OT:Does anyone...?

[Kevin]

Does anyone ever think that you are weird for either liking classic cartoons and/or movies? Maybe because of your age or something like that.

Anyone meaning family members & friends.

If so how do respond to that?

[cabe624]

Personally, I've never had anyone tell me that they thought it was weird for liking classic cartoons. I see them as an important part of film history. I watch them with as much respect as I would show a film like "Casablanca" or "Gone With the Wind". Classic cartoons are just one of my many interests.

[J. B. Warner]

A few people in high school thought I was a little odd for it, yeah. I remember that in my 12th grade English class, we were told to do a five-minute oral report on a topic of our choosing, and I chose the decline of the Warner Bros. animation studio in the 1960s. Later, I overheard one kid being informed that his topic was flawed (he was arguing that, since Jesus was able to perform miracles in his time, the process of evolution should enable human beings to perform miracles as well, and through that logic, Christianity must be a crock) and I said "That topic totally contradicts itself." His reply? "Nobody cares what you think, Looney Tunes Boy." (But then again, he was kind of an all-around jerk to everyone.)

Everyone else respects it, though. My parents enjoy watching the cartoons with me (especially my mother), and even though my sister keeps her distance, she doesn't think I'm twisted or anything.

[Bartman]

Nobody says a word re my hobby of collecting and loving classic cartoons. If anything, they want copies of certain films for their private collections.

[Bandini]

Yes, everyone thinks I'm weird, and this used to bother me, but I no longer care. What am I supposed to do, stop liking something because I turn a certain year old? I've been drawing my own comic books for 20 years, so it's only natural for me to like cartoons.

[Ray Pointer]

That remark, "Nobody cares what you think, Looney Tunes Boy," was not only mean-spirited, but an example of denial. The person making that remark did indeed care about what you said, and with nothing else better to come up with, returned with a contradiction that reveals more about his own narrow mindedness and ignorance. Anyone not willing to hear another's views, or denies that person the respsect for their view, denies him/herself of enlightenment. I try to keep this in mind when participating in forums such as this. At the same time I would hope that others can be open to what I might propose regardless of whether it is considered the "accepted" or popular answer according to a certain perception level.

[Chow Hound]

Yes, everyone thinks I'm weird, and this used to bother me, but I no longer care. What am I supposed to do, stop liking something because I turn a certain year old?

Some of my friends think I'm wierd, some don't. Those who don't usually also like to watch cartoons, but aren't hard-core animation fans. I too have gone beyond caring what others think of my likes and dislikes.

[Larry T]

If anyone thinks I'm weird because I like cartoons at my age, it usually doesn't last long.

It's hard for someone with half an ounce of intelligence to continue this viewpoint when they witness my sheer enthusiasm for the subject.

Follow this up with a great demonstration of my impressive knowledge, talent, and detailed description of little-known facts and techniques, and they usually realize that any conclusions they've passed on me will be wasted due to the outright ineffectiveness of doing so... it would be like shooting a 4-ft steel wall with a pea shooter....

...Because, as Ray said, judgemental remarks are often made when somebody feels the need to cover up their own insecurities and ignorance....

Besides, then I also usually state that I'm long past the point in my life where I give a flying f•ck about what anybody thinks of me. :magoo:

[J. A. Boschen]

Nobody in High school ever said anything to me, except a few times sophmore year by one fellow. Even though I was friends with just about everyone in my school during Junior and Senior yearI did feel a little uneasy about sharing this hobby of collecting classic movies and cartoons, (I think it was because everyones interest was with newer movies and video games. Now that I am college however, I share this with people, and I do not care what people think., I actually just did a presentation on how the paramount cartoons (Max Fleischer, George Pal, and Famous studios) are in such bad shape, and people thought it was quite interesting:D .

[Ray Pointer]

When I was in school, particularly in High School, talking about cartoons was not something we did. There were other things in real life that took care of that. But being in an art program, I did have an instructor who would make references to Disney in my classes. One day I asked him if I could put on a show of some of the animated cartoons I had made. He let me, and that established me in his eyes and in the memories of the school from 11th grade until graduation the following year. So I was not seen as a nerd or geek because of an interest in animation, since I didn't talk about it much, but demonstrated that I had actually done it.

