chase each other because of their mischievous acts. Now, media has something new to offer to us, it's Oggy and the Cockroaches. The name is quite catchy for me, except for the "cockroaches" part because it's the insect I hate most. I am an avid fan of run and chase cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, Popeye the sailor man, and even The Road Runner Show. But, I am quite intrigued with this new cartoon series that elevate the violence in the history of cartoon.

On the first article that I read entitled "Is Cartoon Violence Bad For Children?", in the website growingfaith.com.au, written by Mark Hadley, it discussed how Oggy and the cockroaches inherit Tom and Jerry's violence and evolved it into something awful, yet, gruesome cartoon that kids nowadays love to watch. As he quoted "This slapstick style cartoon is built around a simple formula, that owes much to comic ancestors like Tom and Jerry, though the level of violence has escalated over the years. Where Jerry might have dropped an anvil on Tom, the cockroaches now resort to attacking Oggy with buses and submarines. The issues associated with cartoon violence however, remain as fresh as the first time they turned up on TV." Indeed, Mark Hadley was right. Violence escalated over the years which alarms me because the kids nowadays are exposed into such cruel animated show as Oggy and the cockroaches. Like I said in my previous blog post: this will only breed to a little mind freak killers in the future.

The second article I read entitled "Youth Violence", in the website cdc.gov, written by an Anonymous writter, it mentioned how bullying must stop in each and everyone of us, because one's action may result to future failure. As it quoted "Youth violence refers to harmful behaviors that can start early and continue into young adulthood. The young person can be a victim, an offender, or a witness to the violence." It was right, that all of us have  specific roles in our very own harmful behaviors. One must be certain that the person is aware of the troubles he/she may take. As a person, we must not tolerate bullies in our life.

Based on Mark Hadley, violence evolved throughout the years, yet, we still fail to contain them. There is always violence going on through our brains that may lead into hurting everyone. Oggy and the Cockroaches is still for kids because of its light humor and colorful characters,  but it all depends on the viewers understanding and the parental supervision of these kids how this show will be changed from negative to positive. Parents need to explain to them the bad effects of the mean behavior of the characters in the show, and that they should not be emulated.

Oggy and the Cockroaches, little monsters? Well, it's up to you guys.

Blogpost 4: Phineas and Ferb: The Shocking Reality

Turn on the television and you will find random dramas and commercials about a certain product. Many people die in boredom while waiting for something magical to happen in their lives.  Some people are like couch potatoes and entertainment seekers.  Well, to sum it  up, we always want something intriguing, something new to our senses. I always find Phineas and Ferb entertaining because it's so childish and they created random stuffs like a giant roller coaster, robot platypus, and even time travelling machine! It's amazing how cartoon evolve nowadays, but, as I go deeper to this animated show, I discovered a shocking revelation.

On the first article I have read entitled "Candace Flynn Sadistic Truth", in the website fanfiction.net, written by an Anonymous writer, it tackles all about a theory of the real story of Phineas and Ferb. It stated that Phineas and Ferb died in an amusement park and Candace had a mental breakdown due to the loss of her brothers. Candace entertained herself by imagining that her brothers were experts in building so that they couldn't have died in a roller coaster accident. Perry the platypus is just an ordinary stuffed toy her brothers always imagined having adventures with them. As the article quoted "One day though he caved in to insanity just like Candace. He began seeing the boys again and eventually their inventions". This paragraph dictates that Candace and his Dad were having mental breakdowns, or "Schizophrenia".

Knowing that this cartoon show is very deep and intriguing, and some of the fans are relating their own theories to the other deeper stories, in the end, it flows perfectly yet insane. The cartoon show that I love to watch is indeed a miserable story about psychological issue. It wakes me up every night, thinking, "what am I doing with my life"? Then I come up with a research that made my burden lesser.

The second article is entitled "When Schizophrenia Appears", in the website webmd.com, written by Sherry Rauh. Her article was about explaining that schizophrenia is not a character flow, but a real illness. Brains of people having this disorder tends to look and function differently than the others. Symptoms usually appear on the ages 16 and 30. As she quote "People with schizophrenia can have a hard time telling what’s real and what’s not. They may see things that aren’t there or hold firm beliefs that fly in the face of fact."

The article of Sherry Rauh and the theory of an anonymous writer blends with the reality that Candace has this illness. It may neither be a bluff nor a fact that this show contains mental illness. It may sound surprising to others like me because I always watch that show and haven't thought a single thing about this mental breakdown issues, and the reality that Phineas and Ferb are dead.

In the end, the issue about the demise of  Phineas and Ferb  is just a theory made by a fan. But, I'm sure all of you could not get away from the fact that it may "be" an alternative story for this show. It still upsets me seeing Candace from now on. For me, my feeling about Phineas and Ferb before will never be the same way again upon learning this shocking revelation.

Blogpost 3: Happy Three Friends: Happy or Not?

There is always a type of cartoons that kids usually love. It may vary through their looks,  voices, or creativeness, but there are types of cartoons that go beyond  our expectations.  One of these is Happy Three Friends. Since I was a kid, I've already been enamored with bears. Because you know, they're all cute and cuddly. Then there were those rabbits which I thought were all innocent. Right from the start I was wrong.  Bears are not that all cute and cuddly, and rabbits were not so innocent at all. In this cartoon show, they're all murderers, cannibals, and sadists. Too much for a cartoon show, right?

