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

newyorker.com

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

#141

Post by peteretep »

umeshunni wrote: post #8
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...

Modern "journalism" is mostly copy pasting content from Reddit. BuzzFeed turns AskReddits into listicles, higher quality publications turn Reddit posts into long form content.

I was bitching in another thread about IBM Watson and had a Reuters journalist email my HN-only address who said he was working on a story about it.

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

#142

Post by peteretep »

colordrops wrote: post #29

Almost all the content we've got is representative of "corporate-totalitarian dystopia", because we live in a corporate-totalitarian dystopia. Thomas the Tank Engine isn't some special case.

    > we live in a corporate-totalitarian
    > dystopia
Right. This year is the worst. Except for all the preceeding ones.

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

#144

Post by paulddraper »

stordoff wrote: post #36
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…

> Better known as Sir Topham Hatt since the 1950s. Seemingly only in the US ("the Fat Controller is always referred to by his real name, "Sir Topham Hatt" in the US"[0]). I was born in 1990 (UK), and as I recall he was almost always refered to as "The Fat Controller". [0] http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Sir_Topham_Hatt#Trivia

That explains it, I suppose :)

Lived in the US, seen Thomas shows + books (not originals) for decades, and only now hear anything but Sir Topham Hatt.

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

#145

Post by paulddraper »

danbolt wrote: post #122
NegativeLatency wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I remember watching that as a little kid too. Did it ever get syndicated outside of Canada? EDIT: I skimmed the Wikipedia article, and discovered it had a pretty wide distribution. I'm impressed!

> The show premiered in Canada on CBC Television, then went to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), was on Qubo in the US, and at one time had appeared in eighty different countries.

Looks like PBS Kids (the most likely syndication for Americans) ran it to some degree from 1993 to 2002.

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

#146

Post by dingaling »

Retra wrote: post #133
dingaling wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Never think for yourself Independent thinking is lauded ( Toad suggesting how to save the whale ), but unilateral action is not. > You have no value until you are 'useful'. In the wider context of society that's entirely accurate. Community doesn't exist unless people contribute to the group.

There is a risk of setting up a situation where "useful" is determined by presumed authority rather than any objective sense of utility. There's also the problem of how to deal with things that are not useful now , but presumably will be (in an emergency, for example.) There's also the problem of usefulness that is not communicated effectively; maybe we don't know how to express the usefulness of some activity. This…

I see what you mean. But what else can we do other than prepare children to be assessed in terms of now-usefulness?

When they come into contact with team activities ( sports etc ), the world of work or even just small social groups they will be graded implicitly and explicitly by the value they contribute. Should we not prepare them for that?

Even here on HN those who are lauded as heroic engineers are those seen as Really Useful ( started a space company, have a lot of github contributions, maintain an OS kernel etc ), not the quiet cogs who churn-out CRUD apps in Fortune 100s.

It's always great to have a space or a time in which you can slob-out and be not-useful but Western society considers that exceptional and calls it 'vacation'.

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

#147

Post by Godel_unicode »

derefr wrote: post #59
paulddraper wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't make as much sense for our imminent future state, when robots do all our jobs and we sit around all day, but I like the distinctive "really useful engine" complement. Obedience, diligence, and selflessness are admirable qualities. All kids and adults should strive to be really useful, in the best sense of the phrase. There's far too much narcissism in the world.

Diligence and selflessness are admirable. Obedience is, at best, sometimes necessary, and at worst a source of atrocities. (You might be thinking of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intent_(military)#Common_inten... . The desire to establish—and function under—common intent, whether through consensus or authoritative credence, is an admirable quality in a person. But that is not the same thing as obedience.)

That's a very interesting way of slicing things. You think that the importance of the rule of law (obedience) isn't something which should be instilled at a young age? It's totally possible to simultaneously teach that following and questioning the rules is possible/appropriate/good.

Consider that the US military simultaneously teaches the importance of following orders and every soldier/sailor/airman/marines obligation to refuse illegal orders.

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

#148

Post by paulddraper »

grahamburger wrote: post #47
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…

Agreed, and there are a few other TV shows that I really like for my kids for many of the same reasons: Curious George, Tumbleleaf (Amazon original), and maybe Backyardigans.

+1 for Curious George.

We told our son that Christmas was coming up.

"Oh no. I have to find a present!"

He thinks that Christmas is about giving, not receiving :P

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

#149

Post by chis »

blt wrote: post #98
DavidAdams wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New Yorker also insists on typographical affectations such as coöperate and reëlect. Most publications have a "house style." The New Yorker's is particularly eccentric, and I think they like it that way.

I used to think this was annoying and snobby, but after seeing the New Yorker deëvolve into a less funny BuzzFeed over the past couple of years, I long for the over-the-top snobbiness of the old New Yorker. At least it was a distinct identity.

Are there any magazines that recreate the snobbishness of old New Yorker?

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

#150

Post by Godel_unicode »

Aloha wrote: post #109
ux-app wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

As an engineer, being "really useful" is a goal that fits within my worldview as good and noble.

Careful, people might get the idea from this comment that everyone doesn't deserve a trophy just for being physically present.
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