h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had an epiphany yesterday during an episode of Spongebob Squarepants. In the cartoon, Spongebob was being asked to make a difficult decision, and the action cut to a team of mini-Spongebobs in his head, Numbskulls-style, weighing up the pros and cons. One says to another "what do we pay you for?" and the other replies "you don't pay me; we don't even exist; we're just a complex visual metaphor intended to illustrate the mechanics of the though process..." This was *not* a joke aimed at children.

It then struck me that a lot of what I watch on TV nowadays is animated. No, not just animated, but cartoon. The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents have sneakily usurped conventional adult TV in my viewing schedule. As the realisation hit, the reasons for this slowly became apparent.

First, there is what I have come to call 'intended accuracy'. There was an episode of Jimmy Neutron in which a class teacher asked the lead character to name the six types of quark, to which he replied, correctly: up, down, top, bottom, strange and charm. This is pretty obscure stuff even to science geeks, and clearly way beyond the expected knowledge of the target audience. Then there's the ultimate repository of geek-jokes - Futurama. My personal favourite comes from Farnsworth as the planet express ship is sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic:
"Dear Lord, that’s over one hundred-fifty atmospheres of pressure!"
Fry: "How many atmospheres can this ship take?"
Farnsworth: "Well, it's a spaceship, so I'd say anywhere between 0 and 1".
Second is the shot of bender flying through the electronic workings of the ship's brain, Tron-style, hitting a diode symbol and coming to an abrupt stop.
Then there's the invasion from Omicron Persei 8, a planet exactly 1,000 light years away, by a race of aliens desperate to see more episodes of Single Female Lawyer (Ally Mcbeal) last shown on terran TV exactly 1,000 years ago. It turns out that the star Omicron Persei really is about 1,000 light years away. The reference to the book 'Women are from Omicron Persei 7 and Men are from Omicron Persei 9'. Small things, but strictly speaking correct. The average Hollywood product could be expected to gloss over little details like the finite speed of light and the relative positions of Mars and Venus. Reality gets twisted beyond all recognition just to save the writers a few minutes of fact-checking. Futurama is apparently written by a bunch of maths graduates and is chock full of maths jokes, but not being a mathematician I don't get those ones.

Now it'd be nice to think that the writers of these cartoons deliberately get their facts straight in deference to their young and impressionable audience. But I don't think so; I think they do it for comedic effect. Scientific accuracy in popular adult films and television is has become so infuriatingly rare that its inclusion is satirical in itself. It has become a joke. But at the risk of becoming over-analytical, the joke itself is ironic - there is absolutely no reason why a cartoon character should obey the laws of physics - and yet they do. Meanwhile the mainstream of the entertainments industry drifts steadily further from the shores of reality. Every time I catch a little snippet of this recursively ironic 'intended accuracy' I have a little chuckle, smug in the knowledge that I'm clever enough to have got the joke. Having become so used to my intelligence being insulted, it's simply rather refreshing to have it acknowledged instead.

Then I caught the Simpsons movie and realised that there was much more to my love of cartoons that merely their pride in technical accuracy. There's the satire too. All the adult cartoons are ruthlessly satirical: never afraid to use racial stereotypes if it'll get a laugh, no organisation, government, religion or minority group immune. I am particularly fond of the Simpson's relentless persecution of the American Christian Right, as embodied by Ned Flanders. The writers could've just portrayed Flanders as a parody of the average well-meaning Christian if they'd wanted cheap laughs - happy to preach outstanding moral values but in reality just as morally corrupt as everyone else. But they made him perfect; a character of faultless morals with the conviction to practice what he preaches every time. He's not merely a parody of an evangelical Christian, he's a parody of what an evangelical Christian would like himself to be. Flanders is so morally upright that he's honest enough to admit that many aspects of his faith make no sense. In one episode Homer has a crayon removed from his brain, becomes super-intelligent, and accidentally comes up with a conclusive proof that God doesn't exist; Flanders reads it, agrees, immediately burns the proof before anyone else sees it, and returns to his normal belief utterly unfazed. Somehow the writers have succeeded in conveying the inherent contradictions of religion, with humour, but without causing too much offence.

