Sesame Street and the Generation of Wimps

[KilgoreTrout]

Just read Virginia Heffernan's tongue-in-cheek review of the classic Sesame Street DVD's and was taken aback to read that there are disclaimers on the original episodes that caution the material is not suitable for young kids.

I don't have kids, and I'm not up to speed on children's TV, but you've got to be kidding me! Alastair Cookie is inappropriate for kids because he uses a pipe as a prop? Oscar is too grouchy? Big Bird is a loony because only he sees that however-you-spell-it?

How are children to react when events in their lives aren't all bright and rosey? I remember when the actor who played the shop keeper (Mr. Hooper?) died. They did an episode that touched on that. I remember watching it with my brother. I think I was 9 or 10 (and he was 17-18) at the time.

I've been hearing a lot about the so-called Generation of Wimps. Maybe there's something to it.

edit

I didn't realize "Generation of Wimps" is code that conservative christian fundamentalists and other right wingers use to denote "Liberalism" (as a pejorative). That's not how I intended to use the term.

I see myself as fairly middle of the road, or as much as that's possible living in Massachusetts. My views are sometimes Libertarian, sometimes liberal, sometimes moderate, depending on the issue. I'm live and let live for the most part.

Since the time may soon come where I'm on the other side off the diaper bag, I've been thinking about how I'd raise a kid. I like to think that I won't be that parent who rushes to the kid's side every time s/he scrapes a knee, or the parent who storms into the school to protest when my kid doesn't get the prime role in the pageant.

I don't know where this notion that "Thou shall not be offended" comes from. I find lots of stuff I encounter every day to be offensive - much of it on TV, but a trip to the store in the car is all I need to find offense. There seems to be a groundswell of pride in being marginalized, and then pointing the finger at those who make others feel marginalized.

I've seen articles in the Times that defame use of the N-word, or the C-word, written by seemingly high-brow columnists. Are we stuck in the 3rd grade?

The backlash from the right against all this over-the-top PC stuff is also alarming. It wasn't long ago that a school board in PA tried to veil creationism as valid science, and it will happen again. The right perceives the battle for chidren's minds and are actively advancing their agenda. The left's PC mantra, which I hope is well-intentioned, is ubiquitous.

So what does this have to do with Sesame Street? I didn't know Burt and Ernie were gay. It didn't matter to me that Oscar was a grouch. So Big Bird had an imaginary friend, so what? My parents never pressured me to be perfect but I turned out okay. My mother smoked King Sized Kents and enjoyed an old fashioned from time to time.

I got into scraps with the other neighborhood boys. Summer days, I'd head off on my bike and sometimes wouldn't return until dark, often with a few fresh scrapes or bruises as reminders of the day's adventures.

I had a TV allowance. It was up to me to spend my allotted TV time as I saw fit. Before long I learned that if I wanted to watch Bugs Bunny it meant that I couldn't watch Tom and Jerry. If I was unfortunate enough to utter the words, "I'm bored," I'd find myself cleaning my room or giving the dog a bath, cutting vegetables or holding a flashlight for the old man, or *gasp* being told to read a book.

What I'm saying is that it's a fine line between protecting youngsters and denying opportunities to teach critically. This story about Sesame Street bearing a warning makes me think the latter is suffering.

[Blarg]

I just read that too, and it was yet another eye-roller for our brittle, PC times. Not liking Oscar and Cookie Monster, much less finding them harmful, is about as absurd as it gets. And the new Elmo-type stuff is smarmy, btw. Give me a good ole ravenous cookie-monster, who isn't quite in control of himself, any day. And a good ole REALLY grouchy Oscar the Grouch.

I also don't believe that death or most of the hard parts of life should be hidden for kids. They should be treated as the normal parts of life that they are, so kids don't turn them even more monstrous in their imaginations and wind up even less psychologically prepared for them. We don't have to introduce them to absolutely everything and in the worst ways possible, but when you start worrying about even good-natured puppets -- so good-natured that even the monsters are fun and you want them for pals -- being bad influences, you're getting too precious and brittle to live. I'm far more uncomfortable with over-protective parenting than of letting kids know that they live in a lively, sometimes difficult world.

P.S.: Monsterpiece Theater was funny!

[KilgoreTrout]

re: death

My mom used pets to teach me about life. Starting in kindergarten, I can't recall a time when I didn't have pets. First there were goldfish, for which I was responsible to feed and keep the tank clean. I bawled my eyes out when I found the first one floating one morning. Then came a hampster, followed by a couple of very smart pet rats, and a dog. The dog lived for 13 years before she had to be put down (I was in HS). Along the way I learned that death is part of life. Imagine that.

[daveT]

Over-protective parents put their kids on a leash. They don't see their kids as human. Why would you want to listen to them or let them influence you?

[tuq]

Gah, this PC entertainment for kids is ridiculous. My generation watched Tom & Jerry, and the Roadrunner, two cartoons whose implied goals were for the villain to catch and eat the prey. Ooh, probably too violent today, it sends the wrong message! Right.

I don't know if the stuff for the younger kids like Barney and Teletubbies is also stupider now than when I was growing up, but I don't remember what entertained me at that age. I'm sure it is though.

[Blarg]

It's imbecilic. I grew up watching Bugs Bunny -- and not a cutified "baby Bugs Bunny" type version, and watching those cartoons never hurt anybody. The teletubbies/Barney type stuff was the stuff that had me rolling my eyes in horror even as a really young kid. It's kinda terrifying realizing adults are so out of touch that they're speaking to you as if you have the brains of a parakeet or something.

The stuff out now is way, way worse that Bugs Bunny or the old Hanna-Barbera stuff, and truly drained of life. It's about as stimulating as a Maoist forced reeudcation camp.

[daveT]

I grew up watching GIJoe, ThunderCats, Transformers, and Popeye, to name a few of the violent shows. I didn't walk into a school with a gun, nor did any of the kids my age. Ironic, isn't it? Repression creates criminal emotions. Simple sociology.

[niss]

Yeah ... I think I'm slightly older, and my cartoons were Popeye (where he ate spinach so he could kick the crap out of Bluto) and Bugs Bunny. I think we turned out OK.

"Would I throw a lighted match in that oven if my pal Mugsy was in there?"

"You might rabbit, you might."

[mshalen]

Where is Speedy Gonzales when you need him?

[Blarg]

He went the way of the Frito Bandito, but I don't know if Ricardo Montalban was involved in that directly.