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How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

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Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#201

Post by bjacokes »

myspy wrote: post #80
jboggan wrote: post #18

Bluey is a godsend in our household. It's not annoying and the amount of classical and original music woven into each episode is wonderful. There's one particular episode - "Sleepytime" - which I cannot bring myself to watch anymore because I get so emotional. Every parent I talk to with young kids who has seen the episode agrees and knows what I mean. It's really that good, and despite being a fun little show there…

We haven‘t watched Bluey yet but when my older kids were young we watched Sarah & Duck. We loved it because it‘s chill and relaxing and a little weird.

Sarah & Duck and Bluey are my favorite kids shows, but they're very different. S&D is more quiet and contemplative, whereas Bluey tends to be more playful and energetic. My daughter grew out of S&D and into Bluey at around age 4.

I used to be frustrated that the parents in Bluey seem to have endless energy and attention to devote to their kids – at least with S&D, I didn't feel like there was such a lofty version of parenting with which to compare myself. But I've come to realize that the playful and fun dad in Bluey is a much better role model, for me personally, than the dads who are just sort of vanilla and kind (Daniel Tiger, Doc McStuffins), not to mention the dads who are just awful (Peppa Pig). Physical comedy, imaginary play, and committing to the bit, are all great for having fun while also connecting with young kids. Sarah and Duck obviously didn't teach my any of that, so it's been a useful change of pace as my daughter has gotten older.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#202

Post by sandworm101 »

Does anyone else note the underlying racial component? All the dog families seem to be purebred. I don't remember seeing any mutts, any mixed-race dogs. And there are a few references to certain breeds of dog being better at certain things. I'm sure it is totally unintentional and probably cuts on dialoged by identifying which kids are from which parents, but it did strike me as odd.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#203

Post by ashton314 »

Has anyone else noticed that “Camping” is basically the Star Trek TNG episode Darmok? Bluey meets a French dog named Jean-Luc. They construct some shelter together and have to hunt a monster. (I.e. Bandit pretending to be a wild boar.) They find a way to communicate despite speaking different languages. One leaves. Shaka, when the walls fell.

In the end, Muffin, her scream echoing—Bluey and Jean-Luc, their tails wagging!

(My wife who’s not really an Trekkie pointed this out to me. Also there’s another read about Jean-Luc’s departure as death and an eventual reunion in the afterlife when we will all finally understand each other. Read it as you like it.)

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#204

Post by lumb63 »

karmajunkie wrote: post #135
robby_w_g wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "This family has two mommies. They love each other so proudly and they all go marching in... the... big parade," sing the lyrics. Other terms featured include "trans," "non-binary" and "queer." > “Love is love is love you see, and everyone should love proudly,” Acknowledging LGBTQ people are capable of love is somehow an example of “culture war”. It’s incredible people can be so bothered by a simple, sweet message.

yes, acceptance of others is an overly political message to those of a certain political persuasion. can’t have kids running around thinking whatever they grow into might be ok if it doesn’t comport with mommy and daddy’s worldview.

Whatever kids grow up into is not okay with most parents. I’d imagine almost everyone would agree with that statement. There are probably traits you wouldn’t want your children to have. You probably wouldn’t be okay with them being gambling or drug addicts, racist, murderers, uneducated, etc.

If parents were truly okay with their children growing up into whatever they happen to grow into, there would be no reason for the parents to impart morals, life lessons, education, proper nutrition, etc., to children. The fact that, for the entire existence of humankind (so far as I can tell), we seem to have done those things, it seems to me that all parents strongly care about what their children grow up to be like.

Why does the idea of a parent wanting to impart their vision of how the world ought to be offend you? If the shoe were on the other foot, and you wanted your children to be raised a particular way, would you appreciate being ridiculed for that?

