3 Responses to “Yeah, but Capt. Underpants is still okay, right? Right?”

1. Crusty old academic Says:
   December 10th, 2009 at 5:34 pm

   I think writing a piece like this is sometimes called jumping the shark. the good news is that shark jumping is a sign of something having gone too far to be taken seriously any longer.

2. Anonymous Says:
   December 11th, 2009 at 8:22 am

   Seriously, does any of this have any effect on early literacy? Obviously, Sesame Street was created for just that purpose. And later on The Electric Company was designed for older children who were in school. Since girls do better at reading and writing at earlier ages, maybe Sesame Street helps enhance that precociousness. Perhaps 2 year old girls watch it and actually learn their A B Cs while 2 year old boys watch it and just laugh at all the silliness. As for Thomas the Tank Engine, I used to enjoy watching it when my children were small. And I got a kick out of seeing Ringo Starr and George Carlin. But it never dawned on me that it was promoting sexism. What you hear more often is that children’s TV promotes violence and gives an illusion as to the lack of consequences of violence. I particularly heard this about Bugs Bunny and The Three Stooges. You also heard it about The Road Runner, who is now immortalized in the name of the service with which I am currently accessing Why Boys Fail. For instance, the coyote would find himself in a shed that was about to get hit by a train. He would pull down the curtain on the window and then boom. But a moment later the coyote would be back, completely unharmed. It was the attempt to have children’s programming that was nonviolent that led to shows like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Thomas the Tank Engine. But I think it all goes back to something that the late Gilda Radner used to say as one of her characters on Saturday Night Live, “It just goes to show, it’s always something!”

3. Thomas The (Conservative, Sexist) Tank Engine at The Core Knowledge Blog Says:
   December 11th, 2009 at 10:47 am

   [...] (H/T “Why Boys Fail”) [...]

Leave a Reply

Name

Mail (will not be published)

Website