Soccer Mom Badgers CN on Misleading Rating for FLCL

[Reenee]

http://www.tribnet.com/opinion/story/3732462p-3759193c.html


Have you watched The Cartoon Network with your children lately? If you haven't, and you are a parent or advocate for children, you should read this.

There is a new cartoon called "FLCL," or "Fooly Cooly." Originating from Japan, this cartoon airs at midnight on The Cartoon Network as part of the network's evening programming called "Adult Swim."

My husband heard about "FLCL" from some young men in their 20s who found it quite entertaining and told my husband to watch it sometime. When my husband and I turned on "FLCL," we were shocked and outraged.

Had this program been on a channel other than The Cartoon Network and had it been rated "R," we would not have been so alarmed. This program is rated TV-PG. What we saw was nudity below the waist on a teenage girl, kids blowing people's brains out with machine guns, extreme violence and sexual content - all being acted out by adolescent characters. Why has this show been rated TV-PG?

What nudity? Oh dear Jebus, seeing a girl's PANTIES, WHICH WE SEE ALL THE FRICKIN' TIME IN A VICTORIA'S SECRET COMMERICAL OR IN YOUR LOCAL TARGET PERIODICAL is going to end the frickin' world. And these "machine guns" were nothing more than pop guns. No blood, not even a scratch was seen. I'm guessing paintball is too explicit?


We feel safe as parents of young teens to allow them to watch television unsupervised even at a late hour because we trust in proper TV ratings...

What kind of world is this woman living in?


and have our family television set with a parental code for anything PG-13 or above.

Over-protective.


It doesn't do any good for The Cartoon Network to display a parental warning prior to its late-night programming because parental codes don't lock out a show based on that type of warning. What works is to rate a show correctly in the first place.

We're not going to shop for our own televisions for some doowacky function, but that's just me.


Let me say that we are not extremists.

Amazing. Watching the show and still blowing it out of proportion. Oh the contradicting...oh the irony...


We don't try to hide our kids from the real world, nor do we chase down every bad thing in life and try to abolish it or censor it.

*cough*


What we are saying is that this particular show is vulgar and dangerous and could possibly incite violence. We are outraged that it has been rated TV-PG to be openly viewed by kids on, of all places, The Cartoon Network.

Verily much sounding like those senators trying to ban the sale of violent video games. I'm not surprised.


So, children can watch Scooby Doo during the day and at night they can see teenage girls acting out oral sex acts with a lollipop.

I'm sure the kids who ACTUALLY watch Scooby Doo aren't allowed to stay up that late anyways.


When we tried to contact The Cartoon Network, we found that it does not accept phone comments from viewers. We went to its Web site, cartooncomments@ turner.com, and did not find a place to contact anyone at the network. We will, however, mail it a copy of this letter.

We have been in contact with the Federal Communications Commission, the ACLU and organizations dealing with violence against children. We have been spreading the word to educators and churches to raise public awareness about this incorrect rating.

I'm personally going to contact the Editor. If anyone posts in here, I will gladly forward your message.

Edit: added my own stuff.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Reenee on 2003-08-30 19:10 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Reenee on 2003-08-30 19:11 ]</font>

[Captain_Bob]

Whoever did that is CLEARLY overprotective of their kids. I watch adult swim every once in a while (I still dont get half the shows on there) and i don't see half the stuff they're talking about.

[ABDUR101]

Actually, you summed it up nicely.

Appearently, CN is supposed to only show Scooby Doo, Bugs & Daffy, etc

Dear Lord, keep them away from Outlaw Star and Kenshin!!1!1

..wait..wait...show them DBZ =D

*edit*
Damn you, missed letter, damn you.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ABDUR101 on 2003-08-31 08:15 ]</font>

[LamerPanda]

It's called "Adult Swim", not "Young Teenager Swim". Originally they suggested that the material was suitable for ages 18+, now it's been dropped to 14+ for most shows. If you have a problem with that, don't let your kids watch it.

My question is, why would they be up at 12:00 anyway? Do they not go to school? Maybe they're homeschooled since the kids at school would be a bad influence and all.

