Practical Christian Mysticism

I was enjoying a weekend watching the recently released Animaniacs series on DVD with my own kids, when I started pondering the sad state of contemporary children’s television. There is a real quality that old classics like Looney Tunes had that seems to have been lost as time goes on. I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I see the culture very young children have developed recently, and I realize there is a great virtue being lost in today’s world… silliness.

Animaniacs was a unique flash-back to classic Looney Tunes style cartoons, which is why I bought it for my own kids. One of the best parts about Animanacs and Looney Tunes is they appeal to both kids and adults. There is are a lot of jokes in those cartoons only adults can get, and others only kids can laugh at. I love watching old cartoons I as an adult finding new jokes I couldn’t catch as a child. I also enjoy seeing what my kids will laugh at.

Children are being forced to grow up faster and faster… well, let me rephrase that. Children are being forced to give up their innocence sooner and sooner. The reason I make that distinction is because children aren’t really “growing up” fast at all these days. An eighteen year-old these days is much less equipped for life than an eighteen year-old fifty years ago. It is the fun and innocence of childhood itself we are losing.

Silliness is the first language we have to communicate with our children. From the first moment we nuzzle noses with our baby and mutter the customary self-degrading baby talk, we have begun to communicate through silliness. It is through silliness that we play with our kids before they can talk or through a football (or kick a football if you are european). Our children first express joy and happiness through silliness.

A child who feels free to be silly as they grow up will develop an active imagination as they pretend to be anything from a puppy to a giant robot with laser eyes. However, in today’s harsh world, children aren’t always being allowed to be silly. But who is robbing them of this you may ask? Ironically, one of the biggest culprits is other children.

Playground etiquette was changed quite a bit recently. Bullying has become an epidemic, and in general kids just feel the need to be serious. Kids who want to “play pretend” or just run around and be goofy will often be the first targets of insults and criticism from other children. Of course, silliness would be hard to maintain in today’s world when kids as early as kindergarden are talking about sex and drug use.

Another factor is parents who never take the time to be silly with their own kids. Often times parents feel uncomfortable bringing themselves to level of their kids. Even worse are those who discourage their kids from being silly. I don’t were it comes from, but some parents feel that if they let their kids act silly, they will never mature.

Finally, the reason that motivated me to write this article in the first place, is the current television programming for children. I see a lot kid shows these days that abandon silliness and humor for stupid-drama and gimmicks. I wonder if marketing firms think they will loose children if they are too-silly or something, whatever it is they are wrong. SpongeBob Squarepants is the silliest show on TV right now, and kids eat it up (even though they can’t always admit it at school).

In a recent open-forum at my local parish, I found the following prayer to St. Philip Neri placed on all the table: “St. Philip Neri, We take ourselves far too seriously most of the time. Help us to add humor to our perspective - remembering always that humor is a gift from God.” St Philip Neri is a saint remembered for his sense of humor and once showing up at a poshest party with half a beard. He would even mock “intellectuals” by reciting the liturgy in ungrammatical Latin when they were present.

This was a great prayer to have at the beginning of a serious discussion. All to often we adults show an inability to keep in good humor and let ourselves be silly now and then. Losing our humor, and humility, it one of the most dangerous things we can do. Humor, and the willingness to be humiliated, is a powerful force for reconciliation and conflict resolution. In the absence of humor, bickering and drama fill in.

Adults should help their kids maintain their “silliness” as long as possible, and in turn hold onto their own. They should watch TV shows with their kids and know what their kids are watching. Here is a big tip, if you can see any reason to watch the show, chances are your kids shouldn’t either. Great cartoons are made to appeal the kids in all of us, that is why the cartoons greats like Looney Tunes and Animaniacs appeal to kids and adults alike.