Monday 6 October 2014

In defence of Tom and Jerry

Certain programmes bring back memories of simpler times. Growing up in the sixties and seventies there was Blue Peter, Doctor Who, Vision On and of course Tom and Jerry that wonderful little cartoon which if memory serves me right came on just before the news.

Always made us laugh, after all it was just a cartoon wasn't it?

Mary Whitehouse didn't agree. 

Silly cow thought it was too violent, but then she was always sticking her nose in where it wasn't wanted. She ended complaining about naked manikins in shop windows, let alone Chuck Berry's "ding a ling" (there's a thought for a "musical interlude one of these days when I'm short of time).

There's all sorts of people out there claiming they are protecting "public morality" even today.

Now Tom and Jerry are under attack again. Needs a "Racist stereotype" warning on some of the old episodes apparently. The maid (who was black and always seen from the neck down) was a product of American racism we are told. Never occurred to me for a minute I have to say.

Never made me racist either.

Nor anyone else I know.

But then the politically correct brigade know better don't they?

In many ways the current controversy (if you can call it that, most people just seem to laugh at political correctness gone mad) reminds me of another stupid attempt at censorship.

A Superman strip in Elseworlds 80 page giant published a few years back.

This shows a Superbaby flying around the kitchen going into a microwave oven and then it explodes as he is err...invulnerable. One group of fine American mothers got DC comics to pulp it (except those already on the plane shipping to old blighty) because it "might encourage people to put their babies in microwaves".

Old Anglo-Saxon word "bollocks" comes to mind.

There is real racism out there that needs fighting. 

Leave Tom and Jerry alone. In fact bring it back to mainstream TV so a whole new generation of kids can enjoy it.

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