March 13, 2009
The good ol’ Blasphemin’ Cap’n, previous of How the Simpsons have Lost their Way, has hoisted up another gem from the depths of his intellect:
Dora the Explorer and Caillou are calculated subversive propaganda machines brought forth by foreign governments to undermine the sanctity and security of the United States.
While the research may be dubious and the logic may also be dubious, Cap’n raises intriguing hypotheses. Excerpt with regard to Caillou:
The storyline revolves around a, 4-year bald “big boy”, named Caillou. Caillou either whines or speaks in a baby voice. He’s rarely in trouble with his hopelessly perky and indulgent parents, who are at his constant beck and call. The family dynamic here is the exact opposite of the Mexican Dora Project. The undermining aspect of the authoritarian love is not limited to his overseeing parental units, but all adults that he encounters. An all knowing “adult” to look over his every misstep advocates the advancement of an authoritarian “Nanny State.”
And with regard to Dora the Explorer:
Also, and more genius, is the subtexual context in Dora the Explorer’s lack of parental figures that creates erosion of the American family unit. The lack of effectual parental figures, save for the once-in-a-while-product-placement crossover of her older brother Diego, creates the illusion to a younger age set that parental supervision is not only unnecessary, it in fact, dilutes fun. Any parental involvement in a child’s activity should be shunned and greeted with disdain.
This is especially worrisome in the light of the ominous and foreboding “tween Dora” which was recently announced to the horror of parents everywhere (including myself). This is surely a more insidious scheme: to transform America’s youth into a horde of quasi-self-sufficient purchase-happy fashionitas.
The War Against America’s Kids > Catena Ex Situ
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3 Comments | 
Caillou, Dora the Explorer, ex situ, politics | Tagged: NAFTA, Nanny State, Swiper the Fox | 
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Posted by The Editor
December 22, 2008
Joe Crawford from ArtLung sent in this link to a post from Undercover Black Man, which itself links to a seasonal over-analyzation at Lawrence Auster’s View from the Right blog.
Here’s Mr. Auster’s entire article:
As I type, I’m glancing at some grotesque thing on ABC, about the Grinch and Christmas, in which humans interact in brotherhood with a variety of monstrous looking other species, and a little girl has a tender relationship with an unsettlingly hideous but sensitive and kind-hearted being called the Grinch, and everyone loves each other. This is not our society celebrating the beautiful holiday of Christmas. This is the Liberal Controllers of our society carefully teaching children an unnatural and dangerous lie that they would never believe unless they were carefully taught. How many whites will militate against vitally necessary immigration restrictions in the decades to come, how many young white females will be raped and murdered by nonwhites in the decades to come, because of the message of trusting and loving racial aliens that programs like this implant in them?
As an holiday bonus, one can click the link below to read an additional Who-sized comment about the Shrek movies.
Undercover Black Man: Lawrence Auster has a Question
> Catena Ex Situ
5 Comments | 
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shrek, ex situ, politics, racism | Tagged: Christmas, Grinch, Liberal Controllers | 
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Posted by The Editor
October 13, 2008
Lucas E. sent in this Ex Situ for us to share to the world. I couldn’t significantly improve on his missive, so I’ve just reproduced it below:
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned this on your site yet. But, it seems quite obvious to me. Chicken Run is basically Communist propaganda.
A decent analysis of it is contained here: [>Catena Ex Situ]
The problem isn’t that Mrs. Tweedy is looking to kill the chickens. The problem is she’s trying to increase profits.
The hope of the chickens is not to bargain for better wages, better working conditions, and more time off. Rather, the hope is a worker’s paradise on the hills outside the chicken farm, where chickens can roam free in a world of abundance.
Interesting, no?
Leave a Comment » | 
Chicken Run, politics, villains | Tagged: Aardman, Communism, Communist propaganda, worker's paradise | 
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Posted by The Editor
October 6, 2008
Here’s the first in the previously-alluded-to series of videogame over-analyzations. For those purists out there: fret not. We don’t plan on doing these all that often. Our primary focus is and will always be Cartoon Over-Analyzations.
