For many of us there is a level of divide between media aimed at grown ups and aimed at kids. We understand that media for adults will have more, well, adult content. There will be more offensive words, more sexual content, more violence, more graphic content of every kind. It will also probably deal with more complicated concepts, such as a grey zone for good versus evil, or the fear of death. But whilst it makes sense to say some things are just not appropriate for kids, in theory there is nothing inappropriate for adults about kids’ films. So why do we care so much that some adults enjoy children’s media? I suppose it’s because we assume something aimed at children is immature. A guy who is still into Batman at age thirty five is immature. A guy who is into My Little Pony at the same age is creepy. There is this idea that media for kids is, well, childish. But that is a simplification. In reality, media for kids is rarely just for the children…
Disney and Pixar are a part of everyone’s childhoods nowadays. With the earliest Disney film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”, dating back to 1937, there aren’t many people alive who weren’t children back then. So pretty much every person in the West today grew up watching Disney. And many adults now still love Disney. Some people collect figurines, or special edition films, or memorabilia. Some people just love the films and happily watch them even as adults. And some people will go as far as having Disney themed weddings. So what gives?
Well, it’s actually intentional. Disney markets itself as fun for the family, meaning it handles some deep concepts and stories in a careful way. Not only that, but many of the original tales were actually aimed at adults. As you grow up you discover that The Lion King drew its inspiration from Hamlet, or that the original ending to The Little Mermaid was not quite so sweet and happy. But it doesn’t put you off the films. It just makes them more important. Unlike other films we may have watched as children, Disney has just the right formula: a great story, a deep message, lovable characters and a beautiful design, complete with music. Everything just adds up into something the whole family can enjoy… which is Disney’s point. Whether you have kids or not, can you imagine sitting through any other children’s film than Disney?
But Disney isn’t the be all and end all of adult involvement in kids’ movies. Another category that has a strong pull for adults are superhero movies. This one may not seem as obvious today, when it is more acceptable to love superheroes and their films, but other than the odd exception, most superhero films are aimed at young audiences. Even the live action ones. They are the traditional black and white story of good versus evil, a power fantasy for people whose imagination is boundless, a tale of the triumph of justice, of friendship, of making hard decisions and, at the end of the day, having to go back to normal like nothing happened.
And yet, very few people now would argue they are just for kids. It’s just not the way these things work any more. Sure, it might be a fairly clean film, with very few adult references. It might be fantastic, over the top and simple in its morality. But that doesn’t exclude adults from its audience. Further to the point, many of the original superhero comics had adult content that was screened out of films to make them more family friendly, and some films are now bringing that grittiness and blurred lines philosophy back. From Captain America’s moral dilemmas to the creation of a Deadpool film, makers of superhero movies are increasingly acknowledging their adult audiences.
Another category which can be confusing is anime. Anime is the term used to describe Japanese animated shows and films, which cover an incredibly broad range of genres. Essentially, anything can be an anime. There are horror animes, lighthearted comedy animes, animes for twelve year olds and yes, animes for twenty year olds. These concepts were quite radical in the West, as until anime arrived we did not have many cartoons, outside of pornography and action comics, that were for adults. The idea of a fantasy story without porn or James-Bond-esque adventure, focusing on friendship and personal growth, whose main audience was adult, was kind of weird to us. But many of these elements have gradually found their way into superhero films and we now have adult-oriented comedy cartoons of our own, making anime an increasingly imported form of media. However even in Japan — or should I say especially in Japan — there is a clear divide between media for kids… and it doesn’t work quite like you’d expect it to.
You see, in Japan the culture is far less gentle towards infancy. The concept of preserving innocence for as long as possible just does not apply. Just off the top of my head, Sailor Moon contains a lesbian relationship, One Piece has blood and guts from very early on, Naruto tackles deep matters such as identity and betrayal… and these are series originally aimed at primary school children. So although for a Japanese audience these are simple, childish things, to the West they seem more like a gritty reboot of a hero film. When we eventually get into anime aimed more at adults, such as Cowboy Bebop or Elfen Lied, we find something akin to a Hollywood action film. In essence, something that is considered light hearted children’s material in one culture could be decidedly adult to another culture, which blurs the boundaries even more, even if the studio or author did not intend to.
But what about things that are absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent made for one demographic? Let’s say, a TV show that claims to be made for little girls, that is aired in TV channels for kids aged 3-12 and is based off a toy that was only really popular in that demographic. Is that just for kids? Of course, I am talking about My Little Pony, which, many of you may know, has a fairly loud and proud adult following, called Bronies. Although some of the followers get up to less than decent activities, for most of them it’s just a hobby, much like darts or, indeed, superhero comics. However there has been a strong lash out against these followers. A part of this is due to the inappropriate content, but, let’s be honest, you are more likely to casually stumble across Sonic The Hedgehog pornography than My Little Pony pornography. So why the hate for this one particular fanbase?
The key here is both the age and the sex of the fans: young adult men. In a blow to equality everywhere, many people who enjoy the series themselves or watch it with their children feel uncomfortable at the idea that it might be liked by people in university. It’s not just a threat to age division, but to gender segregation. Owning forty Superman figurines is OK but immature, drawing porn about Sonic and Tails is OK but gross, but so much as watching My Little Pony when you are the wrong gender is horrific. Which is kind of sad, really, considering most of the Brony community are swell people and that the studio actually encourages all fans to enjoy the series. Hell, they even made an original disabled character for an 18 year old boy with spinal muscular degradation. So it’s not like anyone in production cares about Bronies.
Which brings us to the crux of the matter: we only decide something is “just for kids” when it’s convenient to us. If we feel uncomfortable about a grown man challenging gender stereotypes and enjoying a film for little girls, we try and sexualize it, insult it, make him break down and conform to the gender identity we believe he should have. When a grown woman goes to bed with Batman bedding and a Green Lantern nightlight we either assume she is immature or a try-hard sucking up to nerd culture. But the reasons we project onto adults who like kids’ films are just that: projections.
The fact of the matter is, there are many reasons for enjoying media aimed at children, and very few of them are due to immaturity, stupidity, obscenity or attention seeking. Some people watch films for nostalgic purposes, to remember a time when they were children. Much like looking at old photographs or holding onto your childhood teddy, there is nothing wrong with enjoying your memories. And many other people enjoy kids’ films just because it’s what they’re into. In fact, most modern films encourage it and you would be hard pressed to find a single “kids’ film” which excluded its adult audience members. If anything, they go out of their way to be inclusive. Because it’s just fun. You can be a CEO of a company and collect Batman figurines. You can be a university athlete and watch My Little Pony. It’s not a matter of maturity, or ability, or intellect, it’s just a matter of personal taste.