[Reenee]

I sent them a message and got a reply. It has a chance of being published on hard copy, but I only really want the author of this article to see what we have to say.

Oh, and thanks ABDUR! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif''

[monkeyfist]

Let me say that we are not extremists.

roflmao

hilarious.
i didn't personally get flcl but i dont even look at the ratings. to the parents: if you have such a problem, give your kids a bedtime. quit whining

[RuneLateralus]

Yeah, and it is called Adult Swim, has the Explict Content, the parental warnings and such. Jesus Christ lady, you are exactly like the customer at Baskin Robbins who yells at the associate for not being able to take her $50 WHEN THERE ARE FIVE SIGNS THAT SAY NO BILLS OVER $20!!!!!

Having low self esteem. Look at this stupid lady and then you realize not only has she got it worse, but she is not cognizant on how fucking bad she has got it. Poor girl.

[Reenee]

This thing was flawed from the start. The first thing that should've come to mind was the fact that there was a reason Adult Swim came on in the wee hours.

[Shadow82]

Heh,it's too bad she was to stupid to read the disclaimer before all of those shows.So she can bitch all she want,but it won't matter except to make the kid grow up with issues.Meh,oh well.

[Reece]

Send them some Scooby Doo Hentai! Yes... Then they will change what they think about it... And then we will Finally know why Fred takes Daphine and Velma! What does he do with them...

[DarkWolf]

I haven't watched Adult Swim in a while (lack of sleep is getting to me), so I haven't watched that show yet. I can see where she's coming from though. On a children's channel, even blatant views of underwear is too much. I have no qualms, personally, with some of the stuff on Adult Swim (like Trigun, Outlaw Star, etc), however I do with others (Lupin III). In any case, however, the stuff on it really doesn't belong on Cartoon Network, but needs its own network.

However, children should not be up during those times, even homeschooled children follow the same routine as kids in public or private school, so no kid, by all rights would be up by then.

My opinion... although Adult Swim really needs its own network, so that Cartoon Network can return to being a child's/teen's network, her concern is a bit misplaced.

[tiltnkirby26]

I lost all the thing I was going to say because of the MS IE locking up......So I'l just say that most of the people here have hit it right on the head. Its at 12AM. Most parents have them go to bed way before that. Start to worry about them sleeping more then the programing that late at night. If they're asleep then they can't watch!!!!!!!!!

[Reenee]

Okay, I need to bring up something:

Apparently, I'm mistaken in only one area (no pun intended on what's coming up): The so-called "nudity" part was somewhat right, I think.

In Episode 5, where you see that Lupin-esque thing going, Haruko was in a towel. Now, the part before Naota's dad catches Haruko on top of Naota, there was a clean butt-shot of Haruko.

That's all I know...but, in my defense...it's just a cartoon. It's not real.

[DarkWolf]

True, it is just a cartoon... but then again, hentai is just a cartoon too... and it does to people the exact same thing the "live-action" stuff does.

Handdrawn or otherwise, it should not be shown on a children's channel.

[Gestiv]

If you want kid's stuff, watch Nickelodeon. It is Cartoon Network, and there are plenty of adult cartoons out there. If they want to show them, big whoop. If you have a problem with kids watching it, either change the channel, put the damn V-Chip on TV PG and up, or put them to bed at a decent time like they should be doing, and stop whining about it. There's plenty of people out there who enjoy the shows, and many don't give a rat's ass what happens to your kids.

[DarkWolf]

Thank you for showing kindness and concern for other people's children.

I realize it is *Cartoon* Network, but a distinction needs to be drawn between what is acceptable for children, and what is acceptable for adults. All I'm saying, is that if they want to show adult material, then it really ought to be on a different station... I dunno... like maybe "Anime Network" that only shows teen and up anime, and leaves kid stuff like Hamtaro on Cartoon Network.

Problem is, is that not all kids are supervised 24/7, and some are going to do what they want anyway. And yes, the V-chip, parental supervision, and changing the channel are all good, but can you actually imagine how hard it is to raise moral children with immoral or inappropriate things within their grasp?