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#205

Post by namdnay »

rich_sasha wrote: post #89
sspiff wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of all the children's programming my children have watched, Bluey is by far the nicest for us (the parents) to watch or listen to, and has been the most enduring in terms of popularity with our kids. Similar to Peppa Pig, the scenarios are often recognizable in a family with young children, but they're generally funnier and the characters are more loveable. The animation style is a refreshing break from the bright co…

As a dad, I used to like Peppa Pig, but now can barely stand it - as opposed to Bluey. Daddy Pig is fat, useless, convinced he's an expert in everything but failing every time. His parenting skills hover around 0, and always needs to be rescued, usually by Mummy Pig. So much for healthy co-parenting. Furthermore, Peppa is mean to her friends, who like her regardless, she always gets special treatment. I'm not saying…

> Daddy Pig is fat, useless, convinced he's an expert in everything but failing every time.

I mean the guy is one of the world's top experts on concrete, that's hardly "useless"

and the "dad is the wacky one and mum handles organising" is a pretty common trope in other shows, such as... Bluey :)

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#206

Post by namdnay »

sandworm101 wrote: post #202

Does anyone else note the underlying racial component? All the dog families seem to be purebred. I don't remember seeing any mutts, any mixed-race dogs. And there are a few references to certain breeds of dog being better at certain things. I'm sure it is totally unintentional and probably cuts on dialoged by identifying which kids are from which parents, but it did strike me as odd.

having specific breeds and colours for each family makes it a lot easier to track what's going on. for the same reasons that peppa pig doesn't have 8 different types of big cats

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#207

Post by JumpCrisscross »

berrel wrote: post #157
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some people believe that whether you're a woman or a man is a thought in your head, and they also believe that these thoughts mean you can be neither, which they call 'non-binary'. It's helpful to respect these people's beliefs and act as if they are true, because they can get very angry and vindictive if you don't agree with them. And then we ask why some kids wind up entrenched away from economic opportunity… Lik…

The point is it's not a private affair. Retribution from people who react harmfully when others do not share their beliefs is a real thing, ask anyone who was brought up in a strict religious environment who became a non-believer. Sometimes the easiest path is minimal appeasement to avoid conflict where you'll end up worse off.

> it's not a private affair

Someone's sexuality or gender identity sure is. Given languages' pronouns evolve (e.g. a universal "you" in place of the informal "thou", or the aborted deprecation of "y'all"), that's not a reasonable hang-up.

> the easiest path is minimal appeasement to avoid conflict where you'll end up worse off

Sure, and instinctive conflict avoidance is a valid life strategy. It's just bad build for a decision maker. Someone conditioned in that behaviour is going into life with opportunities cordoned off.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#208

Post by namdnay »

bombcar wrote: post #131
rich_sasha wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun fact: one episode of Peppa Pig was censored in Australia. It was one about spiders, and basically about how spiders are cute, cuddly and there's no reason to be scared of them. I mean, I sympathise with the decision... Just funny.

Now I’m imaging Australia requiring a disclaimer before any children’s show involving the outdoors or animals: “WARNING: This show depicts fictitious worlds where animals and the outdoors are not trying to kill you at every turn. We remind you to stay indoors and stay safe.”

If they do that let's retaliate by prefacing all episodes of Neighbours with "WARNING: This show depicts fictitious worlds where it's not raining 300 days a year. We remind you to stay indoors and stay dry.”

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#209

Post by ursuscamp »

gambiting wrote: post #69

I feel like I'm the only parent on planet Earth that really doesn't like Bluey. Every time I watch it(which is often, my son likes it), it just seems to be promoting bad behaviour at the expense of the dad(like many other shows to be fair - looking at you Peppa Pig), including physical violence(one episode the kids decide the dad now has a stomach ache, so they punch him in the gut - and the dad just plays along with…

I have two daughters about the same age and Bluey and Bingo (6 and 3) and we play like that. I have found Bluey has the most positive view of fatherhood of any show my kids have watched. In fact, I was so taken aback by it that it stuck out to me in a very noticeable way, in contrast to everything else.
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