In the end (Even to this day), most people (Or at least those that are not really fans) probably see animation as a form of media that parodies a topic rather than presenting it in a more accurate manner. It is not the question of whether this topic can be applied to animation (Because honestly, animations can do anything live action can, especially these days when freedom of speech is definitely growing), but how it is presented and how the audience would respond to it.
Examples such as "South Park" and "The Simpsons" (Or any sitcom, young adult, adult animation series for that matter) do seem to poke fun at the best known subcultures whenever they can, and simply seem to show them as nothing more than a joke. One subculture that especially comes to mind are the Goths, in nearly every show I have seen (Even if they are not of the gothic genre), both animated and live (Eg, "Hercules: The Animated Series", "Danny Phantom", "Teen Titans", "Total Drama Island", "Adventure Time", etc.), there is at least going to be the cliched "goth chick" character present, regardless of how big a role she plays.
But we could consider that by presenting a subculture in a exaggeratedly stereotypical manner, it gains the attention of those that are unfamiliar to the subject, rather than attempting to push it right into their faces, if they are interested enough, like so many other topics, they can actually properly look into it after… instead of being so negatively influenced and so many might simply think (This might not be the best and most related example, but Don Bluth's "Anastasia" was still able to get most of the audience interested enough to actually look into the true history behind it all, and the same can be applied to this topic).
There are however also times when these representations can also effectively evoke a deeper message than one might believe, "South Park" for example, despite it's shock humour most of the times, has actually been successful in addressing such topics in their own twisted and hilarious manner.
But as always, when it comes down to it, it really depends on the audience themselves and how they decide to view it, it definitely helps however when a subculture is not only portrayed in a negative light, but as a full fleshed out character (AKA, human beings), or simply how a considerably normal character learns from it all when he or she briefly decides to explore into the subculture itself (Eg, "The Simpsons", "Archie Comics", "Phineas and Ferb", "As Told by Ginger", etc.).
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