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Interests => Games & Home Entertainment => Topic started by: Movie buff- The Sequel on June 21, 2016, 05:43:11 PM

Title: An episode of the old show 'Gargoyles' which taught a lot about guns...
Post by: Movie buff- The Sequel on June 21, 2016, 05:43:11 PM
I have recently gotten more interested in a show I was a fan of as a kid, but had largely forgotten about until a few months ago:
The show in question was an animated series that ran in the mid- late 90's called 'Gargoyles.'
Now, THIS was a Disney animated show with some cajones. It had action, violence, drama, deep storylines, wasn't afraid to take risks, and was clearly written by people who respected kids' intelligence.
For a brief synopsis of the series as a whole, in 994 AD, there was a castle in Scotland which had an interesting way of protecting itself from invaders: At night, the castle's gargoyle statues would come to life and act as its guardians/ protectors. However, after a betrayal, most of them are killed and the few that are left are put under a spell that causes them to remain stone day and night for 1000 years. Fast- forward to 1994 AD (Which was roughly present day when the show came out). The spell is broken, and the gargoyles reawaken to find themselves in New York City, basically trying to get by, survive, and do some good in the world.
I recently rewatched an episode of it called 'Deadly Force,' which dealt with the subject of guns/ gun violence/ gun safety in a VERY effective, appropriate way that I think we all could appreciate.
In the episode, one of the gargoyles, Broadway (Usually the comic relief of the show, the typical "slow- witted, food- obsessed doofus" kind of character) has recently watched a violent Western movie. On his way back home from the theater, he pays a visit to the apartment of another character, Elisa, a policewoman who's pretty much the gargoyles' only human ally for most of the series. As she whips up a meal for him, he sees that she has rather carelessly left her holstered gun hanging from her coat rack. Since the Western movie is still fresh in his mind, Broadway can't resist taking the gun out and playing with it, pretending to be a Wild West gunslinger. You can probably guess what happens: The gun goes off, critically wounding Elisa. Understandably horrified and guilt- stricken over what he's done, Broadway quickly flies her to the hospital where she remains in critical condition for the rest of the episode.
Of course, a policewoman shot in her own apartment with her own gun attracts the attention of the rest of the force, as both they and Goliath (The leader of the gargoyles and normally the main character of the show) assume that the shooting must have been the work of a local crime lord whom Elisa had been investigating, and set out after him. Broadway, meanwhile, has been trying to alleviate his own guilt by attacking street- level/ black- market arms dealers, stumbling across an arms- smuggling operation headed by the same crime lord. Things all ultimately come to a header with Goliath and Broadway both descending on the crime lord's warehouse at the same time, and Broadway having to come clean about what he did.
I've gotta say, I loved the way this old episode handled such a controversial subject. Rather than just a preachy "All guns everywhere are evil! Nobody should ever own a gun for any reason!" message that you might expect to see from a left- wing show, this dealt more with gun safety/ responsible gun ownership. It deals a two- pronged message, both that children (Whom the rather simple- minded Broadway is clearly meant to represent) and others who are inexperienced with guns shouldn't play around with them, and that adults who own guns need to be careful in storing them, especially if they live with or near children. I'd say both of those are messages that all of us could get behind. Plus, the episode was just simply very good. The animation was nice for its time, it had plenty of good action, and the character portrayals and voice- acting were top notch for a kids' show, we really feel all the emotions that each of the characters are going through.
Here's the youtube link to the episode, if any of you would like to watch it:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPsjiEHOsj0[/youtube]
Title: Re: An episode of the old show 'Gargoyles' which taught a lot about guns...
Post by: thundley4 on June 21, 2016, 07:27:15 PM
I was in my late twenties or so and both my wife and I watched the show. Some cartoons are better than the other crap on TV.