When watching cartoons, people often notice how these shows use dark humor or make a
parody of real world events, famous people, or stereotypes in a joking way. Shows like Family
Guy, The Simpsons, and American Dad are known for this. However, there’s this show called
The Boondocks, created by Aaron McGruder, which uses satire to discuss African American
culture, politics, and social issues. It was determined through The Boondocks, he speaks of
resistance, liberation, peace, harmony and does so in the “language” of African American Ebonics. Furthermore, He places African Americans at the center of his discourse and gauges the external
world through the lens of his young African American characters (Tyree and Krishnasamy) It
was originally a comic strip published by McGruder. It was later adapted into a TV series in
2005, The main character in the show is Huey Freeman. Who’s actually based on a real life
person named Huey P. Newton, who was an activist and a co-founder of the Black Panther
Party. Besides Huey, he has a brother in the show named Riley Freeman, who represents the
stereotypical image of how some people view the Black Culture in general. Acting like a
gangster throughout the season. Huey and Riley Freeman live with their grandfather in the
suburbs One example of satire in the show is The Trial of R. Kelly in Season 1, Episode 2. This
show makes fun of how the fans support celebrities no matter what they did wrong. In this
episode, Riley supports R. Kelly even though he did wrong crimes such as sexual abuse. Huey
believes people should care about what’s right and fair, meaning the supporters should pay
more attention to the accusations of R. Kelly instead of ignoring the mistakes they made just
because he is famous. This is Very Similar to the Diddy Verdict which happened this past
Summer where people outside the court were celebrating because Diddy wasn’t guilty in one of
the charges. Furthermore, The Booondocks featured an episode that referenced Tyler Perry, but
it was later banned because it portrayed what he was supposedly behind the scenes, In Season
3 Episode 7 “Pause” The Grandfather gets a role in a play that’s written and directed by Winston
Jerome (Parody of Tyler Perry) Winston Jerome also portrays a woman in one of his
performances called “Ma Dukes”, similar to Tyler’s role as Madea. At first, Granddad is excited
about being part of Winstone Jerome’s Production, but he soon notices that Jerome runs his
shows weirdly, referencing religion, fame and controlling his cast. Later in the episode Huey
becomes suspicious of Jerome’s actions and tries to warn Granddad. In the ending he realizes
the situation is strange and leaves the production after Winstone Jerome proposed a sexual
act. This episode revealed the truth years later where Tyler Perry was accused by an actor of
sexual assault. According to Hayes,”Derek Dixon has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing
Perry of using his influence in the entertainment industry to create a “coercive, sexually
exploitative dynamic” while he was acting on The Oval and Ruthless”. “Dixon said he met Perry
in 2019 at a work event for Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, and the pair talked over several
months about an acting career. The lawsuit states Perry also allegedly made numerous several
comments and remarks about wanting a sexual relationship, and made several advances on
Dixon, which he rejected”(Hayes). Furthermore, language and culture are seen in the
Boondocks through another character, Tom Dubois, an African American lawyer who’s married
to a white woman and both have a mixed child together. Throughout the show he speaks the
standard American English, and is often portrayed as “acting white”. His character shows how
some African Americans feel the need to speak differently to be accepted in white environments
in jobs. Moreover, Language and Culture in cartoons was used by making racially stereotypical
episodes in the earlier days of the Looney Tunes (1930s-1950s) mocking other ethnic people.

Something Known as the “Censored Eleven”. Nothing shows it’s age faster than humor. In 1968,
having deemed 11 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons-popular in their own time two
decades prior- too politically incorrect to air, United Artists withheld them from syndication. The
“Censored 11” haven’t aired on TV since, but clips have crept online, giving today’s audiences a
window into cringeworthy racist stereotypes once considered fit for Saturday Morning fun. A
1941 episode called “All this and Rabbit stew” showed Bugs Bunny hunted by a dim-witted,
black gambler (later reimagined as Elmer Fudd).(Fitzpatrick, 2). On the contrary, The Positive
uses of language and culture and diversity in cartoons can be seen in shows for a different
audience of viewers from age 4 to 7, shows like “Super Why”, “Go Diego Go”, “Doc Mcstuffins”,
“Dora The Explorer”, “Sesame Street”. What all of these shows have in common is they engage
the viewers through on screen questions, encouraging the target audience they’re appealing to,
by responding and participating. With these cartoons showing Language and Culture, they are
made to educate those viewers with language skills and problem solving throughout the show.
Moreover, Language and Culture are seen in Marvel Characters by different cultural traditions
and identities, characters like Miles Morales, a different variation of Spiderman who’s
Afro-Latino, highlighting Black and Latino cultures throughout the Spiderverse films,
showcasing his mixed-race heritage. “Miles Morales and i will always be linked. Biracial. Black.
Puerto Rican. A last name and skin color that makes people say “where are you from? ”forcing
an eye roll biracial kids should have had trademarked by now. Miles is all those things i am, plus
a superhero. And not just any superhero. The superhero. Spider-Man. Arguably an all time
comic book creation. In all the years I’ve been reading comic books, I identify with Marvel’s
biracial Spider-Man more than any other character. Miles Morales-the main character in the new
movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” not only is a pop culture representation of my youth,
but the type of hero that before his creation in 2011 existed only in my imagination.”(Betancourt).
In conclusion, cartoons back then were made to fit certain stereotypes for comedy, now today’s
shows represent cultures more respectfully. Furthermore, cartoons that stereotyped the cultures
back then was to show what was considered okay to joke about at that time, mainly the black
people being targeted because of the racial prejudices back in that era where black people were
treated differently, which allowed these cartoons to make fun what they look like and stereotype
them based on how they act. However, cartoons today try to teach and show cultures in a more
positive way. Even though some old cartoons were racist, people can still find them funny today.
They show what was considered normal to joke about back then. On the contrary, cartoons now
show different cultures in a better way. Shows include characters of different races, languages,
and backgrounds to help viewers learn more about diversity. Between the old and new cartoons
shows how the time has changed and how educational or other genres of cartoons can teach
people about cultures. However, Cartoons like Family Guy and South park use stereotypes and
edgy humor and make fun of cultures but they do it in a way that some viewers find funny rather
than offensive, using satire regarding big names such as Donald Trump and other famous
figures. But these shows use comedy to talk about what’s going on in recent events in the world
today.

Works Cited

Krishnasamy, Adrian, and Tia C.M. Tyree. “Bringing Afrocentricity to the Funnies: An Analysis of
Afrocentricity Within Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks.” Bringing Afrocentricity to the
Funnies: An Analysis of Afrocentricity Within Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks, 2010,
https://journals-sagepub-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/doi/abs/10.1177/002193470

Hayes, Christal. “Tyler Perry accused of sexual assault in actor’s $260m lawsuit.” bbc.com,
Wednesday June 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20rljg4r7ro

Fitzpatrick, Laura. “The Censored Eleven – Top 10 Controversial Cartoons – TIME.”

Betancourt, David. Miles Morales is a Spider-Man who’s biracial like me. So why wasn’t I more
excited for his movie?, 2018. The Washington Post,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/12/13/miles-morales-is-spiderman-whos-biracial-like-me-so-why-wasnt-i-more-excited-his-movie/