Forum - View topicBad Influence
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JDINGBAT1
Posts: 31 Location: Stacy, MN |
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I’ve got a funny story to tell you guys. Funny, and kind of disturbing. OK, about 6 months ago, I got my little cousin into anime. She’s about 14 and normally very well mannered. She really likes Cowboy Bebop. I mean LOVES Cowboy Bebop. So, I get a call from her mom, my aunt, last night. I pick up the phone and she’s screaming at me. Apparently, she had found a pack of cigarettes in my cousin’s room. So, what dose this have to do with me? I mean, I smoke but she’s never seen me. Hears the deal. My aunt is blaming me because I got her watching Cowboy Bebop. My cousin told her that she wants to be just like Faye. And since Fay smokes, she wants to also. So, I’m getting blamed for her smoking because I got her watching Cowboy Bebop. What the hell is going on in this country when where blaming cartoons for our problems. Am I the only one who finds this a little scary? So if you think about this, if anime ever becomes a major force in pop culture hear in America, is anime going to get blamed the same way movies, TV, and video games are blamed. One more question, what do I tell my aunt to calm her down? I’ve never been in this situation before. I think this is the point where my family needs counseling really bad.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12099 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Wow. What a weird story. If your cousin wants to smoke and be like Faye, let her. Since you smoke anyway, I can't really tell you to tell her how bad it is for your health.
As for your aunt, blaming anime for your cousin's recent smoking habit is pure nonsense. I hope your cousin is at least versed well enough to know what smoking does to your body. If she at least knows it's bad, then the rest is up to her. If she's claiming just to smoke because she's so infatuated with Faye, I guess that can be really passionate or really unintelligent. Do you remember the headline about the 20-something year old man that killed his mother because of Evangelion? This is where some of that "is pop culture affecting people's minds" mumbo jumbo comes into some more play and gives anti-anime people another chance to cut it down or ban it, or whatever crazy ideas they have. I guess it can be interpreted in different manners though. Your cousin is only smoking and not killing people. So, I guess it's not too bad. As for what to tell your aunt. Just tell her it's not your fault and that she needs to talk to her daughter and not blame you. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4664 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Not counting a handful of kiddy TV merchandising/game tie-in franchise anime, anime is just much too niche for there to ever be all that much of a backlash, at least not an organized one. And I think we're about at the saturation point for domestic anime penetration, where it's not going to get much more popular than it already is.
I wrote this newsgroup post about how some anime fans exaggerate the backlash, based on fairly exhaustive research, two years ago and pretty much everything in there still stands. Nothing major in terms of an organized backlash has popped up since, other than a couple of obviously tongue-in-cheek online petitions to "ban anime". |
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frostedsaiyan
 Posts: 637 Location: Maryland |
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Well in my opinion anything a person sees on tv can influence him/her to do something. I remember reading something about 3 kids who really tried to fly like some characters on a show did. They all died and the parents blamed the show. I think its a persons responsibility to be able to determine reality from unreal. In your situation I think you should just tell your cousin that smoking is bad for her health and that just because Faye does it means its right. I mean Faye shoots people too. I think when anime becomes very big and is a normal thing to all people. There will be some controversey over the topic. I think that anime will just keep being aired on tv though.
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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On the one hand smoking is terrible, terrible, terrible for you, and your sister will be miserable with health problems in later life if she doesn't quit now. On the other hand, smoking teenage girls are sexy. So it's a tossup.
PS anime anime anime. |
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JETBLACK87
 Posts: 1073 |
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Not if thats what the cousin said thats what the reason is.
Well I think he should of at least told his Aunt about the show and whats in it. Even if its not a really bad show, for an impressionable teenager it could be worse than you'd think. So, to JDINGBAT1, you might not of thought you where doing any harm (I wouldn't of thought so either). I still think its partly your fault. Maybe you should apologies. |
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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I'm with Jetblack somewhat on this one.... playing Grand Theft Auto III isn't likely to cause kids to go out and run over people shoot people, or steal cars... but I do think that they are influenced to be cockier, and more aggressive by the games they play. (Actually, it's true for adults too.) The more exposure to something, the more likely people will pick up traits of the things they involve themselves in... both positive and negative. That's human nature. We just have a tendency to forget that sometimes.
Last edited by Godaistudios on Tue Mar 02, 2004 8:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1705 Location: Indiana |
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Yeah, I pretty much agree with everyone who's posted so far. On one hand, you probably should've informed your aunt that you had introduced a new series to your cousin. On the other hand, the child should be able to distinguish between what's good and what's bad. I'm sure part of your aunt's anger is probably directed towards herself. I'm sure she thought she raised her child to be able to distinguish between what's cool on tv and what's cool in real life. In a way it's almost like waving a flag in her face saying that she did something wrong. I don't think you should tell your aunt anything to calm down, except that you're sorry for not telling her that you were introducing her to anime. This seems like something that's more between your aunt and your cousin. Oh, and anime won't get blamed...it's media that gets blamed. Media has a profound effect, but we should be smart enough to not let it control our lives.
