Casper

So I was watching a Casper The Friendly Ghost cartoon last night, and something is really bugging me. You've seen at least one Casper cartoon in your lifetime, right? They all follow a very simple formula; Casper wants to make friends, but no one will be his friend because he is a ghost ("A G-G-G-GHOST!!!"). Eventually, Casper finds someone who will be his friend (usually due to either Casper disguising himself so he doesn't look like a ghost, or the new "Friend being blind, dumb, or a combination of the two), and everything is great until some meany comes along and threatens Caspers new friend in some way. Casper then uses his ghostly visage to frighten the pants off of the meany, and everyone is happy.

What type of message is this to be sending to our kids? A person who is seperated from the core of society because of his looks (pick a minority, any minority) becomes clinically depressed because society fears him for no fault of his own, only the actions of most other people that look like him. That's racism right there! I'm sure that there are lots of little black kids watching this cartoon, thinking "Hey, that's just like me! I'm a great kid, but those rednecks fear me just because I have the same color skin as OJ Simpson!" So what advice does this cartoon have for those kids? Well, you can either hang out with the stupid and/or blind, or hide your true identity so you can blend in with the rest of society, turning your back on any and all cultural heritage you have.

But then, even *more* disturbing part is that Casper goes ahead and *uses* that irrational fear that society has of him! So if you can't hide your true self, and you can't limit yourself to those that can not fear you due to mental and/or physical shortcomings, then go ahead and use that irrational fear to your advantage! Sure, little Pedro may not actually have any violent tendancies, but if that old lady is going to be scared of him no matter how he acts, why *shouldn't* he go ahead and say something like "I's gonna CUT chew, mayne!" Go ahead, perpetuate the myth that all minorities are violent!

Chuck E. Cheese

The commercial starts with a cartoon mouse taunting children to "Get it past" him ("it" being a soccer ball), and then they can go to his "place" (the "place" being a local Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Restaurant).

My first reaction would be puzzlement or perhaps horror. I mean, come on! It's a huge talking rat that's taunting me! But the children react with boisterous laughter. Nothing particularly funny was said, so I assume that it must be nervous/maniacal laughter, like that "We're all gonna DIE" laughter you get on a roller coaster. And I guess that fits... after all, they *are* being taunted by a huge talking rat!