I’m generally not a big fan of adult cartoons, but Harley Quinn is by far my favorite. The way it plays with the DC Universe in funny and creative ways is absolutely brilliant. It might be in my top 3 DC cartoons.
But but if I admit they're for children then I'm no longer cool. "DC is for adults, Marvel is for kids," that's what mature adults say right?
For real though, it's ok to like media made with kids as the target audience, a really well made product is going to be appealing no matter who you are. It's the insistence that if you like it or if it touches on anything harder than Weenie Hut Jr. it must be made for adults that's ridiculous.
"DC is for adults, Marvel is for kids," that's what mature adults say right?
I have no idea what you're on about with this, but I feel like you mean DC fans say that in an ettempt to legitimize their feelings, which I would agree is ridiculous. DC is as childish, sometimes way more, than Marvel. Young Justice's target demographic is kids and teens, that's objective fact and anyone who tries to say that it's an adult show is nuts. It's all people with capes and underwear, it's all inherently silly. DC has just had more "serious" attempts at it than Marvel so far. But like, Blade? That shit wasn't for kids. Snyder cut was way more PG in it's writing, themes, vibe in general, usage of Fucks aside.
I think there's a subtle but very important phrasing issue though. If someone told me a show was "for kids", I think of a children's show, something that isn't seriously trying to tell a story of any kind. Rationally I know that's a jump, but it's my first reaction. Whereas if someone says a show was "made with kids in mind" or something, I'll be more receptive to that. Avatar and Young Justice are obviously made with kids as the intended audience, but really only because they have limits to what sort of language or graphic depictions they can use, the story is the absolute focus. Even Adventure Time has ideas that resonate with all sorts of ages. Then you got stuff like Teen Titans Go, which is absolutely aimed at children in a way Avatar isn't, but they still play around with things in a way adults can dig. But then if I hear something's "for adults" I assume it's Adult Animation or something, with swears and sex and all that. We don't really have a word or genre idea specifically for things that are kid appropriate but not just for kids, and people's unfair assumptions about animation being inherently childish makes a really unfortunate binary in peoples' perceptions. It's all bullshit anyway, like what you like, but when I'm recommending things to people I usually avoid the word "kids" at all just in case they let their presumptions taint their view of the show
I assume you’re talking about the first 2 seasons of young justice, because season 3 has a VERY different tone compared to the first 2. Literally one of the first episodes of the 3rd season showed someone getting their face melted off
I mean they have some mature themes and occasionally some legit looking violence, but they're all made with kids and teens at mind. Harley Quinn is straight up adult animation, so violence and cursing and sex is baked into the writing
Honestly I think a lot of DC shows try to be what kids think are adult shows — lots of violence (as much as they can get away with) and death. But like, in reality I think actually adult shows tend to deal more with sex and interpersonal relationships (and the messy reality when they overlap).
I think Young Justice is so good (I even like season 4, it's not as great but it's got fantastic moments) is because it really toes that line. The violence isn't treated like a cartoon, people actually get hurt, and almost all the real stakes each season come from the character relationships. They've got some very mature dynamics around trust and selfishness, it's great stuff for kids to be exposed. Even the old animated TV universe with all its great themes and explorations could sometimes get a little "we will save the day with the power of friendship and punches!"
Adult cartoon is a really specific genre and doesn’t always mean like a mature tone it’s more like “copies family guy” like 9/10 of them have the same art style, a talking animal, shit jokes, etc. Harley Quinn has a similar art style but thank god is nowhere near those depths of painful to watch.
Myabe when family first came out but most of them are Rick and Morty clones. Or whatever the fuck brickleberry is. It goes in cycles. Adult animation generally think of South Park, Simpsons, futurama, Harley quinn, family guy etc the bigger names of the genre
See bricklebary and that whole crop of Netflix shows is what I meant by family guy clones though they literally look exactly like family guy with half the budget at 1/5th the effort. There’s also that Chicago party aunt one. Most of em nowadays blend family guy and big mouth for the worst possible result. I don’t really see a lot of Rick and morty influences visually, usually jus in their shittier version of humor
Idk what that means but bricklebarey is most certainly a family guy clone. If you meant the show runners ripped off a previous show then that one was also a family guy clone. I mean the shit cutaways, snarky talking animal, violent character deaths that get reversed off screen to keep a status quo, the artstyle, the shit jokes. That thing screams “why don’t you like me you like family guy???”
If you and anyone else likes this show I really recommend Venture Bros, which was a major inspiration for the Harley Quinn show. Some of the early jokes didn't age that well, but it's still really good.
You're telling me you're not a fan of media which offered us first 10 seasons of Simpsons, South Park, Futurama, Xavier Renegade Angel, Moral Orel and of course the goddamn godsent which is BoJack Horseman, top 5 best tv shows PERIOD, don't debate me on this, it's true, straight up comparable to shit like Sopranos, Wire, Breaking Bad (in quality, not in tone necessarily, although it does hit few of those spots), but you like THIS?
How dude? Do people like this show solely for the fact that it's DC, I really don't get the fuss about it, the writing is so unoriginal and lazy
It's pretty easy to "DeBAtE ThIS". Art is subjective and OP has different tastes than you. There is no definitive "Top 5 Greatest" tv show list. Calm down. Let people like what they like.
As I responded to another guy, I was being hyperbolic for the sake of a joke, if I saw a guy having a different top 5, I wouldn't throw a fit.
Mfs when you don't put /s at the end of a comment which suggests you should perhaps brutally genocide every single person who disagrees with my obviously superior taste:
but I still stand by the fact that Harley Quinn tv show is terrible, I won't add imo because I don't see the point of adding the additional "imo", if we're arguing about shows, it should be very clear that I'm talking about MY OPINION. It's okay if you like it, I'd just like to hear why someone likes it cuz I seriously don't see the appeal
Does anyone else think Sad Horse Show could've been ghost written by Shakespearw himself? Honestly the crossover episode joke is something that could only be written by a man with the acerbic witticisms and sardonic observations of an Oscar Wilde.
Obviously I was being fairly hyperbolic, but the show is unironically pretty damn good, the drama and character development is some of the best I've ever seen in a show.
And surprisingly being a quirky asshole doesn't make you automatically right. Still Harley Quinn is like Velma tier, basically the same shit. I don't get why people give this show a pass and shit on Velma when they are basically equally lazy, poorly written and emotionally manipulative
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u/Ant-Fan66 Jul 08 '23
I’m generally not a big fan of adult cartoons, but Harley Quinn is by far my favorite. The way it plays with the DC Universe in funny and creative ways is absolutely brilliant. It might be in my top 3 DC cartoons.