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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”

#21

Post by ceejayoz »

CodeKommissar wrote: post #18
zwieback wrote: post #16

I'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??

We banned it as well. The character is unrelentingly whiny, and my kids (two years old, at the time) started picking up the mannerisms very, very quickly.

For a while, Google's canonical answer to "Why is Caillou bald?" was "Caillou can't grow hair, not because he has cancer or progeria, but because he sucks, and even his own body recognizes that he does not deserve hair or food or love." https://www.sbnation.com/2014/3/26/5549908/arian-foster-cail...

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#22

Post by DanBC »

CodeKommissar wrote: post #18
zwieback wrote: post #16

I'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??

A lot of parents noticed children imitating poor behaviour. Banning Caillou is pretty common.

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#23

Post by zaroth »

eridius wrote: post #11
modeless wrote: post #4

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?

When humans observe Event A precede Event B in the same orbit, we have an unshakable proclivity to believe A somehow must have led to B.

Turns out sometimes we're not even wrong.

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#24

Post by NegativeLatency »

paulddraper wrote: post #13

Thomas & 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…

As a kid I also really loved Theodore the Tugboat. Similar kind of show, but with boats. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Tugboat

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#25

Post by mcphage »

modeless wrote: post #4

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...

Yeah, I don't think the reporter needed to read some random Reddit thread to figure out that Thomas has some issues.

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#27

Post by ux-app »

paulddraper wrote: post #13

Thomas & 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…

>The show is dignified and wholesome.

really? I always found it to be quite creepy. The constant obsession with being a "really useful" engine. The shaming of engines who don't toe the line. Victimisation of engines who misbehave. The show makes me strangely uncomfortable for some reason.

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#28

Post by Blackthorn »

paulddraper wrote: post #13

Thomas & 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…

Spongebob is also pretty dignified and wholesome, so try to make your rant a little less "get off my lawn". You don't need to try to drag something else down to build your preferred show up.

Re: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

#30

Post by pstuart »

ux-app wrote: post #27
paulddraper wrote: post #13

Thomas & 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…

>The show is dignified and wholesome. really? I always found it to be quite creepy. The constant obsession with being a "really useful" engine. The shaming of engines who don't toe the line. Victimisation of engines who misbehave. The show makes me strangely uncomfortable for some reason.

And what happens to engines that are not "really useful"?

I think we all know.

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