The Jonny Quest Dilemma

We recently rented a disc of the old Jonny Quest cartoons, and wasted an entire afternoon watching them with our daughter. I was appalled at the way the brilliant Dr. Banner referred to the subjects of his research in the Amazon as "savages." The fake accents of superstitious natives in Central America/India/Egypt made me squirm. At the end of each episode I held my breath, fearful that they would travel to China in the next one.

But the trick is I still loved them. Watching their improbable adventures as they traveled around the world solving crimes and archaeological mysteries with a mixture of pluck and sci-fi technology I felt the same excitement I felt watching them as a six year old. There was such a sense of mystery and possibility. Their world was full of adventure and science and discovery. I could see the root of my Itchy Feet Syndrome in those childish stories. When I was kid, I didn't see the cultural inaccuracies (why does the Hindu boy wear a turban?) and racial stereotypes. I saw a world full of people and stories beyond what was imaginable in my limited American experience, and I saw them as accessible to anyone who was smart and brave enough to go explore.

I watched Rose Red carefully, but she seemed to take the cartoons the same way I did when I was a kid. She had no need for logical sequences or rational explanations. She never questioned how two little boys could outmaneuver soldiers in a motorcycle chase or how their CIA bodyguard knew more about the properties of rare Amazon berries than the indigenous tribe they were trying to hoodwink. Her take home messages were "motorcycles are cool," and "cool plants grow in the Amazon." I like those messages.

So I decided to relax. I put PC Mom back in the box and watched old cartoons. When the evil Indian scientist locked the Quests in a cave and lit a trail of gunpowder to blow them to smithereens, and then their dog peed on the gunpowder and put the flame out just before it reached the dynamite, I laughed right along with Red. Because it doesn't matter if pee could really extinguish gunpowder. But you should be nice to your dog – he'd save you if he had a chance.

I might have a harder time with that once they go to China, though.