Today's Pet Peeve

From my old blog, a bit of ranting that I feel needs repeating...

In the spirit of Foamy the Squirrel, the cuffs are off.

I was reading an article recently about one of my favorite anime programs being attacked by a 'Soccer Mom'. I'm not even going to bother explaining what a 'Soccer Mom' is. It's become infamous among anime fans, boiling blood instantly at the mere mention of it.

The 'review' this person apparently graced us with was about Gainax Ltd. Production, FLCL.

The 'review' was nothing short of an all-out flame.

Ughhh...I don't even know if I can get through this without typing a bunch of gibberish. But I will trod on as best I can, and try to make my point.

I'm not going to make justifications for myself as an anime fan anymore than someone who reads comic books incessantly. Or someone who watches ER religiously. Or someone who buys the Harry Potter books at midnight on the day that they are released.

I like Anime. Get over it. If you don't, then that's fine. But you know what? You don't have to watch it.

These 'Moms' who have so much apparent time to whine on the internet about things like this really need to get a life. Or, how about doing their jobs as full-time parents? I can't imagine most of them being more than housewives. And before you go spouting, "Oh you don't know what it's like, you're obviously not a p-", I want you to hear my one single word in response to that rubbish.

STOP.

First of all, I AM a full time parent. So stow that line of crap for somebody else.

The anime industry is unfortunately huge, and the more popular something becomes, the more it is prone to attacks by people who don't understand it. It seems the societal norm these days to attack what one does not understand or does not want to understand.

This norm of attacking something popular is never going to end. To the fans of FLCL and most mainstream anime, I say to you, ignore this woman. Anime is too big an industry, benefiting both American and Japanese entertainment industries, and it makes a lot of money. As long as it's profitable, Americans will consume it.

True, there are animes I have seen that have no intrinsic volume that are geared more towards kids. I don't watch those out of principle. I also why away greatly from any 'Hentai'. FLCL is neither. It's right there in the 'middle'. And it's a great show, no matter what you 'concerned Moms' out there think.

I would be willing to wager this soccer mom fits the classic bill of a parent. All spoiling and no discipline in her child's life...not wanting to accept responsibility. I blame this on psychologists of one and two decades ago, who said it's morally unjust to spank a child. Granted NOT all children need it, but at the same time, every child is different.

This doesn't boil down to an anime, folks. Anime is but one facet of popular media that is being attacked.

What this boils down to...is lazy parents. Parents who will not take any of the blame for what their child does, but try to blame everyone else first. Anything their child does that they consider 'bad', they don't confront the child in full detail first...they start with the schools, television, you name it. Anything but the child itself. Oh, and the parent themselves are the last people they blame.

Meanwhile, while the parent searches for the 'cause' of the child's behavior, the child goes on to continue doing the things it ought'nt to be doing. Things like television continue to do the parents' babysitting.

Now, make no mistake here. With kidnappers, pedophiles and all kinds of other crazy people out there, children DO need protection by the elements of society that protect them from predators.

But, in the process of our nation becoming overly paranoid about the welfare of our children, we have forgotten something. Or rather, we have belittled something. And that is that children are more resilient and more intelligent than we give them credit for.

Parents don't want to talk to their kids about anything in the outside world that might be 'bad'. I hear it all the time from people. "How do I? My child heard a naughty word from another friend in school, how do I talk to them about it? I might say the wrong thing and they might investigate the source of the profane word anyway!"

Why are parents either too lazy or too paranoid to be more proactive in their childrens' lives? Two reasons: The first one I've already mentioned. Various forms of discipline are being done away with. Spanking is already gone. By your children's time from the date that I write this, spanking will be considered illegal. It is already frowned upon in public places, and kudos to those parents who feel their child needs a spanking in a public store. But you are fighting an uphill battle. The second reason is that previous generations of lazy parents already started the ball rolling to what we have today. It's so much easier to just let society take care of your child, while you reap only the positive benefits of being a parent. And I'm sorry, but cooking for them and cleaning up after them takes a back seat to taking a proactive role in their lives...from school, to home life, to what they do when they're old enough to go visit a friend's house on their own.

I once was in a Wal-Mart, looking for a copy of a Gameboy game my son had wanted for some time. Yes, my son is 8, and yes, I allow him to play video games. Get over it. I LIMIT his game time on an hourly basis. But back to my story. Next to me, I observed a hispanic male with a little boy of his own, but this child couldn't have been more than 4-6 years of age. This child was hopping up and down, excited about something behind that locked cabinet. The male, seemingly looking like he just wanted to take care of business and just get out of there (probably missing a Sunday football game for this, oh the horror), proceeded to call the video game attendant over. The copy of the game that was pulled out and handed to the waiting, excited child was Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Now, if this parent were truly responsible, which I doubt, he would likely have not allowed the child to have such a game. By the bored look on the parent's face, I would wager a guess he had no idea what the game was about. But who is responsible for this? It sure as hell isn't Rockstar's fault. It's the fault of the ignorant parent who had the Sales Associate hand this child the game. This is yet another example of the parental laziness I am talking about. Even the Sales Associate had a look on her poor face that read: "Oh GOD. WHY are you allowing this kid to play this game? Oh well, your business." Naturally, it is his business, and not mine. Or the Sales Associates. Nor anyone else's at Wal-Mart that day. But if this kid gets a bad impression from the game, will this guy go on and sue Wal-Mart or Rockstar for selling the game to him for his kid?

It's just this kind of apathetic idiocy that boggles the mind, and turns the stomach.

Other examples are more simple, really. Parents with kids at the checkout, who run all over the place, uncontrolled, trying their best to wage hell in a store by getting attention in the most animalistic ways. Knocking down display stands, harassing other customers also standing in line waiting to be checked out, even harassing the parent. The parent's typical response to this kind of inexcusable public behavior? They either pretend the child is doing nothing wrong, they get a look on their face as if they might, maybe, possibly should do something but don't...or ...they call out to the child to 'behave', and are completely ignored. But all of them, when they are at the checkout getting checked out, simply pretend the child isn't there while the transaction is taking place. And you can see in the eyes of everyone waiting in line ... the uncomfortable glares from the unfortunate souls who had to share a checkout line with this 'joy' of a child ...the restrained look on their faces. The need, the desire to say something to the idiot parent, but cannot. And then when parent and child depart, everyone behind them heaves a simultaneous sigh of relief.

As long as this kind of nonsense continues, our children are simply going to get worse and worse. Yet, a 'Soccer Mom' is complaining that programs like FLCL are a biiiig problem. Please.

I envision (laugh at it all you like, but based on what's going on in classrooms today, I believe it) a future where a parent is just sitting, in a living room, arms folded at his/her side, while the kids run roughshod ALL over the house, kicking things over, breaking things, completely in charge of the household, for all intents and purposes...doing this because the government strips away the power of a parent to discipline their kid.

My own son I don't spank. But I don't need to. Because I am proactive in his life. Because I talk to him. Because discipline is based upon when he does something wrong and I let him know he has disappointed me. That is his punishment. But gosh, will that be made illegal in the future too? Don't put it past extremist government lobbying groups.

I leave you on this blog with some more food for thought.

Remember when adults used to run this country?