?bruary21,1f Aggielife Page 3 Friday • February 21, 1997 atergate cover-up, ammissioMppo;-- ite the Iran-Contra acurity adviser Rota maguchi of the b women’s figures' Jori Ito of Japan* nited Statestheb ais resignation as: • nt for the Arts. P elescope Sciencsl ■aphs from tiled ie existence ofa billion sunsina 'ay. 1 Givenchy is 70. iue McClanahan fen is 54. Actrei 'S 51. Sen. Of nusician Jerry ri Petersen is 44. singer Mary Chapf, ler Atkins is 36.1 Public, Englishte Goiri crazy for 'ton ns toons: Animated idols still entice bigger 'kids' belay’s Expected 67°F BALL C-ON EETINt 25, 1997 By Aaron Meier The Battalion T exas A&M students who were raised in the ’80s grew up with such cartoon icons as Optimus Prime, Orko and Rainbow Brite. Today, many stu dents still watch cartoons — but now they follow the adventures of Babs Bunny, Wacko and Homer Simpson. Cartoons have come a long way since the days of Bedrock and Spacely’s Space Sprockets. Recently, the animated prime time series The Simpsons sur passed The Flintstones as the longest running cartoon series ever. Cartoons are not only an outlet for children on Saturday mornings, but also a popular form of adult satire. David Siller; a senior English major, said there is more to to day’s cartoons than just slapstick humor and boulders crush ing umbrella-hold ing coyotes. “The humor is so adult in the newer cartoons,” Siller said. “They contain a lot of ref erences to pop cul ture. They talk about anything from Anastasia to Milton Berle.” Siller said his favorite cartoon is Animaniacs, a dai ly show that fol lows the exploits of the Warner “brothers” and the Warner sister, Dot. His fa vorite character is Yacko, the older Warner brother and the leader of the group. Diana Houghton, a senior environmental design major, said her favorite character on Animaniacs is Wacko, the younger brother. “I love his accent on the show,” Houghton said. “My favorite episode is when he is running around talking about having to go potty in that cute accent.” Houghton said the humor in Animaniacs and other cartoon shows like Pinky and the Brain and Tiny ‘Toons attracts a very adult audience. “When you are a kid watch ing cartoons you laugh when you are supposed to, even if you don’t get it,” Houghton said. “The humor of these shows can be very adult. At times it is al most sexual.” The adult-themed plots have even expanded into such action cartoons as Gargoyles and X-Men. Houghton said that com pared to action shows of her childhood such as He-Man and Super friends, the cartoons of to day have interesting plots and well-developed characters. “I really don’t miss the cartoons I used to watch as a kid,” Houghton said. “The best cartoons are the ones out now. The shows these days are not as cheesy.” Houghton said Gargoyles, a show about creatures who turn into stone during the day and come to life at night, appeals to her because it draws its roots from fantasy literature and be cause its subject matter is more sinister than that of oth er shows. Other students prefer the ab surdity of cartoons with little re alistic basis. Robby Knight, a sophomore construction science major, en joys watching a satirical super hero cartoon The Tick. With such characters as American Maid, a woman dressed in a red, white and blue maid uniform, and “El Seed,” a giant flower who hates people, The Tick’s ab surd characters make the show memorable, Knight said. “The show has characters whose battle cry is, T play with dolls,”’ Knight said. “The absur dity of the entire situation is what makes it good.” Siller said cartoons not only link him to his childhood, but also with a younger generation of car toon watchers. Siller’s younger cousins share in the ritual of sit ting in front of the television and enjoying the animation. “Sometimes I’ll get a joke in the cartoon they don’t understand and I’ll start laughing,” Siller said. “They will just look at me like I am a dork and tell me to shut up.” Siller said he likes to watch both contemporary ’toons and the ones from his childhood. “Cartoons give you a good grasp on your childhood and re mind you to keep the kid inside alive,” Siller said. poops.