Nerd Mentality

Website of the Week: March 17, 2009

Posted March 17th 2009 by Daisy Garcia.

Yesterday, scathing comments started circulating the blogosphere when Mattel and Nickelodeon announced that they were developing a new version of their hit series, "Dora the Explorer", only this time she would be slightly older and not as cutesy and non-threatening as our favorite bi-lingual elementary school child. The new Nick show would feature a tweenage Dora attending middle school and dealing with all the problems associated with one of the most trying times of childhood.

Parents threw fits, uppity soccer mom/reporters bitched about it, but frankly this is a smart move on the part of both companies. One of the biggest cash cows in the toy industry is little girls ages 6-11, and these children hold a lot of power when it comes to product purchasing. Idiot parents will shell out whatever they need to just to make their little princesses happy. Little boys are still very into their Pokemon, Ben 10, and Bakugan, but these little girls are quickly moving from cartoon enjoyment to shows featuring humans in semi-real life situations. These children who once squealed with delight as they answered Dora's innocent questions have moved onto being all about Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place, many of whom have done so within the span of kindergarten. My own first grade daughter only wants to watch cartoons if nothing else is on, while my son would be perfectly happy if we allowed nothing but Cartoon Network 24/7 (we don't).

What Mattel and Nickelodeon are doing can be seen as yet another attempt to cut the innocence of the already shrinking childhood and turn the world into teenagers. That's the real problem. Adults want to think they're still teenagers and their young children want to be teenagers and so the lines are quickly blurred and companies like these two cater to and oftentimes create the blur. Last week's episode of South Park commented on this major societal problem perfectly; people need to grow up and let kids be kids. But you can't blame Nickelodeon or Mattel for that; they are simply companies worried about their bottom lines (and ridiculous quarterly bonuses). The blame should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the parents.

As much as I hate those that bemoan the "good ol' days", cartoons of today just aren't the same quality as before and aren't holding the attention span of children brought up to believe that 16 is the end all and be all of perfection. Sure we had a few badly acted - moving onto older situation - yet still fine for kids programming shows, like Saved By The Bell and Clarissa Explains It All, (even a few not so innocent ones like You Can't Do That On Television or Salute Your Shorts), but we had a multitude of animated shows that didn't promote teenagehood as the time of your life. That was saved for the inevitable regular show that signaled Saturday morning was just about over and your parents' golf or boring cooking shows would soon be starting.

Kids today have cartoon after cartoon filling their heads with teenage delight; we had shows about turtles kicking ass and awesome robots and bears that shot rainbows from their bellies. This is why my own guilty hypocritical pleasure is checking out this week's Website of the Week, Retroland, whilst listening to Step By Step or Electric Youth. I remember what it's like, so I don't give my daughter flack for liking the Jonas Brothers or iCarly, even if she doesn't really know why. Girls have always held the power when it comes to deciding what's popular. Mattel and Nickelodeon are just trying to cash in on what Disney's been doing for awhile.

Oh and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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