But lets not just dwell on religion. The Simpsons routinely casts all nationalities by their most basic stereotypes, without pandering to any notions of sparing the third world from insult. Canada, China, Mexico, France, England, Ireland and 'Africa' have all been done. As a Scot, I should probably be offended by Willie the caretaker, but I'm not. The accent isn't a parody of a Scots accent - it's not that good - it's a parody of a rather poor Scottish stereotype. Every time Willie mentions his home town it is different - Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow - it's just enough to be Scottish. The deliberate consistency and continuity errors are presumably just more satire, this time aimed at Hollywood's laziness in cultural accuracy.

Actually, 'getting away with it' might be key to all this. Perhaps cartoons still occupy a privileged position in the media, where they can say things that would unpalatable in a normal sitcom. Perhaps the ever-increasing sensitivity of our moral outrage hasn't yet reached the point where we take offence at the actions of a two-dimensional cartoon character. I suspect this may be a temporary phenomenon, so we should probably make the most of it while it lasts.

And finally, the third realisation of my epiphany: the complete lack of personal guilt. There is so much nasty stuff going on the world these days; so many issues and worries; so many things I feel personally responsible for, rightly or wrongly, that it is hard to switch off and simply absorb television as it was intended. I get narked when violent sociopaths with no regard for their victims are portrayed as 'cool' in films. Violent scenes remind me too much of real-world violence. I worry that scenes of animal cruelty are indicative of indifference on the part of the writers, I cringe at gangster movies in which the criminals are heroes, and I find it hard to watch action films without a nagging worry that too much carbon is being poured into the atmosphere.

But in a cartoon, none of it matters. Nothing is real. When Homer dumped a whole silo of pigs**t into Springfield lake, triggering a runaway reaction that ultimately renders Springfield a toxic nightmare, it was funny. Not funny tainted with a little bit of regret at what could have been a dramatisation of unfortunate real-world events. Just funny. It's like a little fantasy world away from the brutal realities of the regular fantasy world.

As if the increasingly complex and intelligent content of contemporary cartoons wasn't enough, their bold, simple colours look dead good on my new LCD TV too. Wasted on kids, I reckon.

Hiya Dave... found you on my friends list a while back and added you to mine as well... hope you don't mind?



What an epiphany! I'm quite fond of animated programs as well, though I'll admit to not having seen all of the popular or even all of the good ones. Reading your epiphany here, I agree with enjoying the satire and the "getting away with it", and the subtle gibes. Some of the gags on the Simpsons are fantastic- I love it that Mr. Burns' house is located at the intersection of Croesus and Mammon streets. And Principal Skinner comes up with some really clever invectives ("What the F-minus?!"). Though much of the scientific stuff in most cartoons is pretty well over my head.

And the colors do look fantastic on an LCD TV; we just got one recently and the saturation is amazing.

Do you get any/many of the Adult Swim cartoons (Sealab 2021, Frisky DIngo, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Venture Brothers, etc) over there? They're fairly well adult-oriented, and can be really funny.

Hiya PC, been a while.

Friends lists - no of course I don't mind - I have precious few friends to show for my 4 years here. I'm afraid that journal entry turned into a bit of a ramble, but hey, its the first for years.

"intersection of Croesus and Mammon streets"

I don't get it!

Yes, we get Adult Swim on one of the obscure channels that no-one ever watches. I think I caught one once late at night, but didn't understand what the hell it was all about. I should try again, clearly!

Some of the Adult Swim cartoons are a little obnoxious, I'll admit. But Space Ghost and Sealab are (IMO, of course ) freakin' hilarious.

Croesus was king of Lydia from 560 BC to 541 BC, and was apparently filthy, stinking rich. Mammon is a term used to decribed the evil pursuit of riches, greed and avarice. I just found that little gag to be really funny.

Meanwhile- yeah, it has been a while. I've been lurking on many interesting discussions, but not actively participating. A certain person kind of wrecked that for me a while back, and she's been going at full throttle again, so I'm sticking to friendly banter and avoiding debate threads.

OIC! Yeah I do a lot of lurking on those threads these days too. I'm scared to express an opinion these days lest someone take it the wrong way / misunderstand / miss the joke. Here's a very good example fom only today (though not my post): http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F19585?thread=5256999 How could anyone possibly believe that was serious? Of course it was a newby which seemingly makes it a lot easier for people to come down like a ton of bricks. I assume you're referring to the Della Wars? I've followed some of the debates and don't really get it. I just can't see where the vitriol that everyone refers to actually is. I must be missing something subtle as a lurker. It's sad that it's put you off though.

