Sometimes The Cartoons Get It Right or From the Mouths of Babes

It's funny how in the last 20 years cartoons have moved away from being just fodder for kids to an excellent format for discussing very adult issues. The above video is from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Terror series(the 17th)which is a great sendup of Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast. What differentiates this episode from past shows is the subtle(or not so subtle)reference to America's war with Iraq. Again, from the mouths of babes(or at least middle-aged adolescents).



The next clip is from a controversial episode of the Boondocks. The plot plays out like the Marvel Comics What If series. However, we are not talking about what would have happened if Peter Parker had not been bitten by a radioactive spider. In this case...what if Dr. Martin Luther King actually survived his shooting? I liken this episode(and the Boondocks in general) to NYOIL's anti-minstrel diatribe. This episode is as severe as it is poignant. Maybe the movement that we have been asking for has actually arrived. Thank You Jesus(or Mohammed, or Confucius or Jehovah).....whatever works.