Recently the owners of Sesame Street released the first season from 1969 on DVD. They have curiously placed a warning label on the DVD stating that some of the content is dated and now not suitable for young children. As many of us know that when you make DVD's out of classic programs from the 40's, 50's and 60's sometimes you get some politically incorrect material that is either racial or sexist or just downright mean spirited. The Looney Toons vault set comes to mind.
So the
New York Times listed a few of the scandalous things going on at Sesame Street in the late 60's. In the 60's there was a popular show hosted by English actor Alistair Cook called Masterpiece Theatre. Sesame Street's version was Monsterpiece Theatre hosted by Alistair Cookie or as we lovingly know him Cookie Monster. This is bad people, really bad, "Cookie Monster is making fun of America's favorite old fart sitting next to a fireplace, reading a book!" (
Scrooged) What really makes this bad is that Mr. Monster is holding, gasp, a pipe! Call the Police! Then this insane crazed monster does the unthinkable he eats the pipe! Oh my god this should be x-rated no child should see an imaginary blue creature eating a fake pipe. Honestly I don't think little children today would know what a pipe is, do you see people smoking pipes anymore, but that is beside the point. What the hell is wrong with these people!!? It's Sesame Street!! I grew up on Sesame Street I would like my son to grow up on Sesame Street there is nothing controversial about it, plain and simple.
We live in a very reactionary country now, where everything, no matter how innocent or non-threatening somehow appears nefarious if taken from a slightly skewed perspective. I mean one of the other complaints was that Oscar the Grouch was too grouchy. That Big Bird plays with an imaginary friend Mr. Snufalufagus and the kids make fun of him for it. Cookie Monster eats too many cookies and it apparently sets a bad example for children. It came to my attention now that Cookie Monster doesn't eat cookies at all anymore he just eats vegetables. WTF? He's the Cookie Monster!!! You see this is very simple, as parents we show our children these things to entertain them and sometimes to educate them. No responsible parent that I can think of would just hand a kid a giant cookie jar and tell little Junior to act like the cookie monster and feed his fat little face!! Parents and especially these damn action groups need to stop nitpicking every little thing in children's programming. Be parents, set rules for your own kids but stop ruining the experience for others because their parents are actually involved with their kids lives. There is nothing wrong with Sesame Street except that now, apparently, it is so PC that it sounds like it lost the fun and wonder that it used to have. This is really sad, I will admit that Sesame Street was created in simpler times, before Columbine type horrors but why do we have to shield children from that innocence of old? Our children are young and impressionable but they aren't stupid unless we as parents make them that way.
So I want to give this Celebrity Bucket O' Dumb to Sesame Street and Overprotective Parents everywhere! Because life is too short and the world is filled with real issues and problems that we, the normal ones, in this society are forced to just put you in your place and tell you to relax and enjoy the damn show!
Recently the owners of Sesame Street released the first season from 1969 on DVD. They have curiously placed a warning label on the DVD stating that some of the content is dated and now not suitable for young children. As many of us know that when you make DVD's out of classic programs from the 40's, 50's and 60's sometimes you get some politically incorrect material that is either racial or sexist or just downright mean spirited. The Looney Toons vault set comes to mind.
So the New York Times listed a few of the scandalous things going on at Sesame Street in the late 60's. In the 60's there was a popular show hosted by English actor Alistair Cook called Masterpiece Theatre. Sesame Street's version was Monsterpiece Theatre hosted by Alistair Cookie or as we lovingly know him Cookie Monster. This is bad people, really bad, "Cookie Monster is making fun of America's favorite old fart sitting next to a fireplace, reading a book!" (Scrooged) What really makes this bad is that Mr. Monster is holding, gasp, a pipe! Call the Police! Then this insane crazed monster does the unthinkable he eats the pipe! Oh my god this should be x-rated no child should see an imaginary blue creature eating a fake pipe. Honestly I don't think little children today would know what a pipe is, do you see people smoking pipes anymore, but that is beside the point. What the hell is wrong with these people!!? It's Sesame Street!! I grew up on Sesame Street I would like my son to grow up on Sesame Street there is nothing controversial about it, plain and simple.
We live in a very reactionary country now, where everything, no matter how innocent or non-threatening somehow appears nefarious if taken from a slightly skewed perspective. I mean one of the other complaints was that Oscar the Grouch was too grouchy. That Big Bird plays with an imaginary friend Mr. Snufalufagus and the kids make fun of him for it. Cookie Monster eats too many cookies and it apparently sets a bad example for children. It came to my attention now that Cookie Monster doesn't eat cookies at all anymore he just eats vegetables. WTF? He's the Cookie Monster!!! You see this is very simple, as parents we show our children these things to entertain them and sometimes to educate them. No responsible parent that I can think of would just hand a kid a giant cookie jar and tell little Junior to act like the cookie monster and feed his fat little face!! Parents and especially these damn action groups need to stop nitpicking every little thing in children's programming. Be parents, set rules for your own kids but stop ruining the experience for others because their parents are actually involved with their kids lives. There is nothing wrong with Sesame Street except that now, apparently, it is so PC that it sounds like it lost the fun and wonder that it used to have. This is really sad, I will admit that Sesame Street was created in simpler times, before Columbine type horrors but why do we have to shield children from that innocence of old? Our children are young and impressionable but they aren't stupid unless we as parents make them that way.
So I want to give this Celebrity Bucket O' Dumb to Sesame Street and Overprotective Parents everywhere! Because life is too short and the world is filled with real issues and problems that we, the normal ones, in this society are forced to just put you in your place and tell you to relax and enjoy the damn show!
2 comments:
I am so deeply disturbed by this (and the Times article about it) that I could spit. I hope you or some enteprising grandparent will get the real deal for the little tyke.
Oscar and Cookie Monster were formative influences on my childhood. Without Oscar, I wouldn't have seen what my mopiness LOOKED like on somewhat else.
I think if I have children that I'm going to find a way to raise them in the 70s.
I think American parents want their children to live in a fantasy sugarcoated world.
Well, they're going to have to learn about reality sooner or later, and I think American parents are becoming lazier and lazier.
They blame anything but themselves for bad parenting, and believe children are so stupid as to mindlessly imitate what they see on television.
Sadly, what all the sugarcoating and shielding away everything that goes on, children in America mindlessly imitate what they see on TV even more.
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