# Tom and Jerry ..is unfair... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805 "2010-12-20T05:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/1 "2010-12-20T05:57:50Z")
…in its portryal of cat as loser. Most of the time the mouse wins. How can they do this to such lovely creatures? Why has no cat lover protested so far? :dubious: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/2 "2010-12-20T06:00:04Z")
Could be worse. Tom could be Scratchy. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/3 "2010-12-20T06:21:52Z")
Homer: Which one’s the mouse? Bart: Itchy. Homer: Itchy’s a jerk. Bart: Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/4 "2010-12-20T06:45:41Z")
Maybe the real life situation where the mouse always loses has something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Xandroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/91b2a8/32.png) [@Xandroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xandroid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/5 "2010-12-20T10:57:51Z")
It could be worse: > **[Maus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus)** > > Maus,\[a\] often published as Maus: A Survivor's Tale, is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work employs postmodern techniques, and represents Jews as mice and other Germans and Poles as cats and pigs. Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992 it became the first gra... ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/6 "2010-12-20T10:59:13Z")
And the Roadrunner beats the Coyote. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/7 "2010-12-20T11:34:39Z")
I was going to say that it’s about the triumph of the underdog (heh), but I can’t hink of any cartoons where cats come off better, apart from Top Cat where the species isn’t really an issue. In the cats VS dogs shorts, the cats seemed to be able to get the better of the dogs until the last thirty seconds, where they would inevitably slip up. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the one where the cat gets a voice-throwing kit. He leads the dog on all manner of wild goose chases, but his laughter gives him away by the end. So yeah, Hollywood hates cats, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/8 "2010-12-20T12:43:56Z")
If I may venture what may be a controversial opinion: Tom and Jerry sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/9 "2010-12-20T13:08:36Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > If I may venture what may be a controversial opinion: Tom and Jerry sucks. Kindly explain why it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/10 "2010-12-20T13:18:53Z")
Does anyone have a list of the Tom & Jerry episodes where Tom wins in the end? I always rooted for Tom, even though I’ve never been a cat person. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/11 "2010-12-20T13:38:40Z")
Most T&J episodes were pretty bad – lame slapstick humor hampered by the fact there was no verbal wit. I have heard some of the earlier episodes were clever, but I haven’t seen one that impressed me yet. Compare it to what Tex Avery was doing in the same studio at the same time: one classic after another. Hanna and Barbera have a long history of lame cartoons, and it started with T&J. Hollywood does hate cats, especially in live action. They’re difficult to train, so it’s very hard work doing any scenes with cats in them. Dogs, OTOH, will do whatever you tell them, which makes shooting easier. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/12 "2010-12-20T14:49:35Z")
Of course it sucks. But have you seen what cats do to mice and birds IRL? Turnabout is fair play. Oh, and not all of us agree that cats are “lovely creatures”. Kittens, maybe. Cats = demon scratchers from hell. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/13 "2010-12-20T15:35:15Z")
I always hated Tom and Jerry. Unlike ' **Mika** , I love cats. Love them. And this is why I hated T&J. I loved cartoons as a kid, but actively avoided watching this one. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/14 "2010-12-20T15:36:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Of course it sucks. But have you seen what cats do to mice and birds IRL? Turnabout is fair play. > > Oh, and not all of us agree that cats are “lovely creatures”. Kittens, maybe. Cats = demon scratchers from hell. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/15 "2010-12-20T15:45:52Z")
It’s a standard thing in cartoons for the prey to always beat out the hunter. Jerry beats Tom. Tweety beats Sylvester. The roadrunner beats the coyote. Bugs beats Elmer. How funny would it be if Elmer shot Bugs, took him home and ate him? The easiest way to get humor and avoid bloodshed in a hunter prey situation is to have the prey constantly beat out the hunter. Daffy Duck does seem to be the exception in that he’s the perennial loser. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/16 "2010-12-20T16:04:37Z")
> [@Xandroid](#): > > It could be worse: > > [Maus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus) Cats are definitely evil. Allergy-inducing, indoors-pooping, rough-tongue-having companions of supervillains. Plus, they’re Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/17 "2010-12-20T16:13:07Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Of course it sucks. But have you seen what cats do to mice and birds IRL? Turnabout is fair play. > > Oh, and not all of us agree that cats are “lovely creatures”. Kittens, maybe. Cats = demon scratchers from hell. Demon scratchers from hell who are jsut waiting to eat you. If a dog licks your face, it’s a sign of affection. If a cat licks your face, it’s jsut giving you a taste test. Plus they sometimes make me sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/18 "2010-12-20T16:31:07Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > It’s a standard thing in cartoons for the prey to always beat out the hunter. Jerry beats Tom. Tweety beats Sylvester. The roadrunner beats the coyote. Bugs beats Elmer. > > How funny would it be if Elmer shot Bugs, took him home and ate him? https://www.youtube.com/embed/NHujwj6RBSM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/19 "2010-12-20T16:35:39Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Cats are definitely evil. Allergy-inducing, indoors-pooping, rough-tongue-having companions of supervillains. > > Plus, they’re Nazis. QFT ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805/20 "2010-12-20T16:38:01Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHujwj6RBSM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHujwj6RBSM) Yea,I thought about mentioning the Family Guy bit. That’s funny because of the context - Brian saying “that’s worse than that cartoon I saw yesterday”. It wouldn’t have been funny in an actual Warner Brother’s cartoon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-and-jerry-is-unfair/564805.md?page=2)