Unfortunately, the closest any of the staff has gotten to playing BioShock is: about five years ago, one of us got half-way through System Shock 2. Accursed monkeys! Along with rave reviews, BioShock attracted a flurry of discussion pertaining to Objectivist elements subtly and not-so-subtly within. Busy game site Kotaku presented an excellent article in early 2008 which discussed the pertinent themes primarily through interviews with the president of the Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook, and the game’s designer, Ken Levine.
“It seems to me that [Levine has] misrepresented what Ayn Rand believes and her ideals beyond objectivism,” [Brook] said. “He’s setting it up to fail. He believes, based on what I’ve read, that any system that is absolutist is ultimately going to lead to disastrous effect. Any system of black and white, any system of ultimate morality. In many cases that true. But I think what lessens the game is that misinterpretation of objectivism.”
Et cetera. Would you kindly check it out.
No Gods or Kings: Objectivism in BioShock >Catena Ex Situ
Leave a Comment » | BioShock, System Shock 2, ex situ, politics | Tagged: Andrew Ryan, Ayn Rand, objectivism, would you kindly | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
September 21, 2008
There’s a delightful article by Adam Gopnik in the latest (September 22, 2008) issue of The New Yorker about some controversies surrounding the Babar series. Here’s a clip:
In the past few decades, a series of critics on the left, most notably the Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman, have indicted Babar in the course of a surprisingly resilient and hydra-headed argument about the uses of imagery and the subtleties of imperialist propaganda. Babar, such interpreters have insisted, is an allegory of French colonization, as seen by the complacent colonizers: the naked African natives, represented by the “good” elephants, are brought to the imperial capital, acculturated, and then sent back to their homeland on a civilizing mission. The elephants that have assimilated to the ways of the metropolis dominate those which have not.
Fascinating. As is the rest of the article, which among other things touches on: a wholly different controversy regarding the fate of Babar’s mother, the occupations of animals, nationalistic representations of order and disorder in children’s literature, and Matisse.
Freeing the Elephants >Catena Ex Situ
Leave a Comment » | Babar, anthropomorphica, ex situ, politics, racism, villains, violence | Tagged: Celesteville, imperialist propaganda, Matisse | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
July 10, 2008
Well, here we were, all planning to write up an article tonight linking to and discussing the assorted controversies surrounding the release of Pixar’s newest precious stone, WALL•E, only to find out that The Onion’s excellent The A.V. Club has beaten us to the proverbial punch. Such is the cutthroat cosm of over-analyzationing. The A.V. Club categorizes the controversies into four groups:
- It promotes liberal fascism!
- It’s prejudiced against fat people!
- It’s hypocritical!
- It’s too popular!
The staff here was quite fond of WALL•E, and did not find it to be too preachy or damning about anything. We thought it was a charming satirical fantasy encouraging responsible awareness and making connections with others, wrapped around a chewy nougat of sweet romance and amazing character animation. Also, we are so not tired of posting articles about it.
Your Guide to the WALL•E Controversy >Catena Ex Situ
1 Comment | WALL-E, ex situ, politics, stereotypes | Tagged: fascism, liberal, onion | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
May 13, 2008
- Here’s a theory you might have missed behind “Casper the Friendly Ghost”. It goes that Casper is symbolism of homosexuality and the struggle for gays in society. Casper is a boy ghost or male who constantly seeks the company of other boys or other males. The boys seem to think Casper is a nice fellow and find nothing wrong with his company. After a short while of cute playing, the friendship is ruined when grown ups, who represent the more “traditional” views of society, intervene. More than frowning on such relationships, they fear it terribly and steal the innocent boy and run away from poor Casper, who is left to seek out the next relationship.
-Contributed by Dave R.
- In Tex Avery’s “King Size Canary,” a cat and canary compete by “growing” larger with the use a vitamin serum; the bigger one has the edge on the other. It goes back and forth with no resolution other than running out of serum as they stand on a basketball sized earth. This is all a metaphor for the US vs. USSR nuclear arms race!
-Contributed by Dave R.
