Latest casualty in Iraq: Elmo's Dad
This past weekend our militaristic presence in Iraq exceeded the length of our involvement in all of World War II. Of course, in the case of World War II we were actually fighting something, rather than just stomping around shooting things in the name of some vague ideal.
But the worst is yet to come, because--on December 27--Elmo's dad gets deployed.
Read all about it on the Muppet Newsflash. The special will deal with the feelings and challenges associated with losing a parent to the Armed Forces, and will air--conveniently depressing--two days after Christmas.
Somewhere around 700,000 children will be without a parent this holiday season due specifically to the war in Iraq. And so leave it to Sesame Street to deal with the issue head-on. One scene involves Elmo watching in horror the beheading of his father on live, streaming internet.
I think it's probably safe to say that the mere fact that Sesame Street is addressing this directly is enough to consider it a critique of the Bush administration. After all, Sesame Street has been on the air since 1969, and how many armed conflicts have we been in since? Plenty. But, for the most part, Sesame Street was perfectly safe.
Until now. When President Bush drafts Elmo's father.
It's almost as if Sesame Street is saying, "Look. He's even sending your favorite puppets off to die."
And I, for one, approve of the implication.
God bless you, Children's Television Workshop.
About this entry
- By Phil Reed
- Posted on Wednesday, November 29 2006 @ 11:54 pm
- Categorised in TV
- Tagged with seseme street
- 6 comments
Considering that most of our contributors and readers here are probably British, I should mention that all the "we" stuff above is coming from an American standpoint. So thereyago.
By Philip J Reed, VSc
November 30, 2006 @ 12:01 am
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I've said it before and I'll say it again: Cor! :o
By Jeffrey Lee
November 30, 2006 @ 1:48 am
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I think the Brits were assuming that you were using the Royal 'We', but it's not like it's not relevant to us as well. A parent of a soldier in Iraq was on the news yesterday saying that he didn't see why the soldiers posted from other European countries couldn't be posted in the more dangerous areas, as they had a lower fatality rate than the Americans and Brits. Anyone see the flaw in his reasoning?
By Tanya Jones
November 30, 2006 @ 8:01 am
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>A parent of a soldier in Iraq was on the news yesterday saying that he didn't see why the soldiers posted from other European countries couldn't be posted in the more dangerous areas, as they had a lower fatality rate than the Americans and Brits.
Honestly, that just made my stomach turn.
By Philip J Reed, VSc
November 30, 2006 @ 12:47 pm
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It's probably worth pointing out that this special isn't aimed at kids, just in case you were thinking it was a little harsh having Elmo see his dad get beheaded on TV...
By Sycorax82
November 30, 2006 @ 4:52 pm
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>It's probably worth pointing out that this special isn't aimed at kids
It isn't officially aimed at children, no, but when you enlist Elmo and the other Sesame Street Muppets to present your message, you're going to have a strong viewership of youngsters, and I'm sure the program will be tailored accordingly.
I personally think the "this special is targeted at adults" thing is mainly their loophole to be able to have Sesame Street address the issue directly...and will also, hopefully, encourage adults to watch with their children (rather than instead of their children), as this is bound to raise more than a few questions.
I'm genuinely curious to see how they handle this. And as much as I'd like to question what Sesame Street is doing here, I find it difficult to believe Jim Henson would have been opposed.
By Philip J Reed, VSc
November 30, 2006 @ 10:05 pm
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