TV for Kids

It is common for older people to see things in the present as worse than they were in their youth  (especially perhaps among men who imagine  their declining vigor paralleled by a decline in the world).  Conservatives seem to do it all the time, and one usually needs to take their gloomy opinions and harsh judgements about  young people, the culture, and the moral state of the nation critically.  However, the old guys sometimes know what they are talking about.   As someone said, if in about 1645  a couple of old Englishmen had griped over their tankards of ale that people just don’t write plays anymore the way they did when they were young , they would have been right.

I read an article a couple of days ago on a conservative site claiming that the popular culture has gotten worse in the last couple of decades. It focused on the Star Wars and Marvel comics movies and put much of the blame on the Disney company.  I know next to nothing about Marvel comics and so can’t say about that, but I would agree that there has been some mediocre and even lousy Star Wars  stuff.

The article led me to think back to the TV programs for kids in my youth, and there I had  to go along with the conservatives.  We had the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Sky King, Fury, the George Reeves Superman, and others that were far better than the stuff my grandkids and their friends had available to them on TV.  The stories were exciting and usually made sense.  They were explicit about right and wrong,  the importance of honesty, courage,  and fair play, and the idea that life could be exciting and interesting. They pointed a viewer in generally right directions. Some episodes  were not very good, but they all completely lacked the icky blend of dopey fake sophistication, disjointedness,  moralistic (usually PC moralistic) showing off, and self-conscious attempts at cuteness so common these days. 

One can feel sorry for kids stuck with the Disney Channel and its lookalikes. Parents and grandparents  of young kids  can remember that a lot of the old stuff is available for purchase.