Sunday, August 30, 2009

R.I.P. Childhood

Okay, so it's been a while since I used this thing. Heart's doin' good and all, but something has happened that has caused me to feel the need- no, hear the calling to write this post. "What could be so epic?" you may be asking. Nothing short of this: The last vestige of my, nay, many of our childhoods. As this article reports, Cartoon Network is dead.

If you don't feel like reading, let me sum it up for you. As many of us know, Cartoon Network's quality has been declining. The exact beginning of the end is up for interpretation and personal opinion. Some feel it was with the launch of the networks first live-action show. Others feel it was much earlier, when the network pulled classic cartoons such as The Looney Toons to another channel. I say, however, that it started with the first new cartoons to air after Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, e.g. Flapjack, 6Teen, Total Drama Island/Action and even, though it pains me to say it, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. What was the cause of this trend, and of the reality shows that followed? Enter Stuart Snyder who became network president in 2007. Almost immediately, massive restructuring of the entire network began. This led to new logos, new promos, and new shows. From Canada. Need I say more?

So what does it matter? What's the point? The point is, we're losing our childhoods. Yes, we all grow up; yes, we all change; yes, the same thing happened to our parents, and our grandparents. But we're different. We have something they didn't: power. Power given to us by this great behemoth known as the Internet. Friends, Romans, countrymen-and-women, I have a suggestion. I call for a boycott of Cartoon Network. For some reason Stuart Snyder and Cartoon Network want to shove sub-par, hideous, and live programming down the next generations throats. I say we stop them. Don't let your kids watch it, don't watch it yourself, and use the what is possibly the greatest and saddest thing on the internet: YouTube. Watch the classic cartoons there. Shows like Dexter's Lab, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and of your favorites. Vote them up and let them rise to the top! Maybe, just maybe we can win back our childhoods and share them with the next generation.