Gaying up Elmo

So, oddly enough, there were several stories about Sesame Street in today’s news.

Item #1: Elmo in Japan is all about “emotions”. Wasn’t tickle me Elmo touchy feely enough? Apparently, since literacy rates in Japan are at 100%, they decided that Elmo needs to teach little Japanese children how to cry. Which I guess is good since they have a habit of being emotionally remote with all of the Japanimation stuff that they watch. They have a whole generation of children killing children , I doubt that making them learn to cry is going to be that much of a preventative measure...a lot more would need to be done.

Item #2: The above article mentions the great strides that the Sesame Street in the Palestinian/Israeli areas have been making. I find it odd that they sort of forgot to mention the latest upcry on the segment recently where a little muppet character was saying that he wanted to kill the Israeli’s with an AK-47. I am still trying to find the clip for you, but that is good family fun, I tell you.

Item #3: I have been hearing about this for a while, but it sickens me just the same. They are going to make the cookie monster push healthier foods. Come on! He is the COOKIE MONSTER! He eats cookies uncontrollably, that is his function. I don’t care that the obesity rates for children are increasing, it is probably because they are watching too much television programming that is educational in nature. When I was little, I went outside to play because I didn’t want to watch the soap operas with my Mom when all of the educational children’s programming was over. But now with 24-hour cartoon networks—which I personally love—kids don’t have the impetus to leave the couch and it doesn’t sound like parents are making them. It is the parent’s fault, why are they punishing the cookie monster? Does this mean that next they are going to try to get Oscar the Grouch a respectable job and shower because he lives in the garbage like a bum?

And lastly, but not in the news, why is Sesame Street on at midnight on Sundays on the BYU run PBS station? Can’t they just run more re-runs of Laurence Welk or Perry Mason to make up the space…that is unless they are trying to cater to the druggie crowd who would be fascinated by the show at that time of night.