Was there ever a time when people liked gross-out humor?

Anonus · 2016-08-01 02:21:17

See title

LOAD Cherry · 2016-08-01 02:23:24

I would venture a guess at 8-to-12 year olds during hte 1990s

Imipolex G · 2016-08-01 02:25:24

to a certain demographic, its appeal is eternal.

Anonus · 2016-08-01 02:48:21

LOAD Cherry said:
I would venture a guess at 8-to-12 year olds during hte 1990s

well, it seems like the Toon Zone types were never super into it (then again those are teenagers and adults) and the people who would have grown up in the '90s and 2000s don't seem to be making cartoons with too much of it nowadays

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 04:51:37

The former I would attribute, in part, to snobbery; there is also the fact that most people probably don't want to admit to liking grossness-based humour. Not that it's particularly fashionable to begin with, however. Although there are some that continue to mine that seam...

Anonus · 2016-08-01 04:53:01

it has its place

overreliance on it just fucks things up

Section42L · 2016-08-01 04:53:41

It’s overly juvenile unless you’re mentally ill like John K, then it becomes too disturbing for a lot of people to want to touch.

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 04:56:55

That's simultaneously unfair to John K and the mentally ill, but you do have a point about how far it can be taken. >->

glennmagusharvey · 2016-08-01 04:57:19

its appeal comes from defying standards of social acceptability, and that larger category includes everyting from getting away with using swearwords to sexual double-entendres.

Section42L · 2016-08-01 05:00:03

Sredni Vashtar said:
That's simultaneously unfair to John K and the mentally ill, but you do have a point about how far it can be taken. >->

Oh, I like how far he can take it.

My point is that he subconsciously put a lot of psychological underpinnings in his grossout humour that disturbed people, including his own network.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this now, but I'm sure there's a good point in here somewhere.

Anonus · 2016-08-01 05:00:38

Sredni Vashtar said:
That's simultaneously unfair to John K and the mentally ill, but you do have a point about how far it can be taken. >->

My own post was referring to how in my written treatments for cartoons and such I avoid it unless it's supposed to have extra impact, like Boo Boo vividly describing to Yogi why he shouldn't want to go into Jellystone's swimming pool, or Cadpig fluttering her eyelashes at Spot over wanting to eat a used tissue.

Bee · 2016-08-01 05:02:01

I'm guessing at least some people did or Ren & Stimpy or half of Nicktoons would have been cancelled within a week.

Anonus · 2016-08-01 05:52:56

R&S was huge, but people credit the psychological bent for that

Tre · 2016-08-01 06:21:58

Yeah, as someone who loved the original Ren and Stimpy but can't stand the idea of Adult Party Cartoon, I think the main appeal of the show was how unapologetically weird it was. The gross out humor was just something that came with the territory, I guess.

Anonus · 2016-08-01 06:26:54

Adult Party Cartoon does seem like a good way to freak out the casuals who don't know it exists though

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 06:35:49

Yeah, the appeal of the original is that it was deeply, almost uncompromisingly surreal and constantly pushed the envelope of what you could show in an all-ages cartoon without quite crossing the line. I've seen very little of its later incarnation, but aside from amping up John K's really wild approach to animation itself, I can't see what would be improved through making it an adults-only affair.

Anonus · 2016-08-01 06:42:24

One of the original series' most effective moments was when Ren threatened to maim Stimpy and Sven

Anonus · 2016-08-01 06:43:53

I think the whole thing is exclusive to home video though

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 06:47:01

I mean on the whole. John K on a tight leash is more interesting to me than John K running around pissing on everything.

Anonus · 2016-08-01 06:49:31

Well yes

Anything he does with total freedom just seems so alien

Anonus · 2016-08-01 06:49:58

And tinged with anger

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 06:52:19

He's a very angry man with some serious issues. That's part of what fuels his best work, granted, but it also makes his least controlled material really hard to take.

I am curious about Worker and Parasite, though, because of that alien, neurotic aspect.

Salix Babylonika · 2016-08-01 06:57:28

Worker and Parasite as in the fictional cartoon-within-a-cartoon from The Simpsons?

MadassAlex · 2016-08-01 07:03:53

Imipolex G said:
to a certain demographic, its appeal is eternal.

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 07:11:16

Jane said:
Worker and Parasite as in the fictional cartoon-within-a-cartoon from The Simpsons?

...now I think I'm getting my titles confused. I know he worked on some weird stuff after Ren & Stimpy, but I'm not sure why I thought that was the title of one of his later works. I mean, he has done guest work on The Simpsons, but I'm not sure...

Section42L · 2016-08-01 07:12:11

You might be thinking of Cans Without Labels.

Salix Babylonika · 2016-08-01 07:12:13

Worker & Parasite

Sredni Vashtar · 2016-08-01 07:17:01

That's delightful.

Imipolex G · 2016-08-01 17:23:43

Worker & Parasite is the best cartoon

Was there ever a time when people liked gross-out humor?

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