One of the longest running animated series is Arthur, a show that appeals to a younger audience and revolves around an aardvark named Arthur Read. In each episode, the characters are faced with a problem, and a lesson is learned at the end that can be applied to the lives of those who are watching the show. In an episode titled "The Secret About Secrets", Arthur’s 5-year old little sister named DW faces a dilemma because she discovers an embarrassing secret about another character named James, which is that he split his pants. Throughout the episode, she struggles to keep that secret from her best friend and ends up going through the avoidance process, leaving school as soon as classes are over so that she that she does not run into her friend. DW’s mother encourages her to role-play by putting herself in James’s shoes so she could contemplate on how she would feel if someone told the entire school about one of her most embarrassing secrets. In the end, DW succeeds in keeping that secret, allowing James to save face. The characters in Arthur are all different anthropomorphic animals such aardvarks, rabbits, monkeys, and dogs. Despite differences in appearance, there is no discrimination and all of the characters on the show are friends. As a result, children who watch this show are socialized to befriend people of all types and backgrounds. The characters on the show also have vivid and outrageous imaginations, keeping the audience entertained. In “The Secret about Secrets”, DW thinks up of an exclusive “secrets-only” club that she could be a part of if she keeps James’s secret. In her imaginary club, the people are dressed in a posh manner and each have a glowing bag of secrets. Although it may seem absurd to older children and adults, the image appeals to little kids. A child’s culture may be greatly affected by what they learn from watching cartoons; thus, there may be a correlation between watching the show and having successful relationships with others. By learning from the mistakes that Arthur and his friends make, the viewers can shape their development of self in a positive way.
The Simpsons, on the other hand, is a satirical comedy filled with numerous pop culture references and geared towards a more adult sense of humor. The show presents a comical view of certain serious situations that American society may face, such as infidelity. For instance, in "The Last Temptation of Homer", Homer is placed in a situation where he has to decide whether to allow his infatuation with his new coworker, Mindy, affect his marriage with Marge. Being unfaithful would cause Homer to disrupt a cultural norm and lose face, as he would break an established sanction of marriage. As a result, Homer experiences mental conflict as he struggles to fight off his attraction to Mindy. As Homer starts to fall in love with Mindy, he beings to feel guilty and reluctantly accepts the role of a “cheater”, illustrating the impact that socialization has had on him since he knows that what he is doing is morally wrong. By conforming to the script of what society holds as a “cheater”, he has internalized a new set of values when taking on what ultimately ends up being a temporary role. Not satisfied with this new label, he comes to the realization that even though his family isn't perfect, he still loves them, and to betray them was to betray the values he holds. In the end, he discontinues any relations with Mindy and resumes his roles as a loving father and husband. The episode sheds a new light on cheating, implying that even people who are devoted to their family can be tempted, disproving the conventional notion that all cheaters are inherently bad people. A message that comes out of this episode is that feelings can be controlled and do not necessarily have to become actions since Homer never got deeply involved with Mindy. In most cases, cheaters are condemned by society as being deviants. Because of this value that is been placed upon him by years of socialization, Homer is able to avoid temptation, knowing that the consequences of cheating are not worth the resulting pain for his family and himself. The lesson that comes out of this episode may be applied to younger people as well. As a result, more age groups can watch and relate to this show, leading to the latent function of bringing families together.
SpongeBob SquarePants, a popular Nickelodeon show, demonstrates how even a light hearted children’s show may play a deep role in socialization. Different from the other cartoons mentioned above, SpongeBob typically targets older children and adolescents as its audience. The show deals with serious and relatable issues but resolves them in a humorous and silly manner. SpongeBob’s manifest function appears to be entertainment at face value; however it contains many latent functions. Furthermore, problems are more simply a means to progress the plot and humor rather than to instruct viewers about the problems themselves. In The Simpsons, Homer might wrong his wife emotionally, but he gradually understands his mistake and redeems himself, thus teaching and internalizing a social norm. In contrast, SpongeBob sometimes leaves the conflicts unresolved for comedic effect. In the episode titled "Mid-Life Crustacean", SpongeBob’s boss, Mr. Krabs, deals with a mid-life crisis. He fears that he is too old and spends the rest of the episode attempting to recapture his youthful tenor. He unfortunately fails in his attempts, so his conflict has no true resolution. Aging and mortality, a serious concern for all, is dealt with in a humorous way since it is a children’s show. These topics are subtly introduced at an age where such issues are not fully comprehensible. This episode can be considered an outlier since many of the other episodes deal with issues that are less grave in nature, such as earning a driver’s license or spending too much time with imaginary friends. Unlike some other cartoons, SpongeBob does not appear to have many manifest functions of internalizing social norms and values into the children watching. Rather, there is plethora of latent functions that contributes to the socialization of its viewers. For instance, children may connect with other children in conversation over their hobbies and interests, such as watching cartoons as SpongeBob, therefore allowing children to make friendships with common interests. Other latent functions include the introduction of humor, as well as the presentation of imagination, creativity, and fantasy that can play a deep role in the audience’s socialization and development of personality.
As displayed by certain television cartoons like Arthur, The Simpsons, and SpongeBob, cartoons can make a great impact on the lives of those watching them. Such shows consistently have high ratings among the American public, allowing them to effectively convey numerous messages without much effort on the audience’s part since the cartoons are mainly viewed upon as a source of entertainment. In “The Secret about Secrets”, viewers internalize the value of trust as they see how DW was able to keep her promise in not telling anyone in her school about James’s secret. Furthermore in the Simpsons episode, the viewer internalizes the values of self-discipline and consideration for others. The people watching the cartoons can relate to the situations that each character are in, observe how the characters react, and determine if such actions are appropriate for them to implement in their lives as well. Even shows like SpongeBob address topics that people may face in their lifetime and watching the ridiculous, illogical methods that the some of the characters go through to solve their problems provides comic relief to the audience. Despite the inevitable modernization and advancement of our world today, cartoons have too much of a role in our culture to become obsolete. Thus, what may at first appear to simply be a mindless form of entertainment is actually a powerful agent of knowledge and socialization that enables an individual integrate into present-day society.
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