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Mou Kaoru
 Posts: 298 Location: Simple minds are easily amused. |
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Everyone is responsible for their own actions. You're really not the one to blame here, even if you did introduce her to CB. But who's to say that she wouldn't have found out from a friend or herself. If she wishes to smoke, then that's her ordeal, not yours. You can help discourage her from smoking, but you can never force her to stop.
As for anime and its influence on society, the same can be said for any form of media. TV, music, and videogames have all had their bad rap and controversies. Somebody has to blame something for the "corruption in American society." I love anime and videogames as much as the next fan, but you don't see them or me running around harming and killing people. I agree with Godai-san though, the media can affect a person emotionally more so than inspiring them to pick up a gun and shoot their mother. Everyone picks up on attributes (good or bad) based on their social environment. We just deal with it. You're aunt accusing a show of swaying her daughter to pick up on smoking is just an example of how people nitpick the media for causing their children to misbehave or become "bad." If anything, you should apologize to your aunt and encourage her to talk to her daughter about it and stop putting the weight on you. |
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Lady Sango
Posts: 106 Location: Texas |
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JDINGBAT1, it really isn't your fault that your cousin started smoking. She's about 14 right, then she should know that smoking is bad for her health. Faye will never have health problems because she's an animated character. People have to learn what is real and what is fake. Entertainment has been the blame for teenage problems for a very long time now. Maybe your cousin wasn't mature enough to watch Cowboy Bebop. Faye isn't exactly the best role model for females. Just hope your cousin doesn't start to dress in skimpy clothes.
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10539 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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[quote="Mou Kaoru"]Everyone is responsible for their own actions. You're really not the one to blame here, even if you did introduce her to CB. But who's to say that she wouldn't have found out from a friend or herself. If she wishes to smoke, then that's her ordeal, not yours. You can help discourage her from smoking, but you can never force her to stop. [quote]
Adults are responsible for their own actions. A child (4 years old or 14 years old) has limited responsability. In this case, the 14 year old's parents (end depending on your beliefs, her teachers and elders as well) are responsible for properly influencing her into make responsible decisions, as well as limiting (yes, censoring) her access to influences that might lead her to make irresponsible choices. This child's mother trusted a relation to be responsible around her child. But I'm not blaming JDINGBAT1 for anything. There is no black line that a person crosses at the age of 18, and IMHO, by the age of 14 a child should be mature enough to be able to resist the temptation of "smoking to be cool like a character in a tv show." Granted, many are not, but the responsability for this lies more with the parents than with people who inadvertently introduce them to them to something that shouldn't adversely influence them. That being said, JDINGBAT1, you helped get your cousin into this mess (regardless of whether you are at fault or not), if there's anything you can do to help fix the situation, it would be a fairly responsible thing to do. Or you could just cop out and blame society and the kids mother...
You tell her that you aren't to blame by 14 her daughter should have been able to resist the influence of a cool character. But despite the fact that you don't feel thaqt you are to blame, you'd be willing to do something to help. As to what... I don't have a f'ing clue, sorry. Bribe the kid? -t |
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Mou Kaoru
Posts: 298 Location: Simple minds are easily amused. |
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It seems I had overlooked the fact that she is 14 yrs old. I just assumed that she was mature enough to know her morals. Many kids these days believe that they are old enough to make their own decisions, and many of them are. But you are right, some don't know any better and the parents share the responsibility of their child's decisions. I guess it's all about communication.
 That would be your last resort.
You could show her Mao-chan and melt away her habit with insipid cuteness. |
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molloaggie
 Posts: 578 Location: Texas |
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This situation reminds me of Kyle Pope and CN for Kenshin edits. They did little edits taking out the cigarette smoke and such. There's an interview with CN officials explaining that all such activity is banned on television for teenage and younger viewers.
Anyhow, did she see Cowboy Bebop on television or did you loan it to her? |
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GATSU
Posts: 16427 |
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I still think if she can get a pack of smokes and not be carded that maybe they should be blaming the vendor who sold 'em to her. But that's just me. Anyway, I don't really care if kids smoke, because it makes them too weak to shoot up their schools. (Not to mention I'd rather their mouths be used for smoking than detailing every single aspect of their personal ives via cell phones in public.)
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Syker 07
Posts: 149 Location: Kentucky |
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Heh. Feel ya' on the cellphone thing. That's extremely annoying. But, I was an underage smoker (11 years old, people, not good). She probably didn't get them from the store herself. Someone got them for her. Having just started, she probably wouldn't have the nerve to try and buy them herself anyway. But, that's a minor point (no pun intended). I now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion. |
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