Tom and Jerry

The ever famous frenemies.

Violent.

Irritating.

Idiosyncratic.

These words pretty sum up my blurb for the decades-old cartoon.

Gooly owns a Tom and Jerry DVD with over 70 episodes of head crashing, body smashing and brain hemorrhaging. He watches it everyday.

I think many children love the series for its volatile characteristics. Crash! Boom! Bang! The more severe the injury, the greater laughter is drawn.

But if you have a curious and inquisitive child like mine, watching Tom and Jerry is never a simple task.

To my best recollection, a child watches cartoon for its simplicity. It’s equivalent to an adult’s patronage of The Three Stooges. You know, an activity which leaves you cerebrally inactive and a little spit at the corner of your mouth, with some flies hovering around you.

My initial introduction of Tom and Jerry to Gooly is so that I have some time to cook, chat and day dream. Never mind the violence. They are not realistic and moronic, even a preschooler knows that.

But alas, my plan didn’t work.

He needs explanation for all the exaggerated actions; why the bomb didn’t just kill Tom?

He seeks justification; why does Tom hurt Jerry?

He wonders about mortality; why does the ugly duckling want to kill himself?

Have you noticed? The story lines for kids TV programs are often interlaced with complex themes and adult humour? Spongebob Square Pants, Sesame Street are the few children programmes I do so enjoy.

The humour is often subtle, and I wonder how kids grasp the fine nuances.

If there were one shared trait between Gooly and myself, it would be ‘curiosity’. And if curiosity really kills the cat, we would have quite a number of felines littered on our ground.

Tom and Jerry has obviously failed in its mission in providing me solitude. Do you have any cartoons that require minimal cerebral works to recommend? For Gooly, of course. “Kausailei”…. My books and idleness await me.