[gilligan fanati]

Knowing vintage animation and having an extensive collection of television knowlege has given me a little trouble over the years. I am still in High School and people think that cartoons are for kids. I don't know anybody in my school to talk to about vintage animation. On the other hand there are the people who remember certain cartoons and they ask me what they were and It always brings them a smile when they remember whole scenes from stuff they haven't seen it many years.

[Bartman]

I also usually state that I'm long past the point in my life where I give a flying f•ck about what anybody thinks of me. :magoo:

HEAR HEAR - I'm pretty much at that stage as well - 40 is just around the corner!!!

[Ray Pointer]

Knowing vintage animation and having an extensive collection of television knowlege has given me a little trouble over the years. I am still in High School and people think that cartoons are for kids. I don't know anybody in my school to talk to about vintage animation. On the other hand there are the people who remember certain cartoons and they ask me what they were and It always brings them a smile when they remember whole scenes from stuff they haven't seen it many years.

First of all, those who reach a certain point where they feel they are too mature for cartoons are either narrow-minded, or into denial. They probably still watch them, but are "in the closet" about it. At the same time, how do you explain the huge Anime audience? This group claims they are not watching "cartoons," but they still are. It is just another extension of the animated cartoon medium. So this is another form of denial and lying to one's self.

When I was in my formative school and later high school years, we did not talk about television so much, or what we watched with the exception of LAUGH IN. I think we realized the time and place for television viewing, and did not make it cetnral to our lives. In your case, knowing that there was already a hostile reaction to "cartoons," you'd have been wise to time your discussion for when you found someone who seemed genuinely interested. You have more to gain by paying attention to what others are interested in to not only gage your "audience," but to learn from them,m regardless of whether it is something that you care to hear about. In that way you end up adding to your accumulated knowledge, which ends up being more than the other person. At the same time, those who taunted you for your interest and enthusiam were jealous, which was another reason for their attempt to discredit you because you had knowledge of something that might attract attention away from them. These are the types of people who gain a false sense of superiority by cutting down others and making a cheap joke at the expense of someone they realize is better than they are. These types of people have no real imagination or sense of humor, so they turn to cruelty. In the process, they try to gain the approval of others through laughter. This is an insecurity factor, in that such people fear loosing their "power" and popularity in the "clique" when someone with a genuine spirit comes along. One thing I came to understand very early in my life was that it's okay to be different. And no matter how many times someone tried to hide your shining light, it will still manate to shine regardless.

It is one thing to volunteer information, it's another to know when to offer it. The same sort of thing tends to happen in this forum from time to time as well. And in the process, what I described about the blocking of the shining light, and acquiring information from others who "impose it" applies as well.
So just be true to yourself. That is the real path to happiness and realization.

[RetroMan]

Whenever someone tells me that I'm not supposed to watch cartoons because of my age, or when someone says I'm weird because of that, I usually rant about cartoons (classic cartoons that is) not being made for kids. That usually shuts people up.

[Daff Doc]

There has been a slight change to our regularly schedeuled programing. "Dr. Phil", has been canceled, in favor of "Dr. Pointer, GAC Phiciatrist!".

[Bandini]

Whenever someone tells me that I'm not supposed to watch cartoons because of my age, or when someone says I'm weird because of that, I usually rant about cartoons (classic cartoons that is) not being made for kids. That usually shuts people up.

This is the argument I use for still playing video games. "These games are not made for kids!" I tell them, putting aside my Woody Woodpecker cartoons and firing up the Playstation 2.

[Ray Pointer]

There has been a slight change to our regularly schedeuled programing. "Dr. Phil", has been canceled, in favor of "Dr. Pointer, GAC Phiciatrist!".