- There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the fact that Smurfette is the only female Smurf in the entire village. People automatically assume that Smurfette is responsible for the propagation of the entire Smurf population. This is an erroneous assumption, because this theory postulates that Smurfs reproduce sexually. I offer forth the idea that Smurfs reproduce asexually, much like amoebas. I believe that when a Smurf takes off his little white hat, the hat grows a new Smurf, and the old Smurf grows a new hat. In the case of Smurfette, well, there is at least one obviously homosexual Smurf in the village (that being Vanity), so why not two? I submit the idea that Smurfette is simply a cross-dressing male Smurf, and there are no real females in the village. No real female acts that over-the-top feminine. I have converted many unbelievers to this theory, based on the simple logic that it puts forth.
-Contributed by Natalie.
- For me, the show that brought the whole anthropomorphic vs. realistic animals debate home for me was none other than The Get Along Gang. It struck me as weird to begin with; you stick a moose on his hind legs and he looses something fundamental about being a moose. And Montgomery has antlers, which brings up the issue of whether they could be considered a weapon in his society. But the episode that sealed it was the one in which the Gang ends up in a snowy town where they must search for an escaped elephant. A non-anthropomorphic elephant. From the zoo! I always thought that if you’re going to create a world of humanoid animals, you might as well go all out and populate your zoo with humans.
-Contributed by Farnie6.
7 Comments | Casper, Mini-Analyzations, Smurfs, Tex Avery, The Get Along Gang, anthropomorphica, cross-dressing, gender, homosexuality, politics, stereotypes, the female gender, the male gender | Tagged: asexual reproduction, cold war | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
February 22, 2008
[Editor's Note: There's no shortage of "Communist Smurf" articles on the grid nowadays. Eventually, I'll do an Ex Situ roundup of some of the best ones.]
Contributed by Erika K.
As I was browsing through your page on the over-analyzation of cartoons I was surprised not to see something that seems so obvious to me: those lovable blue minis the Smurfs are a bunch of Communists. It’s kind of funny that in the final years of the cold war a cartoon that so blatantly stressed the Communist Manifesto would be so popular in the old U.S. of A. To prove my point, I cite:
- They live in a communal village and are discouraged to leave the village without the company of their fellow Smurfs.
- Every Smurf has his own specific job and does not deviate from that job. The job even becomes part of their personality and their name (Brainy Smurf, Handy Smurf, etc.)
- If ever a Smurf decides to strike out on his own he is cast into danger in some way of another and it is up to the collective to save him.
- And finally, Papa Smurf looks an awful lot like Karl Marx. Plus, he wears all that red.
The Smurfs are Communists, and their nemesis Gargamel is the personification of Capitalism: out for himself and profit trying to destroy the peaceful commune of Smurfs.
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4 Comments | Smurfs, from the archives, politics | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
February 20, 2008
Contributed by “TOPAZ1A”
American animation, the Red Scare has played a role in the portrayal of certain characters. The most well known of these are ‘Boris and Natasha’ from Rocky and Bullwinkle. This show aired in the 1960’s, during the height of the Cold War with Russia. Not surprisingly, the two evil characters were formed out of anti-Russian stereotypes. Another example of American skepticism toward Russia is in an episode of Beast Wars. There is a guest appearance in this episode by a transformer from the original 1980’s series named ‘Ravage’. At the beginning of the episode, he helps the Maximals to capture the leader of the evil Predicons named ‘Megatron’. When Megatron offers him more power in exchange for turning against the Maximals, though, Ravage does so. This may seem harmless, except for the fact that though all of the characters in Beast Wars speak with American accents, Ravage speaks with a Russian one. Though Russia fought along side of America against Germany in World War II, after the battles were over, Russia and America emerged as the two superpowers least devastated by the fighting. When that happened Russia seized its opportunity for more power and began to take over what was left of Europe. In an identical manner, Ravage, representing Russia, helped Optimus Primal, representing America, defeat Megatron, who represents Germany. Once Germany/Megatron was defeated, though, Russia/Ravage seized its/his opportunity for power and turned against America/Optimus. This was aired in 1994, well after the fall of Communism in Russia, proving that America still preaches anti-Russian attitudes to its youth in subtle ways.
1 Comment | Beast Wars, Rocky & Bullwinkle, from the archives, politics | Permalink
Posted by The Editor
