That's good enough for me
Nov. 9th, 2009 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matthewdalyI don't recall it being just a tot, but I am told that I watched the premier episode of Sesame Street 40 years ago today. I absolutely remember watching very many of the subsequent episodes. It was smart and dear, and it taught me about cooperation and imagination and appreciating diversity and how to count to twenty in Spanish. It spawned the greatest childrens book ever.
There have been dark moments over the years. I really wasn't a fan of the 1985 decision to positively declare that Mr. Snuffleupagus existed. (Yes, yes, if you don't do that then kids will be too afraid to tell grownups about their sexual abuse. But it de-legitimizes my childhood imaginary friends who haven't been seen by grownups.) I was a very very confused child when they recast Gordon TWICE without announcement, as if I wouldn't notice that Susan was now married to a different guy than before. (That didn't happen in my white, middle-class world, you understand, so I assumed that such switches were not unusual elsewhere.) And I think that Elmo has settled into an adorable sharp-witted monster and I have a secret crush on Kevin Clash, but he sure started out as an over-commercialized hot mess.
But, you know, watch this and tell me that any of that matters. That's quality. What are Joey and John-John up to these days?
There have been dark moments over the years. I really wasn't a fan of the 1985 decision to positively declare that Mr. Snuffleupagus existed. (Yes, yes, if you don't do that then kids will be too afraid to tell grownups about their sexual abuse. But it de-legitimizes my childhood imaginary friends who haven't been seen by grownups.) I was a very very confused child when they recast Gordon TWICE without announcement, as if I wouldn't notice that Susan was now married to a different guy than before. (That didn't happen in my white, middle-class world, you understand, so I assumed that such switches were not unusual elsewhere.) And I think that Elmo has settled into an adorable sharp-witted monster and I have a secret crush on Kevin Clash, but he sure started out as an over-commercialized hot mess.
But, you know, watch this and tell me that any of that matters. That's quality. What are Joey and John-John up to these days?
