SWA #2

The most amazing aspect of “The Lady or the Tiger” to me was not the admittedly eccentric origins of the food which sustains us until lunch. I was simply astounded about the fact that I had been watching these cereal commercials for years without noticing the degree to which they condone crazy and even criminal behavior. The most prevalent behavior condoned is theft (Trix Rabbit, Cookie Crunch mascot, children stealing Lucky Charms from the leprechaun, and perhaps the king of cereal thieves Barney Rubble himself). I found myself imagining where the limit on this sort of approval of criminality would go. Will the next commercial feature the cereal (replacing serial) killer Captain Crunch slitting Tony the Tiger’s throat in an effort to demonstrate how much better the Captain’s cereal is? Perhaps the next commercial can feature some children cooking up some meth and withholding their drug from the Cocoa Puffs mascot (who is clearly ingesting more than a chocolate cereal).

The purpose of the reading was not cereal icons. Cereal icons were merely a way of defining what cool is. Why is it that any action, in the world of cereal cartoons, is justifiable in the pursuit of “cool?” The actions of the cereal mascots (thievery, social humiliation, racism, a complete lack of empathy and compassion) are glorified. Perhaps one reason no one raises an eyebrow is the fact that all of these actions are fake seeing as the characters performing the deplorable acts are cartoons. In my mind the fact that these characters are being designed to appeal to children in this fashion is almost as grotesque as the acts themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I am not some sort of moral crusader who dumbly believes that television is evil. My concern is I do not enjoy the idea of a society whose members are subconsciously haunted by the ideal of something as intangible as “cool.” If my choices are being cool by mimicking some of the behavior demonstrated by the cereal icons and being ostracized. I prefer my solitude.