bluegargantua

Yeah?

Here's a scene you never saw NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

Tom

Hi,

So elsewhere in LJ there's a thread that comes up about Elmo from Sesame Street and how pretty much everyone hates him. I really hate him. He's whiny and dumb and tries to take the roles of a dozen other Sesame Street muppets who are better and cooler than him.

But now I'm wondering if I'm a racist jerk.

See, here's the deal. Pretty much all the monsters in Sesame Street are blue in color. Grover, Cookie, Harry, they're all blue. And if they're not blue, they're generally in that end of the spectrum: Telly and Two-Headed monster are purple and Oscar (technically a grouch and not a monster) is green.

And a great many muppets (monsters or no) are in cool colors or darker shades of warm colors. There are exceptions (Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Bakley, Prairie Dawn, etc.), but most muppets are pretty chromatically relaxed.

Elmo, is bright, fire-engine red. He's the most notably bright and colorful muppet. And Henson bless me, I just can't stand bright red muppets. If I think Elmo is lame and stupid, how much of that is due to my own lame stupidity? And how can I overcome my personal prejudices? And if Elmo is as terrible as I think he is, how can I create positive change for both of us?

Sesame Street -- It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you think
Tom

Hey,

The very first time I ever rode the T (which was the first time I'd ever ridden a subway), I was instantly reminded of this.

"It's too crowded to complain..."
Tom

Heh,

Not often that Schoolhouse Rock opened with a quote from Saint Augustine.

Tom

The folks at Sesame Street are working with military groups to make a new video for children of active service members. In it, Elmo's father deploys (although it's vague about whether he's in the Army or going to war) and the red-furry muppet has to cope with his absence. The target is the half a million children younger than five with parents in the military.

OK, so yes, it's a very important issue to these children and I don't feel like Seasame Street is "selling out" to "the Man" or anything like that.

However. I really gotta wonder -- how desperate is the Army that they'll let a red furry monster with a man hanging out of his ass enlist?

"Well, Mr. Monster, let's just say your evaluation report was brought to you by the number 4 and the letter F..."
Tom