Funny Violence example essay topic

When we were younger, the cartoon to watch was Looney Tunes. We loved seeing the crazy antics of the animated giant bunny, sputtering duck, and the mute coyote. But did we realize the amount of violence that we were absorbing? The anvils dropped on the heads of the characters, the dynamite going off, the guns being shot?

Now we " ve gotten older, and the craving for "funny violence" is still there, even though the "funny violence" has matured from "Looney Tunes" to shows like "Jackass", which begs the question, "Is real-life violence truly worse than animated violence in television shows?"You'd be surprised how much joy you feel when you see a baby crocodile nearly bite off a man's nipple... If you see one film for the rest of time, it should be 'Jackass'". (Parker 1). For a week in October of 2002, "Jackass: The Movie" had the highest gross of any film on the 35,000 theatre screens across the nation (Brasch 1) according to Walter Brasch, a national award-winning reporter and editor and professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University. People flocked to the movies to see Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera, Jason "Wee-Man" Acu~na, Ryan Dunn, Preston Lacy, Dave England, and E hren McGhehey on the big screen doing what they do best: making jackasses out of themselves. On the small screen television show on MTV, these nine guys do stupid stunts like play bumper cars in stolen golf carts and joust with lances on BMX bikes-ouch.

It's funny to watch, but is this violence affecting us? And are low-tone violent cartoons like "Looney Tunes" any better? I personally think that "Looney Tunes" depicts violence in a different way that is much more dangerous than "Jackass". So, why is "Jackass" better than "Looney Tunes"? Despite all the harsh treatment that "Jackass" gets for its' violent content, at least the creators come clean and admit that it's violent. "Looney Tunes" simply covers it up with cute animated characters, sound effects, and funny catch lines, especially when it concerns young children.

They are mesmerized with animated characters on television doing violent things, simply because they " re "funny."Jackass" shows Johnny Knoxville getting stitches after their "Department Store Boxing" stunt. "No one ever says that Bugs Bunny is violent, but if you take a closer look, there are more acts of violence in a Warner Brothers cartoon than I care to count. And if you think about it, there is violence in almost all cartoons" (Wall heimer 2). Do we ever think about it? Simply put-no. At least when we watch "Jackass" on television we realize and are fully aware that we " re watching "hardcore violence"-it's scary to think that we " ve been absorbing violence on the same level our whole lives through "Looney Tunes" and not even realizing it.

Critics scold "Jackass" for containing stunts like: Johnny puts a flame-retardant suit on, wraps himself in meat and grills himself, Bam rides his bike into a port-a-potty, Steve-O gets "J-A-C-K-A-S-S" stapled onto his butt, and Ryan gives several of the guys severe paper cuts with an envelope edge. Ridiculous.