Pingu
Yes I've had a go at Martha Speaks, and now it's time to look at the preceding programme "Pingu".
Unlike 'Martha' this is obviously part of the CBeebies set and thus aimed at the very young; for those curious as to why I even see this it's because I channel hop and that Martha has been replaced by "Mona the Vampire" a much classier programme.
So what does Pingu teach our young? I've give a synopsis of three episodes I've seen, try to spot the common thread.
In today's episode Pingu breaks a vase and tries to hide the evidence. The disappearance comes to light when his father can't find anywhere to put some flowers. He discovers a shard of vase and uncovers the broken hidden remains. Pingu bursts into tears. Father eats the last pickle (?) from a jar and uses that. Everyone's happy.
In another episode Pingu and pals vandalise the town/village's igloo homes by painting all over them. Pingu is discovered and bursts into tears until he realises he can 'solve' the problem by pelting the houses with snowballs. He and his pals start throwing snowballs for almost a whole couple of seconds before it starts to snow and does the job for them. Everyone's happy.
In yet another episode Pingu decides to get a job delivering the morning papers. His inability to match paper to person doesn't hamper anything although makes him annoyed; as does passing all his pals having fun at the playground. Pingu decides to hurry things along by throwing the newspapers through the recipients windows etc. until deciding that even that takes too long and ditching the remaining ones in a bin so as to go play with his pals. An irate town/village complain and Pingu confronted. He then bursts into tears and both he and his parents sort out the newspapers and deliver them together. Everyone's happy.
So spotted the theme yet? That's right kids everything will turn out fine if you just burst into tears whenever you're discovered doing something you shouldn't. Excellent.
4 comments:
Oh dear God…
Wow, Pingu must seriously have run out of plots. It never used to be like that, but it has been running for yonks, so it's a little understandable if they've lost their way.
What I'm really writing to complain about is Mona the Vampire. She's a girl who's obsessed about vampires, to the point of believing she is one. She has lost the ability to tell between her imaginary world and reality. With the gang of troublemakers she leads, she goes around randomly accusing adults of being various mythical creatures. She doesn't weigh the evidence or give the accused the opportunity to answer her calumnies, she immediately proceeds to persecute them, by following them, breaking into their houses and workplaces, and by pelting them with flour, water, and the other munitions of young delinquents. But does she get into trouble for all this? No, because by the sheerest coincidence every week, the imagined werewolf, medusa, or what-have-you turns out to be a mortal wrongdoer - a blackmailer or burglar - and the persecution induces them to confess to their crimes (which probably amounts to evidence obtained through torture). What's this teaching our kids?
Six or seven years ago there was a big story in the news. In a village in Wales, there was an old woman who kept to herself. The local kids thought of her as a witch, and would go wind her up, call her names in the street, egg her windows, and so on. One night, a group of teenage girls broke into her house as a dare, or something similar. I forget the details of how it went wrong, but the end result was the girls murdering the old woman.
It was almost exactly an episode of Mona the Vampire. Only the ending was different. Even today, in these so-called enlightened times, people are tortured and murdered for being witches. We really don't need Mona the Vampire telling our children it's alright.
"Oh dear God…"
I'm not sure if that's aimed at me or Pingu :-)
Am I over-reacting hell yes, but I'm trying to make a point that kids watching this are at an impressionable age and some parents either plonk them down in front of this type of thing, or sit with them while doing something else and not paying attention to what's going on on-screen.
Onto Mona the Vampire, and yes it's not a good example to kids; but in its defence it clearly partitions reality and fantasy, and Mona does often get into trouble and punished prior to the all-turning-out-for-the-best endings. As for persecution many of the episodes show Mona either on the side of the 'monsters' or ending up helping them once she realises she's misunderstood their motives.
It's also aimed at a higher age group than the CBeebies Pingu, or Martha (which is aimed who knows where).
Could it do with emphasising the punishments as a consequence of her actions yes, but it's better than showing no consequences at all.
Naw, FlipC, we all love you.
(Physically?)
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