Obsession with Cartoons

While shopping at Goodwill the other day, I picked up a VHS copy of Fantasia. Yes, I know VHS. I live in the dark ages. Let's be honest. I would like a show of hands...how many of you still have a VCR?

That's what I thought. Stop judging me.

If it helps, I don't particularly like Fantasia. I just figured String Bean would because of the musc and the cartoons. Any kind of cartoons mesmerize this child. For example, Mr. Bean plays video games on our Wii or PlayStation2 and she is glued to the TV screen saying, "Pew, pew, pew!" She even goes through his games and picks which ones she wants me to put in. This child has a complete obsession with cartoons.

Up until today, I didn't think she really knew any one cartoon character's name with the exception of the entire cast of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Watching it 30 times in a week will do that to anyone. She roars when she wants to watch the Lion King and says "doggies" when she wants to watch Wallace and Gromit. To be fair, when I say "watch" I mean that I put it in, she sits down to watch it and 3 minutes later is on to the next thing; however, when you turn it off she throws a fit and says "watch" over and over until you distract her with something or put it back on.

Back to my original thought: Fantasia. String Bean was unimpressed with all the music and all the cartoons. So, I kept fast forwarding looking for something that might intrigue her such as the hippos dancing or Mickey wearing the sorcerer's hat. Mickey came first. We watched it for a minute or two, and she was paying NO attention to it because there were imaginary cupcakes to be made, so I turned it off. We went and dealt with the laundry.

Cue naptime.

"Watch, Mickey Mouse! Watch, Mickey Mouse!" was yelled complete with tears and heartache that accompany a 2 year old not getting her way.

Who has been showing this child Mickey Mouse cartoons behind my back? This was the first time she has EVER seen it in my presence. I demand an answer. And perhaps counseling for my obsessed child.

Lifetime

We recently aquired a new HD TV (a hand-me-down from the in-laws). Upon setting it up, we discovered several new channels we did not have before! One of the honorable mentions is the Lifetime Movie Network (aka LMN).

Who can resist a lifetime movie? The titles alone will pull you in!

Hush
A Sister's Secret
Mother May I Sleep with Danger?
No Ordinary Baby
Cabin by the Lake
The Price of a Broken Heart
Pavement

Wow...wow. (Is it just me or do most of these titles sound like really bad novels?)

The great thing about a Lifetime movie is that you can fall asleep in the middle and when you wake up for the ending, you are right back there in the plot like you missed nothing.

Reality Television

Every time I flip the television channel and run across Cops, I can't help but think of Mr. Bean's grandmother. I never met her as she died before Mr. Bean and I met, but I have been told on numerous occasions that Cops was one of her favorite shows because it was "reality." I wonder what she would have thought about "reality television" in today's terms.

If you have ever had the joyful experience of catching any of VH1's or MTV's reality shows, you'll have to wash your eyes (and ears) afterward. I keep telling myself that these people are paid to act as crazy as they do; there is no way that it is real and if it is...God, help us! If there were ever a case for "home missions" (to borrow a Southern Baptist term), this is it!

Even shows like American Idol or Survivor have such an air of non-reality to them because of the situation in which these people find themselves. They spend the entire course of the show trying to outdo the other contestants for a large sum of money. How is that reality? (And speaking of reality...don't get me started on MTV's The Hills...)

I prefer to watch shows like Jon and Kate plus 8 and Little People Big World (and nearly every other show on TLC in a documentary style). Sure, they admit they get special treatment like free trips and magazine cover shoots because they have a TV show (product placement anyone?). Sure there is a dose of non-reality to these shows, too, but you still see families dealing with homework, sibling rivalry, vacations, illness, and all the other factors that make up "real life".

I wonder what Mr. Bean's grandma would watch and appreciate if she were alive today.