[Deathscythealpha]

Ah, dont you just love living in a world where anyone can get up on their high horse and moan about something and ruin it for everyone.

Its on at 12 midnight. It doesnt matter if its cartoon network or not, if you let your child stay up that late to watch tv there going to see sex and violence on nearly every channel.

[ABDUR101]

Adult Swim has always stated, and from when I used to watch it, before every show and between commercials, that what was being shown was not for younger viewers.

The one line from this lady's statement that caught my attention, was that she contacted every child protection agency and church she could. Now, I don't mean to sound like an ass by saying this, but if you have to rally support from your churches to protect your children from a bare cartoon ass(which most likely was nothing explicitly drawn) then you have much bigger problems than your children enjoying the sight of a naked body.

Yeah, it's on Cartoon Network, yeah, Cartoon Network has ratings and gives warnings for Adult Swim, and if you're any kind of a parent who doesn't want their children seeing something as such, you're the bad parent for not keeping a closer eye on what they're watching. Sit down with your kids and watch what they're watching for abit to get an idea of what it's about.

What, you're going to get pissy because of an animated paintball game, or an animated girl "acting out oral sex on a lollipop", when you weren't monitoring what your kids were watching?

The rating system is generalised, it's not going to be perfect, because everyone has a different view on what is and isn't acceptable to certain age groups.

I think some people expect everyone else to take care of their kids. Thats all I'm getting from it anyways. She was shocked and horrified at what she saw on Adult Swim after she let her kids watch it for so long, and instead of blaming her kids for not following the rules and guidelines she as a parent sat down(unless she did'nt give any guidelines such as "no nudity, graphic violence" etc), and instead of taking the blame for not more closely monitoring what her children were watching, it was easier to blame CN for "not doing their job right(to protect my children and what I think they should watch)".

But oh well, yeah? Someone's always going to point the finger instead of taking responsibility for their end of the deal.

[Reece]

She does have that punching thing outta her (can I say the word on here? not sure?) But yea outta her private. lol

[Gestiv]

Amen to that.

And it's not like you can keep your kids from learning about these things in today's world, anyway. They'll learn about it somehow, whether it be from friends, TV, or parents. The world is full of immoralities, that's why there are things like porn and South Park. But it's entertainment; It's what the majority of people want to see, and that's what the they networking execs give them.


Which reminds me, this IS cable TV, you're going to see more explicit things than you would on CBS or NBC.

[Shadow82]

Did she leave her email adress?We should mail this thread to her.

[Inu_Ranma]

I personally wouldn't call Cartoon Network a kid's network anymore. Furi Kuri is, in my opinion, more appropriate for young kids than, say, Family Guy, which they also show.

Either way, I'd say someone who calls all these churches after a mistaken paintball, a bare butt, and a lollipop is definitely an extremist. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[_Sinue_]

Abdur is completely correct in latter half of his comment. A parent should set down guidelines for a child, and a punishment should be given to the child if he breaks those guidelines. Your job as a parent should be to instill the morals and beliefs into your child that your parents taught to you. Not everyone shares these beliefs.. so once you give up the reigns to a corperation, you shouldn't be outraged when they do something which doesn't fall into your realm of morally acceptable.

The saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child", and I believe it's a very true statement. With the world of multimedia, TVs, Movies, Music, Internet.. the whole world has become one big village. Today, the parent's role in a child's development is more important than ever before. If you allow the global village to raise your child, then you have no buisness complaining that they're being raised with morals you don't agree with. You're the one, after all, who gave up your parental control.

[Reenee]

I have yet to recieve a reply from the website where that rant was posted.

What I see from DarkWolf is that there be another channel or something similar. Personally, I can't agree. Yes, it takes money, but the way things are going, it's quite fine.

Yes, Adult Swim is at shown very late at night, but that doesn't stop some alternate methods to watch the show, which, I will add, can backfire as well.

