Answerman

Why Is Liking Kids' Stuff Such A Bad Thing?

Kasra asks:

I was reading your earlier column, Why Is Animation Only For Kids In The US? I was asking why do we care so much if animation or anything in the nerd culture considered adult by some in the society.I know Reddit of young and old men who read comics complain that they will not get a girlfriend (or at least, not an attractive one) becasue of their hobbies. Honestly is it that big of a deal, this is the stuff that makes us happy? So what is the big deal if no one thinks it for an adults audience or they will take the person or you seriously for liking it. It is also immature to think that just because you are older that you can not like stuff you like when you are younger?

There are several shades of grey when it comes to the social acceptability of liking things for kids. There's the stuff that's totally accessible that everyone likes (Disney movies, or old video games that pre-date the rise of the adult gamer, for example). There's stuff that's a little juvenile but it's a nostalgia button (the original Transformers cartoon, Ducktales, etc). Sometimes there's stuff that's ostensibly children's content but has material that's well-written and/or complicated enough for adults to enjoy that fly under the mainstream radar, like most Shonen and Shoujo anime does in the West.

And then, there's the stuff that other people just can't fathom how a grown man or woman would ever possibly endure it, let alone enjoy it. We're talking about grown men and women (without kids) watching stuff like Dora the Explorer or Thomas the Tank Engine. When adults are into something that is VERY CLEARLY not for them, is arouses suspicion about their character. Call it the "Lone Adult Man at Chuck-E-Cheese" scenario.

Where a lot of the social troubles arise is a misunderstanding or disagreement about two things: first, what properties belong in which of the above categories; and second, an understanding of why people watch them to begin with.

A perfect example of both issues is the matter of Bronies, adult male fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The very look of the show, and the history of how earlier parts of the franchise was marketed in the 80s, lead most people to categorize it as "absolutely just for kids," whereas Bronies would argue that the series has a sense of humor and sophistication that puts it in the same category as Naruto and other "kids but cult crossover appeal" series. Nobody's absolutely right and nobody's absolutely wrong: these categories are pretty subjective. But people who don't share their point of view look at Bronies and think they're seeing evidence of odd social deviation.

The second is a little more complicated, and affects the first issue. Adults who are bored to tears by endless tournament battles and power-up sequences would be absolutely mystified as to why any grown man or woman would watch Dragon Ball Z or Yū Yū Hakusho. Someone with absolutely no connection to cute girls in frilly dresses would never comprehend how anybody could watch magical girl shows, or idol anime. Without that comprehension they'd be more likely to put shows like that in the "kids only" pile, and judge fans of those shows harshly. (Sorry, even I can't come up with a good reason why an adult might watch Dora the Explorer.)

Everyone's a judgmental jerk sometimes, myself included. We project our own insecurities on others; it's a fact of life. We can try to curb it, and some people are worse than others, but if the internet has made one thing abundantly clear, it's that we cannot escape it. So given all that, there's only one thing to do: love what you love regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. Your taste, your preferences, those are yours and yours alone; you can have confidence in that!

Thank you for reading Answerman!

We are no longer taking question submissions. However, over the years we've answered THOUSANDS of your questions, and probably already answered yours! Check our our complete archives! Below are a few of the most popular ones...

• How do I be a voice actor?
• How do I get a job in the anime business?
• How do I get my ideas made into anime?
• Will _____ get a new season? When?? (New productions are a closely guarded secret until they're announced. I don't know anything Google can't tell you.)
• Is ____ a trend? When did that start? (Who knows -- you often can't tell these things until years afterwards.)
• How do I get in touch with __(famous anime person)__? (We can't help you.)

Anime News Network founder Justin Sevakis wrote Answerman between July 2013 and August 2019, and had over 20 years of experience in the anime business at the time. These days, he's the owner of the video production company MediaOCD, where he produces many anime Blu-rays. You can follow him on Twitter at @worldofcrap.