- Students look to serials for escape — and a few laughs By Melissa Price The Battalion 3374 A sl( A ch 1 JLmc long as she can remember, Christine McCabe, a sopho- ore speech communica tions major, has watched the soap opera A// My Children. I McCabe said she is addicted to bap operas primarily because they have always been a major part of herlife. She said she feels a day is in complete if she doesn’t get her dose (if soap opera drama. “Soap operas are something people use to escape from reality,” McCabe said. “We’re a society who Ikes to gossip and know about everyone’s personal lives, and soap operas do that for us.” McCabe also has been watching eneral Hospital since she was a sophomore in high school. She said daytime soap operas are popular imong college students because there is nothing else interesting on daytime television. McCabe said her favorite soap opera, All My Children, is the most realistic of those she has seen. “It actually has stories that real people experience — not stupid sto ries about devil possession and peo ple coming back to life,” McCabe said. Erik Peterson, a sophomore bio medical science major, said it is the unrealistic storylines and unbeliev able plot twists that make soap op eras exciting. Peterson, who currently watch es four soap operas a day, said he al ways schedules classes around his favorite soap opera, The Young and the Restless. Peterson said he feels like he knows the characters per sonally because he has been watch ing the show since 1992. “I care more about what hap pens to the characters on The Young and the Restless because they are like a family friend,” Peterson said. “Just like you wouldn’t turn away a friend if they were in need— it’s hard for me to turn off the TV and not watch what is happening in their lives.” Although he loves watching soap operas, Peterson said sometimes they are frustrating because they move at a slow pace. He said one of the primary reasons he began watch ing Sunset Beach, the newest soap opera on NBC, is it moves faster than other soap operas. Joy Muckleroy, a junior English major, has been watching soap op eras for 12 years. She said she watches General Hospital because the characters are close in age to college students. Although she can sometimes relate to the characters on Gener al Hospital, Muckleroy said usu ally their lives are so far-fetched it is humorous. “I watch soap operas to see how stupid the characters are,” Muck leroy said. “Their lives are so unre alistic — you have to watch just to see what else could possibly hap pen to them.” Gabriela Juarez, a sophomore in dustrial distribution major, has been watching telenovelas, the Spanish equivalent to American soap operas, since she was a small child. She said the main difference between telenov elas and Ameri can soap operas is that telenovelas last from 3 months to a year and always con clude much like extended an miniseries. Juarez said an other difference is that American soap operas have complex plots and try to teach viewers a lesson, while te lenovelas are less complicated and are based on fairy tales. Juarez said she watches telenov elas because they allow her to es- “Being a male who watches soap operas makes me feel weird, but it is not going to make me stop watching them.” Erik Peterson Sophomore biomedical science major cape the realities of daily life. “It’s something different to come home to that gets you out of the reg ular routine of studying and going to class,” Juarez said. “Soap operas , are not real — it’s another world that is go ing on that does n’t usually hap pen in real life.” Peterson said he prefers watching soap operas to night time TV shows because soap operas are on five times a week. He said this allows char acters to devel op fully and gives viewers insight into what makes characters tick. Peterson said soap operas offer viewers a slice of life some people can only dream of. “That is a life we all want to live — you’re happy, successful, good-looking and rich,” Peterson said. “Their lives are so much more exciting than ours.” McCabe said there seems to be a gender difference when it comes to watching soap operas. She said there is an obvious reason more fe males than males watch daytime soap operas. “Guys don’t want to watch shows about who is sleeping with who, but girls are more gossipy,” McCabe said. “Due to the subject matter and the fact that girls are generally more gossipy than males, the shows are more tuned in to females.” Peterson said there will always be certain activities society considers typ ically male or female, but this does not mean men don’t watch soap operas. “I think soap operas are more acceptable nowadays,” Peterson said. “Being a male who watches soap operas makes me feel weird; but it is not going to make me stop watching them.” Extended Weekend Survival Tool (Optional toothbrush) Mexican Sports Cap oston, City Editor uffin, Sports Ed" ers, Opinion Ed® ; vens, Web Edit , Photo Editor eber, Cartoon EdU* enfluck, Kevin Cumn# 1 Shikonya CuretoiUW vlichael Schaub.DapW tie Alvarado & Daphnef** 1 urtick, Matt Mitchell,CoT 'roctor acksonjenne Hamlin,S® hnston, Glenn Janik,Ce f,: tw & Jeremy Valdet shele Chancellor ck James, Ryan Rogeis*' chael Depot, Chad Ma®' he Division ofStudeniP- 1 Id Building. 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