# Egypt Blasts 'Tom and Jerry' Cartoons: Too Violent; Blamed for ISIS **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070 "2016-05-06T16:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/1 "2016-05-06T16:23:20Z")
Salah Abdel Sadek, the head of Egypt’s State information Service, talked about violent video games, and said that those and _Tom and Jerry_ are too violent, they make violence funny or okay, and hints at them justifying ISIS’s existence. > **[Egypt official blames ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoons for violence in the Middle East](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/04/egypt-official-blames-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-for-mideast-violence/)** > > In his speech, the head of Egypt's State Information Service also blamed video games and violent movies. In response, the Arab world erupted on social media. On one level I want to ask WTF? But he has a point. _Tom and Jerry_, _Road Runner_ and other cartoons, and characters like Elmer Fudd are sure violent. And so too are many games. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/2 "2016-05-06T16:59:14Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > But he has a point. _Tom and Jerry_, _Road Runner_ and other cartoons, and characters like Elmer Fudd are sure violent. I haven’t seen much _Tom and Jerry_, but the lesson I take from Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, et al is that it is the would-be predators and perpetrators of violence who end up being hurt and humiliated by it. Which is a lesson I wouldn’t mind ISIS learning. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/3 "2016-05-06T17:01:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I haven’t seen much _Tom and Jerry_, but the lesson I take from Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, et al is that it is the would-be predators and perpetrators of violence who end up being hurt and humiliated by it. Which is a lesson I wouldn’t mind ISIS learning. Exactly this - while the wasscally wabbit was no innocent (he was quite the stinker) - it was usually the predators that got their comeuppance. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/4 "2016-05-06T17:28:31Z")
I never really liked Tom and Jerry. Perhaps it was the lack of dialogue. Now, the Road Runner, Bugs and Elmer, and even Popeye, those I liked. I don’t think I ever was confused by the difference cartoon violence and real-world violence. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/5 "2016-05-06T17:44:24Z")
> [@simster](#): > > it was usually the predators that got their comeuppance. I would expect if you talked to any radicalized extremist, they would consider the West as the predators, not themselves. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/6 "2016-05-06T17:47:20Z")
Wow. Those folks are really with the times. There’s no telling what awful shenanigans they’ll get up to when they encounter Scooby Doo. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/7 "2016-05-06T18:04:27Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I would expect if you talked to any radicalized extremist, they would consider the West as the predators, not themselves. I’m not going to debate the reasoning capacity of any ‘radicalized extremist’ - I will grant you the point as ‘true enough’. I was speaking only to the ‘values’ (as such) from the cartoons themselves. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/8 "2016-05-06T18:50:13Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Wow. Those folks are really with the times. There’s no telling what awful shenanigans they’ll get up to when they encounter Scooby Doo. Golly, this suicide bomber wasn’t ISIS after all. Look, it’s old Mr. Neely from the haunted Small World ride!" “Hey, I bet it’s not really haunted…” “And wait just a minute… these explosives on his vest are really… red licorice!” ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/9 "2016-05-06T21:55:13Z")
Tom and Jerry violent? Naaah. Now, _Itchy ‘n’ Scratchy_ . . . ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/10 "2016-05-07T02:52:51Z")
I’ve heard that Egypt has a problem with [violent anthropomorphic animals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYz3sl0LEA4). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/11 "2016-05-07T04:02:00Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I never really liked Tom and Jerry. Perhaps it was the lack of dialogue. Now, the Road Runner, Bugs and Elmer, and even Popeye, those I liked. I don’t think I ever was confused by the difference cartoon violence and real-world violence. But Roadrunner had no dialog, either. Still, I admit to the same basic preferences. I wonder what it is about Tom and Jerry that wasn’t appealing, while Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner was? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/12 "2016-05-07T06:39:52Z")
I certainly think video games are way too violent, but I don’t blame them for subsequent behaviour. If anything it’s a good way to take out anger issues in a safe environment. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/13 "2016-05-07T14:16:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I certainly think video games are way too violent, but I don’t blame them for subsequent behaviour. If anything it’s a good way to take out anger issues in a safe environment. That’s the point. Or a point. That it’s okay, maybe even good, to process anger or frustration by pretending to blast away people in a game. There are better ways to process that anger. Sports, like a tough game of basketball for example, is one. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/14 "2016-05-07T15:54:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But Roadrunner had no dialog, either. Still, I admit to the same basic preferences. > > I wonder what it is about Tom and Jerry that wasn’t appealing, while Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner was? Good point. Perhaps with T&J, there was no “good guy”? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/15 "2016-05-07T16:47:16Z")
If anybody at WB should bear the brunt of the blame for ISIS, it’s [Bugs, Taz and Wild Turkey surprise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLwhTqTq2nA). ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/16 "2016-05-07T16:59:35Z")
Good luck legislating against violence in media. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/17 "2016-05-07T17:24:50Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Good point. Perhaps with T&J, there was no “good guy”? Perhaps, although it always seemed to me that Tom was supposed to be the bad guy, even though he was only doing his job, keeping the house free of vermin. Actually, I found Tom and Jerry very one note and repetitive. Tom chases Jerry, Jerry slams Tom with object, or Tom runs onto something, Tom’s body takes the shape of whatever hit him, Tom’s body pops back to normal, chase continues. Rinse and repeat, very unimaginative. Now, in the Roadrunner cartoons, Wile E. had all sorts of wild complicated contraptions that you always knew would fail, but you never knew quite how until the reveal. Sometimes the same gadget would fail in several different ways, as with the rock catapult. Once, Wile E. released a load of flying bombs, which of course, came back to blow up his plans through the rest of the cartoon. These sequences were brilliantly, and fiendishly conceived. For some reason, it was Tom and Jerry who kept racking up the Oscar nods. A grave injustice. I couldn’t swear to it, but I’ve always felt that because Tom and Jerry were from MGM, the prestige studio, they were favored over the more working class Warner Brothers animated bunch. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/18 "2016-05-07T17:34:18Z")
Just noise. Ironic, coming from the same country that brought us Sayyid Qutb. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/19 "2016-05-07T19:49:28Z")
Someone should send some GI Joe cartoons PDQ. Thousands of shots fired every episode and no one gets killed. Or even shot. And there’s always a family friendly message. Knowing is half the battle! ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070/20 "2016-05-07T21:08:49Z")
Wait 'til they see the Three Stooges! ISIS = Popeye Quran = Spinach West = Bluto [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egypt-blasts-tom-and-jerry-cartoons-too-violent-blamed-for-isis/754070.md?page=2)