The Things You See

I've gotta say, it's pretty crazy to me to realize what things you can see when you know what to look for.

I refer to the effect my ethics class is having on my viewing of movies, TV, etc..

Right now, I'm watching the X-Men cartoon that started in 1992. "A cartoon? Aren't those made for kids?"

No... well yes, I suppose that was their original target audience, but there is surprising depth in this series.

From life experiences, themes of leadership and authority come through loud and clear to me, and the interactions that show these themes are just as real as any other would be (albeit not quite with the same phrasing as would be present in most conversations).

Because I'm looking for ideologies and messages, I can see all sorts of things that are far more mature in nature than the animated exterior would lead you to think.

Take, for example, the issue of self-defense. In this show, there are characters who want to attack others as preemptive self-defense. Then there are characters who think that, if being attacked, any action in self-defense is acceptable. There are then characters who constantly say that "no humans can be harmed" even in self-defense.

These views all make me think of the larger worldviews and values discussed in my ethics class. This show demonstrates various views in conflict with each other as each person tries to carry out his/her view.

It's pretty impressive. It just requires knowing what to look for.

Actually, it may require something much more basic. Seems to me that it requires learning to look beyond the surface. Even if you don't know what to look for, you may be surprised at the great host of things just out of plain sight in a lot of shows.

Even in animated series. (Don't get me started on Full Metal Alchemist tonight. I could go on for days about that show.)