Forum - View topicDouble standard with anime and "western" animation?
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kaiser11492
Posts: 164 |
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Note: Sorry for the long post. Just a lot I need to say in order to explain myself because to me this is something that should be dealt with.
I don't know what other people think, but personally I believe there is a double standard in our society when it involves the content of japanese and western animation. For example, a few anime shows that I have watched made lots of edits because their were guns, alcoholic beverages, sexual innuendo, onscreen fighting, blood, and death. Obviously these edits are due to concerned parents since they deem these topics "mature" for their children. However, I have seen lots of recent Western animation that depict these topics, were meant for kids, and received no concerns from the same parents who worried about anime. Disney for example has many animated, little kid, movies that have pretty mature subjects. Pay attention to Disney movies such as Mulan, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, etc. and you will see what I am talking about. Is this double standard due to slight racial/xenophobic attitudes (ie. It's Japanese, therefore is slightly exotic, mysterious, and scary for Western society)? Is it something else? I only propose racial/xenophobic motives because both subjects being discussed are animated works that depict similar content, and the only difference is the origin. What are your thoughts? |
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EricDent
 Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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Stuff in Disney movies is pretty subtle when compared to anime stuff.
I think that kind of stuff would go over most kids heads, and the adults who do catch it are really paying attention. For example in The Lion King there is a scene you can pause to see the word "Sex" made up of flowers. With anime even the stuff made for kids might be a bit more in your face about it. Just remember that apparently kids in Japan are more "mature" about that kind of stuff. I personally think it's a bit of a joke that American parents are more concerned about the kids seeing naked people than blood & violence. |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1155 Location: UK |
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I remember a while ago I saw one of those 'social intervention' programmes on the TV. A super-nanny type of person was calling out to ban manga and anime as they are inappropriate for children. She gave Dragon Ball as an example by showing images when a young girl (sorry, I have not seen a single episode of Dragon Ball so won't be giving names) teases and old guy by showing him his underwear in return for a favour. Well, I did find her "Anime and manga are eeeeeviiiil, lets burn them all" totally overdone, but still, I got her point when it came to that particular scene in a manga that is rated PG in my country.
Mind you, I was recently showing a Dreamworks film I have not seen before to one of my classes and at one point I heard the characters discussing sexual fetishes. For the first time ever I prayed that kids would not be paying attention. O_o. |
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wcsinn
 Posts: 186 |
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Actually, parents have no direct influence on the content - censored or otherwise - in either anime or western animation. Censorship is imposed by the distributors and western partners in an attempt to make a property more appealing to a broader audience. In other words, the distributors censor content to try to sell more copies based on the perceived audience. 4Kids is probably an extreme but appropriate example. For older audiences the trend seems to be just the opposite, with uncensored DVDs/BDs becoming quite the rage. It's all about sales, I doubt if race, nationality or any factors along those lines enter into the decisions at all. Is there a double standard, well that's another question. Probably, at least I have always thought so. American Dad, Family Guy and South Park are good examples of recent western animation, all of which contain violence, sexual situations, blue humor, etc. I would consider all of these things to fall into the same category as 'fan service' in anime (alibied anime and western anime treat each situation differently, according to their different styles), but I don't see any appreciable difference. Yet look at the furor raised right here on these forums everyday proclaiming anime to be full of sex, perversion and even pedophilia based content (I guess Stewie dressed as - and acting like - a hooker is some how different). So what do you expect from parents who probably have never seen an anime episode (or at least don't realize it was anime if they have) when the 'fans' label the medium as sick and twisted? |
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TitanXL
 Posts: 4036 |
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Well, the main thing is you're comparing television to movies. Movies tend to get away with a little bit more in America. I remember Ratatouille featured a character purposely getting another character drunk on wine in order to get something from him or something (I forget). However, you'll never see that on Nickelodeon or anything. Even those movies are pretty toned down compared to the typical anime on TV. Naruto and Dragonball Z get way more violent than Mulan does when it comes to fighting (I don't really recall anything too violent in Mulan... I think maybe a guy gets shot with an arrow, but most of it is implied or off screen, like a bunch of snow falling on people) Where as the characters in Naruto and Dragonball Z get beaten to a pulp and decapitated and de-limbed.
If you compare shows on television to edited anime on television, then it's a bit more fair. Actually, it probably favors anime a bit more because you can only edit an anime so much, where as with an original American cartoon, you can purpose make it so avoid all that stuff to begin with. For example, an anime might have a girl get her face smashed in and the dub might just cut off screen but you'll still hear it happen, while in an American show the girl won't get hit to begin with (or if she does, it'll be more comedic and less serious like Kim Possible being knocked back into a wall or something, but no knee-to-the-face-oh-god-her-teeth-are-falling-out-everywhere-someone-stop-him-please) Heck, I remember the dub of Dragonball actually kept Roshi trying to sneak a peak at Bulma stripping and going to the bathroom on the toilet.. doubt they'd put that in a US show anytime soon. Family Guy and the like are for adults, so they'll be able to show a lot more than typical Nickelodeon cartoons. They're not going to be given the same limitations as Naruto or Dragonball Z which airs on Disney and Nickelodeon. It's not really a double standard in that regard, just the difference between American and Japanese animation and what is acceptable for kids.
