Riley has been enjoying the cartoons that I watched as a child of late, "The Road Runner", "Bugs Bunny" and "Tom and Jerry". He laughs loudly, slapping his thigh as he does so, it is pure joy to watch. He enjoys them more than I recall ever enjoying them. It is heartening to know that even now that cartoons are more sophisticated and prolific, the oldies are still goldies.
As a child I was just waiting for something new to come along, and when the above cartoons appeared they were like fillers and I knew I would have to sit through one and then hopefully be rewarded with something that I deemed better, like the movie "Ring of Bright Water". Did any of you see that film? The man with his pet otter who died in the most traumatic of circumstances at the end. That film was on at least once a year when I was a child and I would be hysterical at the end, every time.
When Riley became interested in these oldish cartoons, my husband and I were really pleased, him more so than me, because he really believes that these classics are the bomb. Me, I just like the idea of kids connecting with stuff that isn't right now.
When Riley watched his first few "Tom and Jerry" cartoons we had a discussion at the dinner table about how funny they were. Then Riley said, "Poor Jerry", both my husband and I sat up like meerkats. Poor Jerry! No way poor Jerry, we always felt sorry for Tom!
Tom is a cat, it is in his nature to want to eat a mouse. Mice are dirty rodents, Tom was trying to do his owners a favour. The things that mouse put Tom through in no way justifies the treatment that Jerry gave Tom. Riley feels similar empathy towards the road runner and we feel that the coyote was the one hard done by. The poor guy was just trying to get a meal and was generally blown up. Two animals in the wild, but one with a lot more ACME?
What is wrong with this generation when a mouse becomes a hero for hurting a domestic cat?
We sit at the dinner table just metres apart, but the distance is vast somedays.
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