Growing Out or Evolving?
I still remember holding a pencil in my hand during class, not just to work on assignments or group projects, but also to secretly scribble pictures of characters with huge eyes and exaggerated proportions. Back then, it didn't matter if the arms were too long or if the perspective was all off. The rules of art didn’t really apply too much. Doodling cartoons felt like freedom. Cartoons were, and still are, about exaggeration without apologies, creating worlds where a character could suddenly turn into a rocket mid-sentence without anyone questioning the physics.
However, as much as I still prefer drawing cartoons to drawing anything realistic, I can't help but notice that my interest in cartoons is slowly waning. It's not because I've completely outgrown them or because I buy into the old idea that serious art has to be hyperrealistic. Simply put, I just do not have the same enthusiasm or interest in cartoons I used to have as a child. Like, all the exaggerations in cartoons that I used to tolerate as a child now just grates me. But it can also annoy me just as much as the over-the-top dramatic antics in melodramas, so it's not a “I'm putting away childish things” sort of thing. Even Japanese anime irks me now (although I still like Studio Ghibli movies).
I'm genuinely annoyed at what passes for popular in the cartoon sphere these days, both animated and printed. Every piece has to squeeze in something that shocks a couple of people because shock value is cool nowadays. It's as if subtle storytelling is out of style, and every drawing has to give a wink to the audience: “Look how grown-up we are! Check out my character saying and doing naughty no-no stuff!” If that's what you want to intend your art for, fine. I'm not against anyone's creative choices. But it's so insane that everything popular has to be adultified just to discourage kids from looking at it. These days, even preschool shows manage to sneak in celebrity cameos that seem more fitting for late-night comedy spots, with inside jokes that go over kids' heads but get a thumbs-up from adults who want to feel “in the know”. It's not clever; it just feels like pandering. Like nothing can't be for just all ages anymore because adults are obsessed with wanting to remind everyone that the world is dark and mean and cruel. However, I'm more concerned about the more moderately explicit ones than the mild ones seen in anything lower than at least TV-PG. The ones that raise important social issues are not really my problem, and I am not one of those people to obsess over tone than the actual point being made. But the more gratuitous ones that just exist for shock value are, at least to some extent.
It actually makes me not want to look at any cartoon art anymore, including anime. Like, sometimes I can't. Then there's the other extreme, the shows that try so hard to be “wholesome” that they end up feeling cold and sterile. Like happiness has to be pure and simple, stripped of any real complexity. I mean, come on, I believe that cartoons can and should be more than wholesome, but I dont want everything to be inappropriately adultified literally everywhere either. A story can explore grief without getting lost in it, or show hope without making it too gritty or real.
Frankly, having to keep up with trends in cartoons just to meet the public eye halfway does not appeal to me if no trend does. That's why I end up following no trends at all, especially with my art.
That's probably just my ingrained and possibly outdated and irrational cultural beliefs talking, though, so I probably won't be as taken seriously.
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