She's been on fine form recently!

I haven't got around to Futurama. I really ought to.

We do see a lot of Spongebob, though. And I mean a *lot*. I like to imagine the production meeting:

'OK - so here's the pitch...there's this sponge who lives in a pineapple...'
'Brilliant! Have some money!'

I liked when Maggie was left in the Ayn Rand Childcare Centre.

I didn't like the Della Wars- I don't like to see anyone attacked, personally, and it wasn't all one-sided. But she's not singlehandedly off-putting. I've just decided that, since my time here is limited, I'd rather enjoy it, so I try to avoid all the controversy and vitriol.

I thought the left-handed thread was funny as hell- and was actually a bit surprised that anyone took it as being troublesome.

Yes, the Ayn Rand childcare center was funny... the theme from "The Great Escape" playing as Maggie tries to retrieve her pacifier.

Another favorite Simpsons bit is when Principal Skinner is trapped inside the bag of dodge balls with the gerbil. "Nibbles, chew through my ball sack".

I haven't watched Spongebob in ages, but I used to get a real kick out of it.

If you can see the Futurama feature film "Bender's Big Score" (I think that's the correct title), do. It's funny as hell.

Hi Ed!

Oh you really need to do Futurama. My favourite TV show of all time, by a long chalk.

I got dragged into Spongebob by my 7-year-old, who seems to watch it constantly. Usual scenario is I walk into the room, have a go that she's watching 'that rubbish' again, and then find myself sucked in until the end credits roll.

absorbent and yellow and porous is he Genius.

I remember falling off my chair when I read an interview with Christopher Hitchens. The interviewer said it was Halloween, and The Hitch was wearing a Spongebob costume while his kids were trick or treating.

No - I didn't like the Della Wars, and it is unpleasant when it turns into out-and-out bullying. Myself, I try to stick to my points - who wants to play to her agenda anyway? - and watch her get increasingly abusive. She knots her own noose every time. Sure, I can't resist goading, though. The buttons are just too accessible.

She's been hilariously rude to me lately.

Actually...I couldn't swear to it...but I *think* it was me who coined the term 'Della Wars'.

"If you can see the Futurama feature film "Bender's Big Score" (I think that's the correct title), do. It's funny as hell. "

Oooh yes, definitely. Is it out on DVD yet?


"She's been hilariously rude to me lately."

See I don't get that bit. I don't remember seeing any specific posts where she is actually rude to anyone as such - perhaps a slight hint at something here and there - perhaps she's just very clever at it. Or perhaps I need to follow the convo through. Not that I'm defending here in any way, you understand

Anyhoo - over to your 'Well *I* liked it' thread to defend the newby

It is available on DVD- and even in the UK. I checked, and my source for Region 2 DVDs (I order from them when I need UKnian programs not distributed here) has it for sale for about £10.89. Surely it's available for rental as well.

Hmmm. Amazon says it's out 7th April, though Region 1 is out already. Perhaps I should do some more googling...

Aw, my mistake. Sendit.com says it's available April 7th as well. I'd offer to get it and send it to you, but I'd never get it to you before the 7th anyway. It was released on DVD last November here.

Sorry I didn't pay attention to the release dates.

Oh, nothing that counts as outright abuse, don't get me wrong. Just stuff like

'"Garble garble bloogety bibity bib..." That's an example of how content-free that nutty sentence above is. '

or

'anymore than I expect you to stop being an elitist, little man, who would dearly love to run others peoples'lives for them,'

or

'..before you get all bitter.'

or

I am not lashing out at 'people', I am lashing out at you.

or

Don't you dare talk shite about my 'being in a strop'. Who, Lord Muck, do you think you are?

or

You are a pretentious little berk and I took out the rest of what I was going to say, goodness knows what harm you could have done with it!



Do tell me if you think I'm being over-sensitive, like.

Oh yeah

See what you mean. I think it's probably best if I continue with my strategy of sporadic lurking on those threads

Right. Have pre-ordered the DVD. Hopefully it'll arrive on the 7th

Hope so! I'll bump it up our queue and watch it again so we can laugh about it afterward.

Looking forward to it! Actually, new episodes of Futurama are one of the few things I can watch with my daughter and both laugh out loud at. I should've added parent/child bonding to my list of things I love about cartoons . Will let you know the outcome but please, no spoilers until I see it .