Thursday, September 23, 2010
Free Elmo
The powers-that-be at Sesame Street have pulled this video of Elmo and Katy Perry because it is "too racy." Maybe I'm a bad parent, but I don't see it. You decide (and, yes, totally SFW -- duh, it's Sesame Street):
All together now: They said that if I voted for John McCain the prudes would censor Sesame Street, and they were right!
20 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Sep 23, 11:59:00 AM:
You think the glued-on top maybe had something to do with it?
Goody
By 
Psota, at
Thu Sep 23, 11:59:00 AM:
By Progressively Defensive, at
Thu Sep 23, 12:19:00 PM:
Not my editorial choice, but not horrible.
I thought about it. It's the kind of dress a 3-6 year old girl might wear to a wedding party or some kind of nice event where they would enjoy dressing up like a 16 year old or older which, though I'm a man, I could see being fun for many of them (I think shoulder straps would have been better certainly editorially, but compared to what 3-6 year old girls DO wear out on the street with their parents, this is an elegant outfit).
I guess I only felt like the song implied a physical relationship between a girl and a boy (the muppet as substitute) that was hot and cold. I had a crush on a girl in pre-school (and my pre-school teacher) so I know that starts at 4 in it's very innocent way. But still, it's hard to watch it be shall we say fomented on Sesame Street however subtly without cringing. I don't know - it's a very personal viewpoint.
Final verdict; I'd have directed the video differently, shoulder straps and having the hot and cold question be about playing baseball or going to the movies or something.
By , at
Thu Sep 23, 12:41:00 PM:
By , at
Thu Sep 23, 01:03:00 PM:
Sesame Street must be down on milk bags these days.
By Bomber Girl, at
Thu Sep 23, 01:12:00 PM:
My kids are way beyond Sesame Street age but my recollection is that many of the musician-performer "sing-along with muppet pieces" were of better quality than this one, with some scattered classics along the way. Not sure if it's the music/voice, the outfit, the muddled message or what, but it's cringe-worthy. The kids won't be worse off for missing it.
By , at
Thu Sep 23, 02:08:00 PM:
Even though I don't have a sound card in this coputer I watched the video seven times, and I don't see any problem.
By Ruth H, at
Thu Sep 23, 02:12:00 PM:
Are you sure this is not a clip from Peewee's Playhouse?
By , at
Thu Sep 23, 04:21:00 PM:
I have 4 kids....10, 7, 4 and 2. They are all better off missing this one. Her outfit is too risque for the SS crowd. I also disapprove of putting her on the show when the songs she sings are totally inappropriate for this age group.
Thumbs down.
By , at
Thu Sep 23, 04:42:00 PM:
Four kids! Congratulations, but, wow that's a lot of work. I bet you folks catch every bug there is... We have three, but they're almost all grown up now (one left at home, two at college) and while we're excited to see what life brings us next we're also a little worried: after all, we've had non-stop action for a long time and it's all about to end. Enjoy your kids!
By Dawnfire82, at
Thu Sep 23, 05:07:00 PM:
"They are all better off missing this one. Her outfit is too risque for the SS crowd."
Do you live in a monastery? I see more 'risque' things in public parks.
By Bomber Girl, at
Thu Sep 23, 07:54:00 PM:
Dawnfire82, if anon 4:21 has four kids, monastery living is unlikely scenario. Perhaps just trying to avoid introducing "nunnery" style wardrobe to the under 10 crowd.
But hey, keep cruising the parks. It's a free country.
By , at
Thu Sep 23, 11:14:00 PM:
Dawnfire82: No monastery for us...but we try really hard to let the kids be kids as long as possible. So, for our family, that means they dress their ages and we monitor what they watch and listen to.
We've seen worse in parks, sure. But we don't have to invite that crap into our home.
By PatD, at
Fri Sep 24, 12:27:00 AM:
Jeepers, that was too racy? I thought she was about right. Now if you want sexy, check out Elina Garanča in Carmen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-ZfCWM3qo&feature=player_embedded
By pam, at
Fri Sep 24, 11:57:00 AM:
It's the story that won't die... We need Super Grover.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/great-muppet-caper-continues-as-elmo-defends-katy-perry/?hp
By , at
Fri Sep 24, 01:43:00 PM:
You gotta love New York Post headlines:
Jiggle Me Elmo
By Gary Rosen, at
Sat Sep 25, 12:48:00 AM:
It wasn't leering or prurient, but the dress was cut pretty low for a kids' show.
By JPMcT, at
Sun Sep 26, 01:43:00 AM:
Seriously, guys...if you are old enough to appreciate the hooters, then you really have bigger problems if you are still watching Sesame Street!!
This is the kind of moron-think that leads to the suspension oflittle boys from kindergarten for sexual harassment!
Face it, lefties, children are different...just like men, women, blacks, whites, gays and grandparents...people ARE DIFFERENT, forchrissakes!!!
By , at
Sun Sep 26, 10:29:00 AM:
Sesame Street made the right decision. It is important that we do not offend the sensibilities and morality of our Islamic community.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Sun Sep 26, 03:26:00 PM:
Appropriateness is not a unitary item, and changes from occasion to occasion. That is part of the social skills we teach children from earliest ages. It is a different dress when it is worn on older sister's music video that the 5 y/o watches over her shoulder than it is on a program that implicitly states "This is for you. This is your show."
It's a cute song. It's a cute idea. It's not a dress your kid's kindergarten teacher should be wearing to kindergarten, nor even to the school talent show. If she wore it in a community theater play and her students went to see it, no big deal.
5 sons, BTW. Four grown.