This animated cartoon show has been the topic of  debates in the social media. Is it good or bad? Some say "good" , and some say "bad". But, what is really the truth? Based on the Article that I read, "Everyday Sadists Take Pleasure In Others’ Pain", in the website
psychologicalscience.org, written by Anna Mikulak as she quoted,  "Some find it hard to reconcile sadism with the concept of 'normal".He showed how sadists dwell on their everyday life trying to cope up with the normal persons around them, on how sadists thinks and reacts on different scenarios of torture. Indeed, she was right. One of the good examples is myself. I  hate sadists, but, I am the type of person who watches Final Destination movies, which is about death and brutality. Later on, I found out that I am a sadist too. Kind of Ironic, but, we are all kind of sadists in our lives. The moment we watch T.V. Shows (Typical Filipino viewers) and the protagonist is being hurt by the antagonist, we tend to smile and wait for more harm given to them. A simple act like that could mean that we like torture too. As far as this show is concerned, it has pretty gruesome animations, but I personally felt dizzy afterwards due to its horrifying presentation.

Based on the second article, Understanding Psychopathic and Sadistic Minds, in the website healthland.time.com, written by  Maia Szalavitz, as she said,  "When viewing the pictures of pain, the sadists showed greater activation in their amygdala — a brain area associated with strong emotion — compared with the other sexual offenders. Moreover, the sadists rated the pain experienced by the victim as more intense than the nonsadists did. And the more intense the sadists thought the pain was, the greater their activation in another brain region called the insula, which is involved with monitoring one’s own feelings and body states." This article tackles about the scientific study on how sadists and psychos react while they see, or do, torture. She explained the scientific reaction of the sadists when feeling pain. Unlike most of the human beings they tend to love, and love torture. The Happy Three Friends is breeding new sadists, criminal minded freaks. This show is really bad for children and teens like us because it may bring emotional outburst among us. It may also be the cause of frustration, stress and psychological imbalance. Intensive viewing may change our concept of living and start killing people around us without any valid reasons, just for the sake of entertainment, or revenge. We don't know the main reason why this cartoon show was allowed, but whatever it is, let the viewers decide whether they felt happy or not after watching this show.

Blogpost 2: Gravity Falls: The Darker Shade

 If there is one new Animated Disney Series that I would love to watch over and over again, it is Gravity Falls. This idea of solving mysteries is very much alike of the past cartoon series we all love, Scooby-Doo, but, GravityFalls is quite different when it comes to its characters. The former one's villain is a person who's trying to frighten the protagonist while in the latter one, its a real monster! This idea gained my interest and really makes my day whenever I watch it.  It is not your ordinary solving puzzle crime busting gang, It is Mabel and Dipper against the mysteries of Gravity Falls, Oregon. In this Animated Series, they encounter monsters based on real life. Issues are, this Animated Series is not for kids, well, I assume that they are both right and wrong. Gravity Falls is a kids' show because of its light cartoon humor. As I observed, Gravity Falls tackled Myths such as Bigfoot, Lake Monster, Ghosts, and many more, but, they also show us symbolism of Illuminati, which is bad for the kids.

According to the first Article I read, “Gravity Falls”: A New Disney TV Show Loaded With Illuminati Symbolism",in the website vigilantcitizen.com, written by an Anonymous writer. On this article, he mentioned symbols that appeared on the show and hidden meanings on every picture. This proves that Gravity Falls is an occult cartoon show. As he quoted, "The many articles on this site attempt to prove that the same set of symbols – those of the ruling elite – are being permeated across popular culture.". 

It is said that the numbers of odd, weird symbols are already on the Opening of the series. On the First Picture, we can see (from left to right) Soos, Dipper, Stan, Mabel, and Wendy, standing infront of the Camera and making a pose. We can see that Stan is wearing a fez hat, only a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Masons (the highest degree attainable other than the honorary 33rd) or Knight Templars of the York Rite could join the Shriners. Which means that Stan knows all of these odd symbols.

As you can see from the picture below, the rug on the floor symbolizes an eye, and the jar on the counter too! This show exposes young children to the Idea of Illuminati and occult elites. 

The second article I read, entitled, Gravity Falls: “Carpet Diem”, written by Alasdair Wilkins, in the website avclub.com . The Article is focused on how this show is not for kids, and the cases of psychological trauma that we may encounter while watching this show. In the end of his article, the hidden meaning means nothing to him, in fact, he sees the 'mystery' as a part of bussiness scheme, so that people will buy and watch this show. He said "Gravity Falls isn't an animated comedy. It's full-fledged psychological horror, and the sequence conveys just how world-destroying it would be to suddenly fine onself in another person's body. It reignites the existential terror that should be fundamental to all body-swapping stories but is so often ignored".

For me, Alasdair Wilkins is both right and wrong. Yes, he is right about that mysteries shown in this animated cartoon series is just hoaxes, but, what if he's wrong? What if this show wants us to tell something that cannot be seen. Who knows? Gravity Falls is a potential rival for Scooby-Doo.

Indeed,  he was right, the show lets us have fun watching it that we almost forgot that we are being lured to a trap of change made by the occult elites, or we may call it "Illuminati". It is a strong Animated series in which we are being exposed to the actions of secret societies,  and this issue is happening right now.

Despite the fact that this show contains symbols that may intrigue the minds of the children, this show still deserves a two thumbs up. Gravity Falls is all about the Mystery, and we love it because of that. It may not be as cool as Scooby-Doo, nor as great as Phineas and Ferb, but I could assure you that this show is original. They may show us some images of horrible creatures, but it's not all so bad. Gravity Falls wakes us that there are some occult elites (Illuminati) hiding in plain sight, waiting for its turn.