In a message dated 96-03-27 13:57:38 EST, you write:

>> To tell you the truth, I couldn't figure out how someone
>> could dumb down Sailor Moon, afterall... ^_^
>> (Sorry, can't help it!)
>>
>How can you dumb down Sailor Moon? Well, there's deemphasizing
>the violence to the point of incoherence. In particular, the
>episode "Day of Destiny," where the Sailor Scouts are slaughtered
>one by one. DIC's script tried hard to insist that the Scouts
>were merely being taken prisoner, but it was obvious from the
>visuals these girls were buying the farm. Judging by postings
>on r.a.a., not even kids in the 8 and under age group were
>fooled -- parents were reporting that the wee tykes knew darned
>well what was going on. I'm hoping to see the episode in the
>uncut original Japanese sooner or later, but I gather that the
>ending must have been similar to the first Superman movie, in
>which time is turned back to before the whole thing started,
>and the problem of the deaths of four Sailor Scouts (or "Pretty
>Soldiers," or bishojo senshi) is solved by making them didn't
>happen.
>
>Then there's "The Reluctant Princess" episode where Sailor Moon
>went into a complete funk and Sailor Mars slapped her. DIC cut
>it so that while you saw Sailor Mars approach Sailor Moon with
>obvious intent and wind up for the pitch, the actual slap was
>deleted, but then you saw Sailor Moon with her hand to her face
>and a red spot on her cheek under her palm. So what, you say?
>DIC accidentally left the actual slap footage in the coming
>attractions promo for the episode.
>
David Gerrod, who wrote "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode for Star Trek,
and, more or less, wrote the enitre Writers Guide for The Next Generation,
wrote about series television:"When you choose one premise over another, you
choose it not because you happen to like it better or because you think it
will make a better show-you choose it because (a) it fits in the overall
concept of the series, (b) it can be produced in the show's budget, (c)it
doesn't seem to present any problems which might run into time and cost
overruns, (d)it's suitable for television, as non-offensive as vanilla
pudding, and (e) *maybe* it'll be entertaining.
"Considering the importance of (a), (b), (c), and (d), it's a wonder anyone
ever gets to (e)."

Hey, I have subbed copied of Salor Moon(and I'm not proud of it....they're
mostly barganing chips for the good stuff-like Gundam or Evangelion), and my
sister saw it, and she liked it!  Ok, she was 14, but there's a point
here-kids are a lot smarter than we give credit for.

Why would DIC edit their episodes of Sailor Moon?  It can be said in one
word:Lawsuits.  What if some Redneck Christian Parent compains and sued DIC
for "harming" their child?  Rememer the movie called "The Program" and the
scene they cut when a bunch of kids lay in the middle of the road like the
college students in the movie?  What if some young girl goes out and decides
to "be like Sailor Moon!" and jump from rooftop to rooftop.

(Subpoint-A LOT of the female characters in the Japanese version of  Sailor
Moon were rather admirable.  Usagi-chan won a lot more battles on skill than
we give her credit for....)

And there's the one question about sexuality.....We assume that any same-sex,
loving relationship is automatically homosexual.  If the (in)famous Sailor
affair occured on American TV, *in front of kids!* no less, DIC would be up
to their armpits in laywers.

(I'm not going to say anything about homosexual actions on Star Trek:The Next
Generation or Star Trek:Deep Space Nine.  For a lot of people, say "science
fiction" and their brains shut off).

>Okay, this isn't exactly dumbing down. But then there's the
>matter of character names. It might be understandable that
>for a Japanese series being marketed in the US, cutural
>references that would be obscure to American audiences might
>be omitted or downplayed (the American dub of Tezuka's Alakazam
>is a mess that way, with obvious gods in heaven described as
>magicians on a floating island), but what about references to
>_Western_ culture? DIC mangled or sliced out a whole layer of
>reference to Selene, Greek goddess of the Moon, and Endymion,
>the handsome young man she loved.

Why confuse the kids?  After all, they can't handle such things, they'd
become heathens!(Redneck Christian Mode off).  Unfortuntly, America is
staring to get very, very Americentric, and if it isn't American, it isn't
worth s**t to some people.

Just my two bits.

Jon Souza
Jon.Souza@Creature.Com
NoDUI@AOL.Com

"The little birds are making noises
in today's forcast, a hundred million suns will fall
It's so dazzling I can't breathe
That's why I fell in love with you."
-"Wanna Be An Angel"
  Sharon Apple