Has anyone else noticed that child characters in American cartoons often exhibit a maturity far beyond their fictional years? I was just watching Juniper Lee, whom I'd always assumed (based on her interests, friends, attitude, etc.) was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 or 16 years old, when she commented that she's 11. What? You've got characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are supposed to be teenagers, yet they've not only managed to master a centuries old martial art and lifestyle with extremely limited resources and training, but then you've got Donatello routinely constructing inventions far beyond anything modern science can produce -- and with no formal education or funding whatsoever. The same goes for the Teen Titans (though I think the Titans are funded by Cyborg's wealthy father, and Robin could probably secure additional finances from Batman if necessary) and other kid superhero groups, almost all of which are self-sufficient despite the members' young ages. And sure, the Turtles have Splinter watching over them in a fatherly capacity, but considering that the average lifespan for rats is 2-3 years, with the maximum recorded rat lifespan being 7 years and 4 months, how much older than the Turtles can he really be? (To say nothing of the astonishing notion that he somehow mastered ninjitsu in such a short length of time! Of course, this particular difficulty is absent if we consider the origin story in which Splinter and Hamato Yoshi are one and the same.) And then there are infants like Stewie Griffin ("Family Guy") and Baby Herman (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), though their exaggerated maturity is employed for comic effect.

Younger characters in anime, on the other hand, more often than not seem an accurate reflection of their ages -- though this may be a function of certain cultural differences, as the humor and artistic style of many animes (the vast majority of which, in my experience, have focused on the adventures of younger characters) seems, to American sensibilities, more illustrative of juvenile attitudes.

If there were graduate programs offering degrees in cartoon scholarship, I'd totally be down.

Oh, and speaking of cartoons, here are my early reviews of the premiere episodes of "The Boondocks" and "MinoriTEAM"...

First, "The Boondocks". I didn't like this show -- but not for the reasons I expected not to like it. Given the comic strips' and Aaron McGruder's reputation for controversy, I was anticipating a show that would make a whole lot of exaggerated stereotypical commentary to intended comic effect and just end up irritating me, but instead I was just bored. Maybe the dialogue in the show will strike other people as being much more controversial, but like the oft-aired teaser for the show, which featured Huey taking the microphone at a garden party and proclaiming, "Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan is the devil, and the government is lying about 9-11," I didn't find what he was saying to be terribly offensive or highly objectionable. (My responses would be along the lines of, "Who cares? Who cares? And no shit.") Granted, there were a few clever and resonant moments in the show -- for example, the wealthy guests' refusal to have an opinion about anything any of the "colored" characters said, instead merely applauding or commenting on the character's speech -- but I imagine that these moments will be lost on the majority of the viewers, who will instead focus on elements of the show like Uncle Ruckus's drunken song. In any case, there weren't enough witty moments to make the show interesting to me, and I can't say I'd go out of my way to watch it. If I happen to be sitting at the computer between midnight and 6 AM on Friday night and am looking to wind down for a half hour or so before bed, however, I might check out the online stream (which is what I did last night).

I didn't even bother to watch the entire first episode of "MinoriTEAM", as I turned it off around the three and a half minute mark, which should tell you what I thought of that show. Again, however, it wasn't because I found it to be particularly offensive or insulting (though I expected to) -- I simply thought it was stupid and pointless. It's basically a "Super Friends" parody with the Legion of Doom replaced by an overtly racist organization (their plan in this premiere episode involved the subjugation of black-owned businesses) and the heroes replaced by a team of exaggerated racial stereotypes (from which the show takes its name). Personally, I don't even think it sounds like a good idea on paper -- though I can imagine a mildly amusing one-shot sketch comedy skit focusing on the antics of characters like "Racist Frankenstein" -- but it's hardly a concept that can support an 11 minute show (let alone a series of them), as the principal joke seems to be the premise itself and I already knew the punchline going in. Again, it's not offensive, it's not controversial, and unlike "The Boondocks" (at least regarding what I saw) it's not the least bit witty or clever. It's just plain dumb. What I do find offensive -- and disheartening -- is the reality that someone thought this concept was funny enough to give this show the greenlight. People got paid to work on this show. Alas, I anticipate that the public response to this show will disappoint me as well.

I often find it ironic that the "humor" of Adult Swim manages to be so infantile.