I am certain that this story was inspired by the reporter reading this recent reddit thread that pointed out the absurdity of this show: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/6zgpig/what_is_t...
What makes you certain about that?
The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
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Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#12This is only news to someone who has never watched Thomas. It took me until the second or third Thomas book and I was pretty surprised how authoritarian it all was - and that was circa 2000. But the books are from the 40's and like a lot of things people keep buying them not knowing exactly what they're getting.
Also kids love talking trains.
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#13Thomas & Friends is gold.
The show is dignified and wholesome. It is always about respect, diligence, and humility.
It isn't there for stupid antics and wacky laughs. It doesn't blast color explosions and ADHD-fueled off-the-charts mind-numbing exuburance to capture kids attention. And it's been doing that for decades (pretty much eternity, as far as kids TV goes).
Not since Mr. Rogers has there been a better kids TV show.
> Fat Controller
Better known as Sir Topham Hatt since the 1950s.
> Henry must be punished—for life
Even in the old non-US version (modern one makes it explicit), it was still evident that he wasn't left in their forever, as he showed up again next time.
Blue Mountain Mystery [1] A little green engine hides in the blue hills. Thomas learns that long ago, the engine accidentally caused another engine to roll overboard into the sea. He has been hiding ever since, in guilt and fear and shame. Thomas convinces him to return, and the story shows how silly the little engine's worries were. It's a moral of forgiveness and redemption. (Also, there's a great surprise about who that overboard engine actually is.)
This crap makes me mad. I have to stop reading stuff on the internet. Go back to watching Sponge Bob or Family Guy or whatever crap you watch with your kids.
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#14For those interested in comedy-horror, I recommend Shed 17: the lost story of the flesh-engines. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=462KBuAhncU A hidden gem of YouTube.
This is well worth a watch!
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#15[deleted]
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#16I've always hated this show, in my PBS show rankings it's barely above Caillou, which was totally banned when my kids were little. Sir Topham Hat is such a fascist. I'd pay-per-view the episode where the trains revolt and Sodor burns down.
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#17It's hard to imagine George Carlin would associate himself with anything repressive and authoritarian.
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#18I've always hated this show, in my PBS show rankings it's barely above Caillou, which was totally banned when my kids were little. Sir Topham Hat is such a fascist. I'd pay-per-view the episode where the trains revolt and Sodor burns down.
Lol why was Caillou "totally banned" for your little kids??
Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#19My mother didn’t let me watch anything but Thomas and Friends. She said after watching Rugrats or Spongebob i would turn into a disobedient brat, but after watching Thomas I was apparently well mannered and well behaved. I ended up becoming a soft well mannered programmer. Fuck you Thomas!
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Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”
#20The next episode [1], aired two days later, contains the conclusion of the story, and he gets out of the tunnel. I do agree that 2 days is rather long to leave kids with the conclusion of that first episode though. The final lines are: "Henry doesn't mind the rain now. He knows that the best way to keep his paint nice is not to run into tunnels, but to ask his driver to rub him down when the day's work is over." It m…
The book concludes the same way, with the train, rusty and dirty, finally being allowed out of the tunnel. The tenor is very much that punishment has rendered him meek and docile -- nothing to do with confronting your problems.
Similarly, there's a story where one of the trains gets off the tracks in order to smell flowers, or play, or something of that sort. The cure is to hide people in the field, who jump out and scare him back onto the track.
Overall, the message of the books is that if you work hard and never question authority, you can avoid punishment. The odd thing about them is that the authority figure (the Fat Controller) is presented as mildly risible.
My brother and I used to laugh / shudder at how much our nephews loved these books. I myself never read them until uncle-hood, when I was well past the age when the mere fact that they were written about trains had any appeal.