That would be Bulma, and that happens twice actually. The first is when she first meets Goku and he has a Dragonball she wants. She lifts up her dress and says if he gives her the Dragonball she'll let him grope her butt. The second is when she meets Roshi and he also has another Dragonball she wants. This time she says she'll flash him her underwear if he gives it to her. He agrees and she lifts her dress, but unbeknownst to her, Goku actually took off her panties in her sleep the previous night so she ended up flashing him her nude lower half (which excites him even more.. of course, when she gets back to her house and finds out she's not wearing underwear, she realizes she just flashed an old guy her goods and she freaks out comedically) But yeah, probably won't see that in a US cartoon for kids anytime soon (though I've never seen the TV Dub version of those scenes so I'm not sure how they handled them) |
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Sea Lion
 Posts: 307 |
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Not to derail the thread, but how do girls/women forget whether they're wearing underwear or not? I'm a guy, and I'm always aware of my BVDs. Boxer-briefs don't cling as much as panties (especially G-strings. Honestly, ladies, I don't know how you do it.).
Any females want to enlighten me? |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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You're thinking about it too hard, Sea Lion.
As for the original post, I think someone already mentioned the comparison is a little unfair is it's relating movies to shows aired on TV. The DVD releases of shows are virtually never edited these days. Also, you have to consider that theatrical movies and tv shows have two different sets of rating standards. Movies don't have to safeguard against lawsuits or FCC fines because a ticket purchase implies consent to view whatever content is presented.* *Disclaimer: This is my perspective, NOT a professional legal opinion. Last edited by Dorcas_Aurelia on Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Really? I've never had such an incident, neither had any of woman I know. There were some adventures with panties taken off accidentally eg. while changing clothes, but I can't image that somebody could forget about it. More common were incidents when guys forget about wearing trunks with funny quotes on the day of PE.
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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Well, she didn't forget. Goku removed her underwear while she was sleeping (long story short: he tried to use her lap as a pillow like he used to do for his grandfather, but noticed she had less 'padding' down there. Pulled off her panties while she slept to investigate, and freaked out she had no 'pillow' like her grandfather did and ran away. He never bothered to tell her he did that the next morning before they left on their journey. |
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Soundmonkey44
 Posts: 1243 |
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I don't really think theres a double standered, its just the differance in the two countries styles of storytelling. Anime is controversial because, well alot of the violence & sensuality is overt and shoved in the viewers face, american & europian animations take a more subtle, refined & less "hey look at this" approach to that type of content.
I mean yeah violence & sensuality are present in U.S. animation, but outside of animted Sitcoms aimed at older viewers, they really arn't shoved down are throats like they are in many anime series. that is to say, we dont really have to worry about constant cleavage & Panty shots, or alot of blood in the majority in U.S. animations, lol. |
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kaiser11492
Posts: 164 |
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I'm just bringing this topic up because I can't stand the view that anime must equal little kids. Who made that definition is the question I'd like to ask.
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kaiser11492
Posts: 164 |
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So we shouldn't look at the works of other cultures? I am a very open person and I believe not exposing yourself to other cultures is not very wise to do. Yes I do agree there are two different views on animation, but that shouldn't be an excuse for rampant, nonsensical editing. |
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kaiser11492
Posts: 164 |
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Why should television be monitored while movies get a free pass? Movies, like tv, have no safeguards except for the MPAA (which to me is a huge joke). I mean, an eight year old could buy a ticket for a G-rated film, and then once in, immediately switch to an R-rated film. To me ratings are advisory, basically info that is presented but doesn't necessarily have to be followed. Also about DVD's and editing, I would have no complaints if a dubbing company shows edited, censored anime on tv if they also provide a version uncensored/unedited. Therefore it doesn't restrict access to fans who would like to the see an unedited dub while making concerned parents happy that things they don't want their children to see will be aired on tv. That's why I applaud companies such as FUNimation and Bandai Entertainment. |
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kaiser11492
Posts: 164 |
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Well, maybe it's time for America to grow up. |
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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To be honest, one of the biggest problems I've had is that anime often has to be shown off hours to avoid certain watershed regulations, but this has not been as stringent when it comes to animated shock comedy sitcoms stemming from American studios. I write it in that sense because so much American animated sitcoms are actually animated in foreign countries to save money. The comedy in many of these are flat out designed to be offensive, but don't receive the same treatment as what might be termed as incidental offensiveness in anime.
Please correct me of course if I have misunderstood something. |
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