Response to Tyler's Blog

What is there to say for Tom and Jerry? It is one of the most well-known television shows of all time and for very good reason. Constant action and hilarious violence inhabit a cartoon landscape. I remember waking up on Saturday mornings and turning on Cartoon Network just to watch this show. Most every episode featured the same basic premise of Tom and Jerry violently assaulting each other with just about anything they could get their hands on. Household items such as books and even laundry boards become deadly weapons in the hands of two small creatures and it is absolutely hilarious. I have never met a person who said they don't enjoy Tom and Jerry and that is for good reason.
Tyler mentions the incongruities found around every corner and I agree, the nature of comedy in this show is one that seems rather absurd on paper. The tale as old as time, cat and mouse but instead of the cat always catching the mouse, the mouse usually ends up kicking the cat's butt. That is where the beauty of the story lies, it's so abstract that it manages to work. Boy oh boy does it work. This show holds a special place in my heart and makes me nostalgic for my young life but I know that it does the same for so many other people. That's another special thing about comedy, we associate warm feelings with it just like objects and people. Tom and Jerry was a wonderfully weird show and I love it.

Comments

  1. Shane HerronNovember 9, 2018 at 9:30 AM

    There's also the whole frying pan aspect. Oh and now that I think about it, there's a bit of old school racism thrown in the mix in the figure of Tom's owner. I wonder if as kids we already sensed how the show was, as the kids say today, "problematic," but that just made it funnier. As Michael Scott says, there's no such thing as an appropriate joke.

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  2. UnknownNovember 9, 2018 at 10:00 AM

    Exactly. In real life, a cat would dominate a mouse. Yet, in Tom and Jerry this is hardly the case and is what I believe made the show so popular.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Julia JonesNovember 9, 2018 at 2:42 PM

    I totally agree Tom and Jerry really is an absurd concept when you think about it. Like, who even thought of this show ?? But it is still a pretty funny show nonetheless.

    ReplyDelete

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