I like the way you think. This could be a new twist for day time television, especially since I hear Dr. Phil is being pursued by a class action lawsuit.
Dr. Ray does have a ring to it, doen't it?:tweety: :bosko:

[BloodyChamp]

I bought "The Glass Bottom Boat" DVD for my sister for a birthday present. She's a Doris Day fanatic. We also watched "The Dot and the Line," which of course is an extra on the DVD(and a hidden incentive for this being the movie of choice ;) ).

After watching "The Dot and the Line," she called me strange. That's the worst she's ever said about my cartoons and that's a pretty good record considering how she saw how they stuck with me through the teen years until now and I'm 24. Besides, look at her...Doris Day?

[Daffysleftfoot]

After watching "The Dot and the Line," she called me strange.

That film was probably too artsy for her to understand. You should tell her that it won an Oscar as well.

[Daff Doc]

Dr. Ray does have a ring to it, doen't it?:tweety: :bosko:

Yes it does but it also kinda sounds like a rapper. But it is catchy.

"I'm in yo house, I'm Dr. Ray. Yo brain iz mine, so do what I say".:bosko:

Anything anybody here could put on the air would be ten times better than what's on daytime telivision now (except for my favorite soaps).:shame:

[Daffysleftfoot]

Here's a response I got on a message board some time ago:

Who gives a s**t about what some studio did here or what some animator did here or the complete blueprint to every s**t Tex Avery took... does it really matter? ........... What have you done again? Read some historical trivia? I would maybe step away from the worship complex you have over the old guys otherwise you will just end up rehashing what they have already done before better than you.

What do you say to that BS? (Besides "that's a bunch of BS")

[Miss Marnie]

No one in high school knew that I liked classic cartoons (because I didn't tell them). They knew I liked cartoons, but only the contemporary ones that were either kids cartoons with subtle adult themes in it (Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, Cartoon Network's Cartoon-Cartoons) or cartoons made strictly for adults (The Simpsons [when it was funny], Adult Swim's cartoons [both Williams Street-made cartoons like SeaLab 2021 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the cancelled, near-forgotten shows like The Oblongs, Baby Blues, Home Movies, and Mission Hill], South Park, Rob Smigel's TV Funhouse cartoons [both on SNL and the short-lived Comedy Central show TV Funhouse], etc). Now that I'm in an art school (one with an animation department), I'm more open to tell people that I love the classics.

[cpdavison]

Here's a response I got on a message board some time ago:

Who gives a s**t about what some studio did here or what some animator did here or the complete blueprint to every s**t Tex Avery took... does it really matter? ........... What have you done again? Read some historical trivia? I would maybe step away from the worship complex you have over the old guys otherwise you will just end up rehashing what they have already done before better than you.

What do you say to that BS? (Besides "that's a bunch of BS")

Well, that's a classic Internet TROLL you have there.

These are the folks who go to a message board with the intent of stirring things up, taking over a board with excessive posting and/or making themselves the center of attention for whatever reason. Best thing is to ignore such posts and notify the message board administrator that you don't care for such rude postings. (Sometimes such troll can be suspended or banned! It's worth a try - I've seen it work!)

Here's a nice resource on the topic of internet flaming and trolls:

http://members.aol.com/intwg/flamewars.htm

This site not only give a good overview concerning trolls and flaming but also offers a nice variety of external links on related topics. Check it out!

Craig D.

[Geezil]

Does anyone ever think that you are weird for either liking classic cartoons and/or movies? Maybe because of your age or something like that.

Anyone meaning family members & friends.

Moi? Not a one. Nope, no, mais non. They love these classics just as much! :D

[chesterfield]

My whole family watches all the old cartoons. When I was a kid, I watched with my dad on the weekends and during the week an independent station ran a program called Cartoon Carnival every day at noon that I watched with my mom. Now though, my wife says it's unnatural for someone my age ( I'll be 41 next month) to be so interested in old cartoons and she wonders when I will grow up. I too, say that these weren't meant for kids and that the day I grow up will be the day I grow old. She just rolls her eyes and leaves the room. Sometimes I think she was born grown up.:D