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Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: ferfux ()
Date: November 20, 2007 06:18PM

Posted Nov 19th 2007 3:28PM by Ada Calhoun
Filed under: Media, Children

According to a very funny article by New York Times TV writer Virginia Heffernan, there is a warning on the new "Sesame Street: Old School" DVD that reads, "These early 'Sesame Street' episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child." Baffled, Heffernan writes:

At a recent all-ages home screening, a hush fell over the room. "What did they do to us?" asked one Gen-X mother of two, finally. The show rolled, and the sweet trauma came flooding back. What they did to us was hard-core. Man, was that scene rough. The masonry on the dingy brownstone at 123 Sesame Street, where the closeted Ernie and Bert shared a dismal basement apartment, was deteriorating. Cookie Monster was on a fast track to diabetes. Oscar's depression was untreated. Prozacky Elmo didn't exist.



It brings up an interesting question: Were those of us who grew up in a time before organic snacks and mandatory car seats and Abby Cadabby really at a disadvantage?

Heffernan suggests that over-protected kids today could learn a little something from old-school Sesame Street:
The harshness of existence was a given, and no one was proposing that numbers and letters would lead you "out" of your inner city to Elysian suburbs. Instead, "Sesame Street" suggested that learning might merely make our days more bearable, more interesting, funnier.

We're with her. Kids today are often presented by kids' programming with a misleading "everyone wins!" version of reality. They could stand a little more misanthropic Oscar, a little less "Prozacky Elmo."

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: bdimag ()
Date: November 20, 2007 07:13PM

i'll drink to that

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: Mr Hooper ()
Date: November 20, 2007 09:36PM

Bert and Ernie were life partners. Oscar had a mental condition brought on by homelessness. Big Bird was endangered and was protected under the Wildlife Protection Act so he got away with murder. The old white fuck who ran the store was killed when the blacks on sesame street rioted and burned down his place for not being minority friendly.
The whole block was eventually razed by Donald Trump and turned into expensive condos.

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: ferfux ()
Date: November 20, 2007 09:40PM

Mr Hooper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bert and Ernie were life partners. Oscar had a
> mental condition brought on by homelessness. Big
> Bird was endangered and was protected under the
> Wildlife Protection Act so he got away with
> murder. The old white fuck who ran the store was
> killed when the blacks on sesame street rioted and
> burned down his place for not being minority
> friendly.
> The whole block was eventually razed by Donald
> Trump and turned into expensive condos.


I didnt realize that Sesame street was a kids version of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing.

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: MeadeS9 ()
Date: November 20, 2007 11:06PM

Um, is like Gen X people born before 1977?

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: Tia2 ()
Date: November 21, 2007 09:10AM

I don't recall watching too much TV as a child, and I NEVER watched Sesame Street.

I do remember some of the shows I was addicted to:

Mash
Roller Derby
I Love Lucy
Casper the Friendly Ghost


I wonder if watching those shows planted the seed for my beliefs:

War is a last resort
I must utilize my resources to get what I feel I need/want
Marriage can be fun if you find the right person
There is life after death....

Interesting....

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: gabydamage ()
Date: November 24, 2007 06:51PM

PC has ruined not only the Generation X'ers, but society as a whole. And now they're going after Sesame Street. Oh, the humanity......

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: Take a Stand ()
Date: November 24, 2007 07:41PM

3..2..1.... Contact. and the bloodhound gang..
Hells Yeah ..

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: Margie ()
Date: November 24, 2007 07:56PM

What is this world coming to??? I never thought I would see the day people would be bashing Bert,Ernie,The Cookie Monster or Elmo. Who will they bash next? Mr.Rogers?

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: yeah ()
Date: November 24, 2007 11:50PM

Margie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is this world coming to??? I never thought I
> would see the day people would be bashing
> Bert,Ernie,The Cookie Monster or Elmo. Who will
> they bash next? Mr.Rogers?


Mr. Rogers was gay. He molested little boys on his show.

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: Redevelopment Authority ()
Date: October 24, 2016 02:07AM

Did Trump kill off Sesame Street?

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Re: Did 'Sesame Street' Ruin Generation X, or Save It?
Posted by: Snufalufagus ()
Date: October 24, 2016 04:08PM

Never watched it. Too ghetto.

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