I like both cartoons and video games. They’re really fun for me – I just started both a new game and a new show this past week. If I enjoy watching Voltron: Legendary Defender over a show like Supernatural, why not? Or if I prefer to play Dreamfall: The Longest Journey instead of Wii Play or a more common game, is that bad? I also like comics – if I choose to pick up a comic book instead of a novel, is there anything wrong with that?

Of course not. They’re all different types of media, and there’s no shame in preferring one over the other, or even enjoying them.

I’ve had my parents make comments to me about how I need to outgrow them, sometimes. “You’re 21, you can’t keep playing video games,” my Dad told me earlier this year (or something similar to that). My Mom’s come around to the idea that even though they don’t seem like something popular or fun to her, that doesn’t mean that it’s the way it is period, but it’s taken a bit of a journey to get there.

But… why? Why should it matter at all? They’re all formats of telling a story. Some stories are told better in comic form, or in cartoon form, or in video game form. Often times, I like cartoons because they can be a lot freer with what kind of story they’re telling. They don’t need to rely on special effects budgets, or what’s physically possible to film. Can it be drawn? Then they can do it, and I enjoy that greatly.

Comics? Some things are better told in visual format. When it comes to fighting, I understand way more of what’s going on in a fight when I’m reading a comic vs. reading a book. The visuals make it easier. They can also be incredibly beautiful, to boot, and I just so happen to like the kind of stories that are often told in comic books (cough superheroes).

Video games are one of the few forms of story-telling that’s filled with audience participation. You have to solve puzzles. You have to outrun the creature, or save yourself from dying, or maneuver this conversation right, and more and more of the story comes with it. You have to actively keep the story moving and I love it.

Cartoons, comic books, video games… they’re not things for children. Or just for children, rather. They make video games and cartoons for teens and adults, so why can’t I consume them? Why can’t I watch cartoons and cry over them and gasp at every plot twist? Why can’t I carefully hunt down comic books, scattered across years and different issues, trying to find every one that my favorite character features in? Why can’t I be excited as I solve each puzzle in a game, and be so enthralled by the plot that the moment I’ve finished one game, I’m already installing a sequel?

It’s perfectly acceptable for me to excited about the new Harry Potter book. The next Star Wars movie. But if I talk about how thrilled I am that my favorite cartoon crew is making another one, that’s odd. If I talk about how excited I am that the next game in my series is coming out next month, that’s a bit weird. Why? Why is this set of media considered so markedly different than the others?

It honestly doesn’t make any sense, but I’m going to enjoy my cartoons and my video games and my comics for as long as I may.