Possibly the most advantageous way to see Adult Swim is simply getting DirectTV. Why? Here on the West Coast, there are some channels that are aired "3 hours earlier" to their East Coast equivilents. Actually, they're just shown at the same time, disregarding the time differences. So, in my part of the U.S., AS starts at 8 PM, and you can watch 66.6% of what they can offer, and be satisfied.

And how can we prevent that? Simple: either be old enough to watch it, or block the channel.

Next up, recording AS. I'm sure some kids would get wise and set up their VCR (or, why not, those devices that use a hard drive) to record the 3 hours of mateur entertainment.

Prevention? Get off your lazy ass and wake up in the middle of the night to see what your kid's watching. Or, better yet, the child could actually get tired of this themselves: because AS is 3 hours long, you'll only fit two whole showings on a tape at the lowest quality, and you just have to watch the day-by-day to catch up (unless, of course, you buy several tapes and leave Friday night to enjoy them). But, it might not work if they're just trying to catch one or two shows.

Those were just examples.

And I agree with ABDUR with his latest post. They can show that stuff for a reason. Seems inappropriate for kids, but what are they doing there in the first place??

[Morfos]

She is a crybaby, TV14 is a considerable rating for it. Ive seen it, its not nearly as inmature as she says it is. Also, have you seen Dexter naked? He isn't even on Adult Swim. She should stop whining. You all took the words out of my mouth.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Morfos on 2003-08-31 23:00 ]</font>

[MasterJoel]

On 2003-08-31 22:59, Morfos wrote:
She is a crybaby, TV14 is a considerable rating for it. Ive seen it, its not nearly as inmature as she says it is. Also, have you seen Dexter naked? He isn't even on Adult Swim. She should stop whining. You all took the words out of my mouth.


although not quite as tact as the other posters, i agree with you for once. this is worse than my neighbor not allowing her kids to watch ninja turtles when we were kids. after all, there are warnings on cartoon network.

[polishedweasel]

On 2003-08-31 23:20, MasterJoel wrote:
this is worse than my neighbor not allowing her kids to watch ninja turtles when we were kids.

WHAT...THE...FUCK!?

It's people like this that make me want to slap the shit out of the first "TV ratings/Censor everything" person I see. One of the worst is my stepmother. She comes into my house when I was in the 6th grade. Takes all my music changes my curfews around and then says that I can't watch movies and specific shows(Bevis and Butthead, which was insanely popular in 1996) So now my little brother(who is 11 now) can finally watch PG-13 movies.

Remember I'm the same kid that had mortal kombat 2 when he was 7 and watch Alien and Dinosaur documentaries on the Discovery Channel. I was really smart back then...what happened? I was so scared of aliens when I was a kid. lol!!

[Shattered_weasel]

On 2003-09-01 01:02, polishedweasel wrote:


On 2003-08-31 23:20, MasterJoel wrote:
this is worse than my neighbor not allowing her kids to watch ninja turtles when we were kids.

WHAT...THE...FUCK!?

It's people like this that make me want to slap the shit out of the first "TV ratings/Censor everything" person I see. One of the worst is my stepmother. She comes into my house when I was in the 6th grade. Takes all my music changes my curfews around and then says that I can't watch movies and specific shows(Bevis and Butthead, which was insanely popular in 1996) So now my little brother(who is 11 now) can finally watch PG-13 movies.

Remember I'm the same kid that had mortal kombat 2 when he was 7 and watch Alien and Dinosaur documentaries on the Discovery Channel. I was really smart back then...what happened? I was so scared of aliens when I was a kid. lol!!




poor Javi.......You was smart....when

[Elvendar]

This lady needs a good stab slap in the face.

1)If i'm up at midnight and want to watch nudity, i'm going to change the channel to showtime/cinemax/HBO - possibly some other channel geared towards real people or masculine habits. I doubt your kids are going to sit there drooling at the CARTOON NETWORK.

2) I'm not entirely sure if it was a lollipop or a popsicle, but in my opinion, none of the characters do anything seductive but sucking on the earlobes on the first episode.

