Golden Age

You know, the thing about perspective is that you can believe you have all the facts sorted out in your head, but miss so many aspects of the issue because of how you filter those facts. A few posts back when I talked about the origins of HIV and discussed the Blame Game going on about it, I mentioned how the noise of the blaming masked the situation. That can basically apply to almost anything.

A man recently published a book on the Golden Age of Nickelodeon. This article discusses his perspective on it, which seems to be filtered through current anti-feminist/anti-diversity thinking. He uses all the tired arguments about why diversity (forced on the writers by the women who run the channel) has ruined Nickelodeon. He dismissed shows about women (such as Clarissa Explains it All) and shows with a diversity of characters (such as All That) to focus on shows that he believed were aimed at males. Pete and Pete, Ren & Stimpy, etc.

Of course, none of these shows were just for boys or girls. Even Clarissa had males watching it. During the Golden Age of Nick, one of the reasons why things were so successful is because none of the shows, aside from the ones CLEARLY meant for small children, felt aimed at anyone.

I was talking to my best friend about this. She and I were roommates during this era of Nick and watched a lot of their shows. Most of the people we knew who were in college DID watch a lot of Nick shows. Even if they were about children/teenagers and starred children/teenagers, they still spoke to us. My best friend believes that one of the reasons why shows at this time were so good is because they, like The Simpsons, aimed to appeal to everyone. It wasn't about the characters being white or black or female or male, it was about creating stories that everyone could relate to.

I think one of the best examples of this was Are You Afraid of the Dark, another show seen during the Golden Age of Nick. The cast was racially diverse with a good mix of gender. The kids all respected each other, even though there were the occasional conflicts. As much as the author of the book wants to state that this sort of thing comes off as forced, on a show like AYAofD, it certainly never did. These kids came together for a common goal. They had a club where each week, one of them told a scary story. I really can't remember anyone being offended by this.

Then again, this kind of being offended seems to be more popular these days. I've noticed that there is a certain segment of people who seem  to believe that saying anything they view as 'edgy' or 'not politically correct' will make them seem more genuine or with it. It doesn't. However it does serve to gain  them more attention. I realize that even writing this is doing the same thing, but only about ten people read this blog, so that isn't so much of a big deal.