Well, at least they’re still letting him make an unholy mess when he does indulge in his “unhealthy” habit. Under some form of parental/guardian oversight, albeit.
I’m mixed about this. SS has always been a bit PC, not that I’m minded terribly, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone would start complaining. It does beg the question about whether we aren’t getting a bit too cautious on our kids’ behalves. I suppose it would be just easier to straighten him up rather than trying to point up that this is a puppet, a big hairy blue one at that.
Not to get too academic about it, but SS has long had an archetypal feel to most of its characters. Using puppets gives you a bye in the whole “is it real?” department and that’s very freeing to explore different possilbilities with the ability to use exaggeration and even parody to distill ideas to a simpler form. I remember when they stopped letting Snufflupugus (sp?) be visible only to Big Bird. Truthfully, I think I was a little more put out about that than I am about this, but I think some of the same arguments were trotted out about what sort of behaviour it appears to sanction for our kids. Interesting that now, the idea of a kid having an imaginary friend isn’t as disconcerting to folks as it seem to be in the past.
Well, at least they’re still letting him make an unholy mess when he does indulge in his “unhealthy” habit. Under some form of parental/guardian oversight, albeit.
I’m mixed about this. SS has always been a bit PC, not that I’m minded terribly, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone would start complaining. It does beg the question about whether we aren’t getting a bit too cautious on our kids’ behalves. I suppose it would be just easier to straighten him up rather than trying to point up that this is a puppet, a big hairy blue one at that.
Not to get too academic about it, but SS has long had an archetypal feel to most of its characters. Using puppets gives you a bye in the whole “is it real?” department and that’s very freeing to explore different possilbilities with the ability to use exaggeration and even parody to distill ideas to a simpler form. I remember when they stopped letting Snufflupugus (sp?) be visible only to Big Bird. Truthfully, I think I was a little more put out about that than I am about this, but I think some of the same arguments were trotted out about what sort of behaviour it appears to sanction for our kids. Interesting that now, the idea of a kid having an imaginary friend isn’t as disconcerting to folks as it seem to be in the past.