3)If you go to church, i'd be more opposed to the religious inflences on your child. Episode 2 plainly describes "The god of the black flames" (which should be enough to make this god-fearing woman piss her pants.) Theres also the fact that Mamimi is suspected on several cases of arson and enjoys a video game where the object is to burn down the town.
I want that game

4) oh wait, she should have been scared off by any sort of background music in the series, because it includes a guitar, and ROCK MUSIC IS FUCKING LUCIFER HIMSELF

People like this need to be put in a dark room with cannibalistic baby rapers

[Monomate]

People like that need to be removed from the face of the planet. First off it's a simple solution. I can't even watch adult swim. Why? because i have to go to bed at 9:30 (horrible horrible death). Wow...real fucking simple answer to a real fucking stupid problem. However, were it not past my bedtime i'd be able to watch it because my parents would likely not care (they know i've seen much worse, this is a shared computer...) besides, i'd be more worried about your kids accessing porn than a tv show. and uh one more thing. The more you try to protect your kids, the more curious they will be, and the more they will slip from your grasp.

[Reenee]

While Haruko is in a towel, trying to seduce Naota, we have, err, the Powerpuff Girls blasting the bejeezus out of monsters (rather tame for me), and hilarious Dexter pulling off more butt-shots than Homer Simpson.

This woman's kinda oblivious, ain't she?

[pixelate]

On 2003-09-01 14:45, Reenee wrote:
While Haruko is in a towel, trying to seduce Naota, we have, err, the Powerpuff Girls blasting the bejeezus out of monsters (rather tame for me), and hilarious Dexter pulling off more butt-shots than Homer Simpson.

This woman's kinda oblivious, ain't she?



There's a bit of difference in terms of nudity. Ass is not always ass. Showing a baby's ass in a diaper commercial is perfectly fine. Showing a grown man's ass in a cop show gets some publicity. It's all about whether or not the nudity is in a sexual context.

[AzNrarehunter]

wait, isn't the mother upset about the robots that come out of naota head. doesn't she find bizarre?

[Uncle_bob]

It's parents like them that have make Fresh Kills so crappy now.

[Monomate]

exactly! amen to uncle bob!!!

[Uncle_bob]

Little Timmy: OMG MOMMY! Someone at PSOW said "boobies"!
Timmy's parents: OMG!!111 we r go complain 2 PSOW so little timmy r not get offendedz0r!111 *shields Timmy from life*

Thus began the downfall of Fresh Kills.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Uncle_bob on 2003-09-01 18:09 ]</font>

[Monomate]

sounds like it's about to happen to Adult Swim too. (i never got too see it!!! wwwwaaaaaaahhh!!!)

[Reenee]

If you're going to spam, go spam in Fresh Kills. I'm being serious in this thread...and possibly several others.

[Uncle_bob]

I'm not fucking spamming, my replies had a point...

If that wasn't directed at me, I'm sorry.

*walks away and gets run over by a car*

[Atax]

Adult Swim is on at 12AM in the US? Over here in Australia, it's on at 10PM.

[klepto]

Why is this lady getting the church involved? This has nothing to do with religion. If this women is truly concerned about protecting her children, she should keep them away from the church, lest the Priests have a little boys sleepover. Another thing, why would you shield your kid from say, cartoon violence at age 7, when the next day he is gonna ask his friends about it, and learn anyway. Good thing my parents never really gave a damn about what we watched. We will learn is sooner or later, who cares which? If I were that kid, I'd go get 15 dollars collecting pop bottles or whatever and go buy a Marilyn Manson CD. I'd play it as loud as it would go, and laugh my head off. Id also do the same thing if I was her neighbor...

[Ryo_Hayasa]

I'm So sorry for the topic leader, you are completely right.

