Entertainment - Russia - Russian court clears The Simpsons of moral degeneracy

While reading another Guardian article about the Simpsons, I came across this doosy from earlier this year...

After spending several days watching episodes of The Simpsons, a Russian court has rejected claims that the show is 'morally degenerate' and likely to lead kids to drugs and violence.

The Khamovniki district court in Moscow rejected a lawsuit brought against Russian RenTV by a man who claimed the programme and another US hit show called Family Guy had got his child interested in drugs and led to him call his mother "a toad".

Igor Smykov demanded £6,000 after claiming that both series were morally degenerate and promoted drugs, violence and homosexuality.

He said that his six-year-old son, Konstantin, had asked him what cocaine was and then insulted his mother, calling her a toad, after watching episodes of the programmes.

Judge Lyubov Dednyova rejected claims that RenTV, by broadcasting the two programs, was interfering with a child's right to a normal, healthy childhood.

The ruling comes just weeks after Russian MPs said they wanted The Simpsons given an adults-only rating after a new report blamed the US series for corrupting Russian school kids and degrading family values.

The demand for action came after MPs asked the Russian ministry of culture and mass communications to monitor cartoons shown on Russian television.

Russian MP Yelena Afanasyeva said: "The experts gave just the result we feared. They found The Simpsons was crammed with violent and aggressive episodes. These cartoons also introduce antagonism between children and parents."

She and other MPs want TV stations to be fined for showing it during times when kids will be watching television.

And Ljubov Sliskova, the deputy head of the State Duma, admitted: "There are certain animated films which do not help children's education processes."

The Russian daily Izvestia, however, defended the series, saying: "They reacted like this to a fairly innocent episode of The Simpsons. What would they say if they saw South Park or Beavis and Butthead?"

I can sort of see how Family Guy could blow a 6-year-old's mind and turn him into a drug-taking violent homosexual, but The Simpsons?