Happy Fucking Birthday, Sesame Street
Sesame Street turns 40, this week, That's milestone worth celebrating. It's also worth a look at the old stuff versus the new stuff to see how we've developed as a society over the last forty years.
The sad news is, we've got backwards.
Remember when Cookie Monster ate only cookies, and ate them like they were going out of style? Not anymore. Now he eats a healthy, balanced diet because Gods forbid kids eat only cookies. Kids can't be told - like I was - that cookie monster can eat only cookies, but I need other kinds of food, too.
Remember when Mr. Snuffleupagus was thought to be imaginary by the other denizens of the street, because he always walked offstage when they showed up, leaving Big Bird alone? Not anymore. Now everyone knows he's real because it's BAD for kids to have imaginary friends. Kids with imaginary friends need special drugs, these days.
ANd does anything need to be said about Elmo? That devil doll is the prozac-riddled apotheosis of everything wrong with kids in this day and age. He is the lovechild of Barney and all four of the Teletubbies, dripping sweetness like poisoned sugar, and desperately in need of a .50 caliber enema.
Several .50 caliber enemas.
The loose insanity and free to be you and me ethic of the show is gone. It has been replaced by safety nets and the occasional swipe at Fox news. The DVDs of the old years come with warning labels that they're not for kids - can you imagine that? If they weren't for kids now, then what was so bad about them then that we got screwed up by watching them?
I mean, look at me. I think I turned out normal. Elmo's exploded asshole may think differently, but that's his problem. I think I've got some public backing on that one.
So allow me to hijack the birthday cake, heat up the flamethrower and make a wish. I wish they'd just go back in time and let loose with what they used to be. We need some of that acid-fueled, hippie love daring-do in the here and now, when who knows how many kids are hooked on psychiatric drugs and being turned into robots for public health and safety.
posted by J. Edward Tremlett at 8:19 PM
2 Comments:
Yeah -- it's so self-consciously PC and party line that it's painful to watch -- but I didn't know Snuffy was no longer imaginary.... what a shame.
I mean, look at me. I think I turned out normal.
Indeed, Jim. For a given value of 'normal'.
Don't blame Sesame Street or the Muppets, but rather the Political Correctness Gestapo. (I used to refer to them as the Politically-Correct Gestapo until someone pointed out what a ludicrous oxymoron that was.)
This week on its website, Auntie Beeb has published a story to the effect that the Great British public somehow fell out of love with Sesame Street. Not because Muppets pronounce the 26th letter 'zee', but apparently because there were more, better, home-grown sprog-progs. 'Eh-oh! It's the Teletubbies.' yeah, right.
So it's the TV executives who have decreed that Sesame Street is now unpopular in Britain.
Witness the continuing popularity of the Muppets to show that the characters remain popular.
Oh, and incidentally: Why haven't the Teletubbies been taken off air for promoting childhood obesity, allegedly the greatest threat to health and longevity since the Black Death?
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