Unbelievable. The Cookie Monster, of former cookie jar-devouring heroics, has now learnt that"cookies are a sometimes food" and has broadened his eating habits to include fruit and vegetables.
I don't know where to begin to comment on this. Civilization is at an end. What comes next--"Oscar the Serotonin Disadvantaged"?
Some of the comments on this blog are rather amusing in their outrage about the matter. One 14 year-old girl writes:
"I think cookie monster should stick with cookies cause without cookies there is no cookie monster and that is just retarded!!!"
She may have a point. Another girl gets really worked up and leans on the caps lock key. During her tirade, she points out that:
"...(I am very skinny ONLY BECAUSE MY MOM FED ME THE RIGHT WAY!!!) COOKIE MONSTER DIDN'T INFLUENCE ME AT ALL!!!"
Classic. Later, she arrives at the obvious solution. Threaten legal action:
"IF THIS IS TAKEN ANY FARTHER SO HELP ME I WILL SUE MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD SHOW JUST BECAUSE YOU RUINED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER... I AM HURT AND TRAMATIZED FOR LIFE!!! ...IF ANYMORE CHANGES HAPPEN I AM GOING TO PUT THIS SHOW OUT OF BUISNESS!! SO YOU BETTER CHANGE COOKIE MONSTER BACK TO HIS OLD SELF OR I WILL SUE. AND I AM TOTALLY SERIOUS ON THIS SUBJECT."
I guess Sesame Street will see her in court.
Categories: Sesame Street, Cookie Monster
6 comments:
I too am outraged that anyone could tinker with an institution like Sesame Street, one of my all-time favs. Even after all these years I can still chuckle at the antics of Ernie and Bert, Grover, The Count, et al. One of life's simple pleasures.
Of course we shouldn't underestimate the power of television. Indeed, I have modelled my own personality on Oscar the Grouch.
It's hard (and probably wrong) to try to put controls on the media, like, if a children's programme wants to deliver a message be it better nutrition or a type of religion who are we to say that's wrong?
I guess people like us Simon should just be grateful that we were able to partake of the simple joys of Sesame Street at it's prime, unencumbered by modern liberal pc do-gooders.
Oh for God's sake, when are people going to take bit of responsibility for what they put in their mouths. Cookie Monster never held anybody down and fed them junk food.
I guess I'm annoyed by the whole idea that there has to be a "message". Children are increasingly being seen as objects to be preached at, to have the right inputs plugged into them so they produce the right "behaviour".
What was cool about Sesame St was that--while it was educational in terms of teaching about letters and numbers--it was a loosely structured world full of a New York's worth of wacky characters. Would a show get made today that included:
-a cohabiting gay couple
-a gigantism-suffering ostrich with (drug-induced?) delusions about an imaginary woolly mammoth friend
-a number-obsessed (mildly autistic?) vampire
-a chronic depressive living in a trash can (how unhygienic!)
-the aforementioned bulimic monster?
Maybe some kind of "liberal do-goody" philosophy such as promoting diversity was behind this in the first place, but it wasn't being rammed down everybody's throats. You were just amused by a bunch of wacky characters going about their sometimes fractious lives.
Nowadays it seems that kids are given less and less credit for intelligence, and are viewed as passive receptacles for "influences", hence the need to heavily-handedly enforce the right "messages" and make everything the same.
cookie monster was obviously sleeping with the evil sugar industry. that relationship is over. thank god!
and personally, i think the recognition that cookies are a sometimes food doesn't stop cookie monster delivering his power ballad "all i want is my cookie, cookie! cookie! cookie!" with passion. in fact, as absence makes the heart grow fonder, i reckon there will only be more power in his voice.
I don't care about messages to the kids; all I want is my cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie! I thought a friend gave me FIVE! cookies but it was only a dream. A nice dream.
Cookie Monster
interesting comment about cookie monster sleeping with the evil sugar industry...this had occurred to me, given the rather odd remark made by Sesame St's vice president of research and education, Dr Rosemarie T Truglio, when questioned by an AP journalist. She said: "“We are not putting him on a diet... and we would never take the position of no sugar. We’re teaching him moderation.” Hmmm. Never take the position of no sugar --sounds a little out of context, even a bit defensive (who even mentioned sugar as such?). I'd like to think the sugar industry wasn't behind cookie monster in the first place, but it does sound like they've been quietly heavying Sesame St over the "fewer cookies" thing. Sugar seems to run a pretty close third to oil and armaments in terms of political lobbying clout in the U.S. -- their protections are routinely exempted from free-trade agreements such as the U.S.-Australia one.
In any case, you can now read about how Cookie Monster is fighting back. Yes, Cookie Monster has a blog, in which he details his cunning plans to outsmart the network goons and assuage his cookie cravings. The episode with the blood donation nurse is particularly good.
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