Animating Adulthood: Emotional Resonance, Affective Quality, and the Human Condition in Adult Animated Television: An Examination in Theory, Viewership, and Practice, Andrea Marek
- Author makes a point of noting that it is hard to define what animation is, and the term animation in itself is a catchall because (similar to what Mitchell said), it isn’t a genre but an artistic style so it’s hard to use it to define any specific thing.
- “Animation can be described as any media material which uses an animation technique, regardless of the narrative content, but this explanation is endless, encompassing all techniques, all media of any genre using animation techniques such as animated comedy, animated documentary, animated horror, and animated science fiction. “[A]nimation is an imprecise, fuzzy catchall that heaps an enormous and historically far-reaching, artistically diverse body of work into one pot” (Buchan, “Animation, in Theory” 113). A great deal of effort is made by scholars who write about animation to achieve a conclusive definition, but the results remain inconclusive. There is no all-encompassing framework in which to examine animation simply because of its scope and diversity.” [p.1]
- Author is arguing that although much of adult animation features crude and immature storylines and humor it is actually secretly progressive. I’m ready to disagree but willing to listen
- “The three programs which popularized the genre both for audiences and academics alike are The Simpsons (1990-present), Family Guy (1999-present) and South Park (1997-present). These three programs are often seen as archetypes for adult animation, not only due to their longstanding success but also because they contain many of the presumptions that have become associated with adult animation: misogynistic content intended for a young male (often white) audience, reliance on crude humor including sex, bathroom humor, violence and alcohol as central elements—highlighting certain tropes those unfamiliar with the genre might expect. However, these initial iterations of the genre have also been progressive, featuring family-driven and dysfunctional-family storylines, social and political commentary, and subsequently laying the groundwork for emotionally-driven storylines.” [p. 2]
- “Animation provides a unique means of escapism unparalleled in other film mediums precisely because there are not only no limits to the realm of possibilities within the genre, but also because the lack of real world referent emphasises the break between the real-world and an animated-world” [p. 8]
- “As a child, animation serves multiple purposes: a babysitter, a distraction, a form of entertainment, a friend or companion, all of which serve to take the viewer ‘away’ in that moment of watching. As an adult, animation continues to serve many of the same purposes: as with other film or television genres it offers narratives which allow the viewer to enter the world of the story and temporarily relinquish their lived reality.” [p. 9]
- “The success of adult animated television encompasses childhood nostalgia for animation, the element of surprise or the unexpected from the juxtaposition between the contrasting visuals and storylines, escapism from one’s own lived experience, limitless visual possibilities, as well as what Goodall refers to as “spectatorship as surrogate participation” (164). Therapeutic in a sense, adult animation opens a space for self-reflection, and confronts the individual with the reality of their own emotional state, however decayed it may be.”
- (it’s worth mentioning that this author comes off as like suuuuuper nihilistic so a lot of her statements are like that)
- (here’s another one! “This desire for unwavering happiness remains a societal fallacy” [p. 21] Girl???)
- Author mentions the value of adult animation having the ability to comment on television itself and the state of the medium. While I agree this is valuable and common in adult animation, I would argue that it is not a trait that is absent in children’s animated comedies.
- “As adult animation continues to show, animation is no longer simply about bringing the imaginary to life but rather bringing life to the everyday issues that viewers are faced with, reversing the narrative of animation portraying the fantastical and impossible, instead providing a very real account of everyday adult reality.” [p. 35]