Brian - I had another idea lined up for this week’s topic, but Cal at the Canadian Cave of Cool has forced my hand. A while back, Cal suggested this as a topic and went ahead and wrote his article. Well, I’m going to piggy-back on it, because it was too good to pass up! This week’s challenge for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers…

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What piece of pop culture did you HATE as a kid?

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Gonna start this blog post with a picture that had an impact on my childhood.

Those of you that recognize the picture know what happens next. Here is another example.

Have you figured it out yet? No? Ok, Here we go with one more visual cue.

What piece of pop culture did I hate as a kid? Death, or rather, the lack thereof. Let me explain.

Some of my favorite cartoons growing up were Robotech, The Transformers, and GI Joe. Well, for a little while anyway. Robotech was my introduction to anime and the Transformers introduced to a more "mature" themed cartoons. Both transformed my (see what I did there) views on cartoons, life and growing up. In both of those series, characters came and went, matured, got beat up, hurt, injured and even died. When I heard that GI Joe was going to air, I was expecting more of the same. How could I not? This is a cartoon based on an action figure based on war. With plenty of characters, there was so much room for some really great stories. Then something strange happened.

Nothing.

Nothing as in no character development. No maturity of characters. Nobody ever got much more than a sprained ankle. All this advanced technology and they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Airplanes and helicopters would blow up and you would see a bunch of parachutes. Tanks and vehicles blow up and you see characters jumping out of them. Nobody died. This just killed my enthusiasm for the show. Fortunately I still had the toys. Can't tell you how many times Grunt (poor guy) was KIA and replaced by Grunt Jr, Grunt III, Grunt IV, and so on.

So there you go.

On a side note: Seeing as Imperial Stormtroopers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn either, you think Cobra and the Empire get all their ground troops from the same recruiting station and training facility? Just a thought.

What other pieces of pop culture are hated by League members? Well, Calvin has a problem with certain TV shows. Guest blogger, Lord Bad Guy, over at Monsterfink also had issues with some 80s cartoons. Big J over at Nerd Rage has issues with Footloose. Never saw the movie but now I got that damn song stuck in my head. Damn You, Big J. Finally, looks like Eric from Toyriffic and I have the same problem with a certain 80s cartoon. But to be honest, I think he hates it a bit more than I do.

That which you love to hate. (Hate is such a strong word, but…) (Originally posted April 9, 2013)