"Oral Sex with a Loli-pop"
WHAT?! oh Come on Calm Down sHe wasn't Acting out anything, She was Merely Eatting the candy Jesus people Over react too often about some of the dumbest things, it's a cartoon why would children (without already identified mental issues) be effected deeply by the antics of a cartoon, i am so sick of these "groups" trying to censore us, they were messing around with our video games (i'm a happy owner to this day of conker's bad fur day) and now they mess with one of the most off the wall anime's of this day and age, this is just too much.

i don't understand what would be the point of this, i mean say for instant they did cancel FLCL, what would they gain? and also the orginal poster was correct in saying "Most children that watch scooby-doo ARENT allowed to stay up that late anyway"
isn't that the point of adult swim? it's on late so the "little darlings" Can't View it, due to it's content?

though saddly i've just made myself feel as if my rant was directed to myself.
i can no longer view FLCL or adult swim for that matter, i have school at 5am. so if i stay up to watch then i wil fall asleep in all my classes. heh "sucks to be me" does it not?

anyway FLCL is off the air, it was a six episode Anime for the matter, lets just hope the dreded "over-protective mom " treath will stick their Pin shaped noses in other affairs that they have no bussiness being in besides Adult swim.

(why did they have to take adult swim away from saturday night ._. )

[Xavier_Nagrom]

On 2003-08-31 22:59, Morfos wrote:
She is a crybaby, TV14 is a considerable rating for it. Ive seen it, its not nearly as inmature as she says it is. Also, have you seen Dexter naked? He isn't even on Adult Swim. She should stop whining. You all took the words out of my mouth.


1. And Dexter's under 18 isn't he? I'm surprised she's not pissed about Dexter being in "child pornagraphy".

2. As for the lollipop. There's a saying: "The only people who notice these things are those looking for them". As far as I can tell she already had something against Adult Swim and was looking for a good way to attempt to get rid of it.

3. I love Inu-Yasha, don't get me wrong (it's my fave anime), but I'd think she'd go after that first. Swearing, blood, violence and the hero is a half-demon. Also, it's a damn good anime, which many parents group seem to have a problem with.

4. Oblongs, for that matter, is worse than FLCL. In one episode the guy's *insert term for male genitalia here* got stepped on while at a strip club. Throughout the entire episode he and his wife were trying to figure out what to do since they were unable to have sex. Plus, at the beginning and the end of said episode, there was a great dealing of moaning "Oh God" and it was quite obvious why she was moaning.

[Mattoko]

If she's so protective. What about when her kids go to have sex with there spouses?

Here is my interpretation.

Her son on the honeymoon says, "well lets do it!"

*his spouse begins to undress*

*she finishes and he says*

"what the heck are those? and what's that thing between your legs?

AND WHAT DO I HAVE? I'VE NEVER CHECKED!?!?!?"




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Mattoko on 2003-09-05 13:49 ]</font>

[Reenee]

I have just confirmed that none of the FLCL episodes were rated TV-PG. My friend recorded the episodes on their first runs, and they all had TV-14.

Now, to report this to that news site...

[Xavier_Nagrom]

On 2003-09-05 22:28, Reenee wrote:
I have just confirmed that none of the FLCL episodes were rated TV-PG. My friend recorded the episodes on their first runs, and they all had TV-14.

Now, to report this to that news site...



Y'know...I recorded 'em on the first runs too.
I'm positive they're not TV-PG. I'll have to check though to be sure. I didn't even catch that she claimed that was the rating.

[pancakebunny]

its called "ADULT SWIM"....before it comes on this big muthafrickin long warning comes on saying "blah blah...some parents may not find this suitable for young children...blah blah...intense violence, sexuality...and all that good stuff".....some people are just idiots...mainly that lady though

[Jkid]

Here's my opinion about this: I watch Adult Swim sometimes, dispite the fact that it said the shows may not be suitable for people under 18 (before they change it to under 14) I watch it for these reasons:
1)There's nothing good on TV for teenagers except for a few blocks these days.
and
2)The shows that are for teenagers (Like "TeenNick") either have old shows or are just rerun blocks. And I'm already fed up with reruns.

So I enjoy adult swim, it's like fresh air to me.

And this is another reason why I created the group People Against Incompetence: To end all steotypes that violent cartoons are not suitable for kids. If teenagers 13+ and older in other countries (Like Canada and Europe) can handle the same content, so do we.

[Morfos]

I would like it if they expanded Adult Swim to Friday(with Mon-Thurs schedual[sp?]) so I can whatch it on school weeks.