I’m not liking the “adults enjoying media for kids is the source of all sociological ills” adjacent takes that I’m seeing a lot of lately. The declining quality of language arts education, the general cultural push for the quick and easy mental shortcuts over doing any intellectual work (hi chatGPT), and the stream of anti-intellectualism seeping into our cultural zeitgeist is probably more to blame for people being intellectually immature than Bluey Adults™️.
Additionally, liking some kids media =/= only consuming kids media. No, I don’t want to use the fact that some of these adults are neurodivergent, traumatized, or what have you as condition for “allowing” them to watch a cartoon from time to time because it shouldn’t matter. There are actual, systemic issues affecting how people engage with art and I’m more concerned about dissecting those than I am about fulfilling some kind of a pathological need to make fun of people for liking “baby shows” on the internet and disguising it as good-faith critique.
