# Why is the depiction of death discouraged in US children's programming? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774 "2003-05-03T02:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/41 "2003-05-06T18:00:45Z")
> [@](#): > > No, they still killed him in the movie. However, at the end, they added some badly dubbed lines. Namely; “Hey, everybody! Duke’s going to be okay!” (Possibly alright.) They technically didn’t kill him - after Serpentor nails him with his snake staff, Scarlett (I think) says “he’s in a coma!” The lines at the end are really bad though, totally apropos of nothing. Ah well, the movie pretty much sucked after the opening sequence, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/42 "2003-05-06T18:21:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nightime \* > Actually, it is the exact opposite. Japan is even MORE strict in censorship of graphic sex than the US. The icky tentacle type stuff only came about because, strangely enough, it was a way to get around the censors. I believe the basic issue is that they weren’t allowed to show genitals, so they had to use tentacles instead./ That’s right… there’s some kind of ban on actually showing pubic hair and genitalia. Prn0 materials have the bits mosaic’d, blacked, or airbrushed out. I remember reading somewhere (one of the anime encyclopedias?) that when prn0 is imported and adapted for American audiences, they get artists to add all the naughty bits in. (Same source, whatever it was, said something to the effect that the mosaics actually enhance the experience because no explicitly animated/drawn/filmed action could ever match what the viewer’s mind concocts.) Can any Dopers who have seen both the Japanese and American versions of some h3n+a1 series verify this? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/43 "2003-05-06T18:29:41Z")
For the interested: [Dante’s Inferno and All Night Video Store](http://www.badmovieplanet.com/inferno/) has frank reviews/summaries of the G.I. Joe and Transformers movies. It’s a fun B-movie site all around: two-fisted reviews from a real Army recruiter! ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/44 "2003-05-06T19:21:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*I take it you did not have the experience of being 5 years old and going to see the Transformers movie, where they killed off Optimus Prime. My friends and I were totally freaked out, as were many of other Transformers fans (and their parents). The outrage over this forced them to do the “Return of Optimus Prime” 2-parter on the TV show, and also forced them to change the G.I. Joe movie. Originally, Duke was supposed to die, but they redid some lines to indicate that he survived after the Optimus Prime backlash. \*\* Yeah, i was six and cried during that part! And they only did it because they knew they were killing off Joes and it was demanded! At least Prime is still alive and kicking in various versions now. (and had appearances in Beast Wars and Beast Machines). And Rodimus was lame. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/45 "2003-05-06T21:07:56Z")
IIRC, a study was done a few years back that found that countries that showed the _consequences_ of violence in their violent programming (Japan, for one) had less media-inspired violence than, oh, say, the U.S. So, if someone gets shot or stabbed in a TV program and there’s blood and guts splattered out and someone dies screaming, your kids are less likely to re-enact the scene IRL than if it’s just, “bang, guy puts hand over chest, looks at blood on hand, falls over dead”. Or something like that. I’m feeling a bit too lazy at just this moment to do a proper search for a cite. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/46 "2003-05-07T02:44:34Z")
I’ll agree that the sanitization of death in US Children’s TV is probably the resulty of the various decision-makers facing a contradiction that their experts tell them that the very idea of death is the most traumatizing thing for a child to face (and they can get sued for it), yet violence sells. I dunno. Me, by age 6 I figured that having a shell blow up in your face would NOT just leave you blackfaced and with scorched hair, but would leave you a dead half-torso. Yet it did not stop my enjoyment of the RoadRunner. Meanwhile on the Japanese front, **MineFujiko** (love the username, great character), that’s one of Nagai’s ocassional recurring schticks – to just run wild and over-the-top. But he lets it get moderated for TV consumption, probably because the money’s good. The original 70s TV Qtey Honey reportedly was also “milder” than the manga or the OAV – but it’s not _that_ uncommon for other “Magic Girls” to become at least implicitly nude during their transformations because, well, how the heck else are you supposed to change from street clothes to superhero outfit, but by taking off your street dress? But in answer to yer question: AFAICT Nagai’s main target market is adolescent boys. Look at Kekko Kamen. As mentioned, merchandise tie-ins may or may not signify crossover appeal. After all, until earlier this year they made honest-to-goodness Sanrio-licensed “Hello Kitty” _vibrators_ (as, er, “muscle massagers” Right. Lotsa little girls have really tense neck muscles, uh-huh) ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/47 "2003-05-07T04:41:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JRDelirious \* > \*\* As mentioned, merchandise tie-ins may or may not signify crossover appeal. After all, until earlier this year they made honest-to-goodness Sanrio-licensed “Hello Kitty” _vibrators_ (as, er, “muscle massagers” Right. Lotsa little girls have really tense neck muscles, uh-huh) \*\* Oh, come on! With a name like that, how could they \* not \* manufacture vibrators? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/48 "2003-05-07T06:55:39Z")
Hi, **JRDelirious** , and thanks for the information on _Cutey Honey_! _Kekko Kamen_, for the blissfully unaware, is a Nagai series about a young superheroine whose main weapon in the great struggle against evil is her naked body. Yes. Except for a mask and boots, she is completely naked. While the villains gape and drool, she beats the crap out of them. I’d love to see the live-action movies, in which the actress’ vagina is obscured by a cheesy animated glow (“Go! Pulsing Power Pussy At-_taaaaaack_! ::wink!::”). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774/49 "2003-05-07T07:00:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > Oh, come on! With a name like [Hello Kitty], how could they \* not \* manufacture vibrators? Brilliant. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-depiction-of-death-discouraged-in-us-childrens-programming/172774.md?page=2)