Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Back in the day...

So we were talking to Nashville Kat this morning and she mentioned that American Idol will be coming out with trading cards. (???) Yeah I'm not sure about that one...you can only tap the money well so much before it runs dry.

However, this reminded me of the only trading cards I ever collected as a kid....GARBAGE PAIL KIDS!!!! Remember these?









I couldn't get enough of these, and from what I remember the gum was pretty good too. However, I don't think parents would go for these so much anymore. Look at Nervous Rex...parents would have a hay-day! Yeah, I see that he is smoking and picking his nose, all while wearing a diaper, but he is a cartoon- devoid of any diseases.
I even had this card as a kid, but never did I say, " Man, I want to be like Nervous Rex and smoke, drink lots of coffee, and wear a diaper." Did you?
It's sad that these went out the window along with candy cigarettes, and now they have even edited Bugs Bunny cartoons to eliminate any smoking, drinking, etc.
I'm not a parent yet, (and maybe when the time comes I will change my tune) but I grew up with all of these things and turned out fine. (Right?)
If anything were to influence me it wasn't cartoons or candy it was my parents. I knew these things were bad for me and I shouldn't do them. Why? Becasue my parents told me so...not a drawing. I knew that Wyle E. Coyote could fall off a cliff and still live to pester the Road Runner another day, but if I attempted the same ACME sponsored stunt I would be taking a big dirt nap.
So why so PC parents? Don't you think we are sheltering kids a little too much these days? OK, off my soap box...someone else's turn.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. I wish I still had mine. Mom wasn't one for keeping things. She was more the toss when you aren't looking mom. I think I turned out just fine with the "bad un-pc" Garbage Pail Kids cards. The parents that fuss about these things are the parents who don't sit down and discuss issues with their children. They are relying on the TV to teach their kids b/c they don't want to have to babysit them. They employ the free digital babysitter. They need a purpose in life, a cause. I won't say that TV hasn't gotten raunchy over the generations. It isn't the smoking and drinking cartoons that are the problem even though many people would like to point their fingers there. It is the smut and language that is on the adult TV programs that kids watch. The parents who don't censor their children from these programs that are on 24/7 are the same ones who complain when a cartoon lights up. It has gotten ridiculous. They are the same ones who refuse to talk to their children about sex and the birds and the bees claiming that their children "would never do that!!!" Well I am here to tell you that they would and they DO.