Better left for prime-time

I was thrilled when I first heard that Warner Brothers was releasing classic Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes cartoons in a Golden Collection. We've bought two of them, although the roommate now has those in the Phillipines.

It was great to see these cartoons uncut & uncensored. Years ago, when CBS ran a Bugs Bunny show for a two-hour span, I would remember all the violence that occurred within, though I know it was comedic violence. The one that sticks out is the Tweety cartoon when Sylvester decides to tight-rope his way towards Tweety's apartment using guy wires for the old electric trolleys. Suddenly a trolley comes by and Sylvester has to run from it, getting electric shocks upon contact.

For years afterward, this part was censored out, and I shook my head: classic cartoons now the victim of political correctness!

Many critics don't understand (and it took me awhile to know it) that Looney Tunes wasn't produced with just kids in mind. They entertained adults, too. A lot of their early material satirized movie stars of the period. If you're a youngster, could you identify yourself with these characters? Likely not - it was the adults who got the kick out of it.

And the violence? Yes, there was TNT in many routines, body parts getting smashed, and other things we wouldn't encourage youth to do today. But what about the violence in "Pokemon", for instance? What about these other cartoons like "Family Guy", which insults & lampoons everybody? R-rated movies that kids are sneaking in to see? The sexual innuendo a lot of sitcoms practice religiously?

Are these being censored? Compare that more complicated violence & questionable situations and the messages they send with the "violence" in Looney Tunes. LT was tame in comparison if you look at it closely. Maybe their ideal timeslot should have been primetime, after the old "Family Viewing Hour", when these cartoons could have been even more appreciated.

You know just by viewing a Bugs cartoon that the violence is purely comical. With these other shows dotting the air, you have to wonder what society is trying to say.