Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

ft.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 461 posts

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

#211

Post by mywacaday »

maztaim wrote: post #180

As a parent, I love watching all the episodes. My 5 year old also loves watching it. One of the few good children shows that has great entertainment with great values for all. My favorites are always the grannies ("Oh no, my coins!"). My wife loves "Fairytale" because we both grew up in a far off place called the 80s and can relate to all of it.

The episode where the mother tries to get her father to slow down and take care of himself because she knows he won't be around forever is a hard watch since my mother passed away. Also where the kids jump on the dads groin by accident and all you see is a raised eyebrow and a very slight groan is one all dad's can appreciate. A truly wonderful show.

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

#212

Post by gambiting »

bglazer wrote: post #198
gambiting wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The core of pretend playing, is pretending. Bluey very clearly punches her dad square in the stomach, he lets out an audible sound of pain, and......nothing happens. I agree that maybe Bluey didn't actually mean to hurt her dad - but the way the scene plays out she clearly does and she isn't told about it, the dad just takes it. Because the dad is portrayed as a (in this episode - literal) punch bag who has to accept…

I don’t think it would make terribly compelling children’s television to just show the children misbehaving and the dad disciplining them.

Bluey is firmly in the category of shows for 2-4 year olds, they have to be educational at this point, I'm sorry but that's my firm stance as a parent. There will be plenty of time for pure entertainment where bad behaviour doesn't get corrected later - at this stage a 3 year old can't tell good from wrong, and the message the show sends categorically cannot be "let's punch dad in the stomach because it's funny".

Look at Peppa pig(which has a whole host of its own issues, but whatever) - any time Peppa and her brother do something wrong they get an explanation why it was wrong, how it could have hurt or made someone else sad, they apologise and sing/dance about it - most of the time it teaches a good lesson while still being amusing for little kids.

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

#213

Post by ursuscamp »

Bluey blew me away when I saw it with my daughter. It's sweet, positive, emotional, well written. It's not the slightest bit cynical, handles every issue with tact, doesn't contain heavy handed messaging and has traditional values. It also has a very positive two parent dynamic. This is an absolute unicorn of a show.

Note: my usage of "traditional values" is not meant to evoke anything political or intended to be interpreted from a culture war lens. I just mean it positively portrays a family dynamic that can be universally appreciated.

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

#215

Post by cornstalks »

namdnay wrote: post #205
rich_sasha wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

The difference, IMO, is that Bandit is constructively wacky. He's generally competent, unlike other shows where only the mother is competent.

It's honestly refreshing seeing the two parents in Bluey, because neither are being degraded and they have a good relationship and exhibit good teamwork.

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

#216

Post by karmajunkie »

slibhb wrote: post #155
karmajunkie wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It goes both ways. Maybe you'll teach your kids to be open and tolerant to everything but they'll grow up, convert to Catholicism, and -- gasp -- vote conservative.

Yes, i fully recognize that at least one of my children is likely to enjoy baseball and vote for a Republican at least once in their life, despite my best efforts to show them the light. I will love them anyway.

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

#217

Post by nomdep »

bjacokes wrote: post #201
myspy wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The unlimited energy becomes a little more realistic from season 2 onwards, but I was annoyed too, and maybe even felt guilty... prompting me to address those emotions. Totally on point for the show

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

#218

Post by konschubert »

warner25 wrote: post #195
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 data points for you: My wife and I banned Bluey in our house a couple years ago. We use TV as "quiet time" for our kids (currently ages 3 to 9) after lunch, replacing the time when they used to nap, and Bluey seems to make them go crazy . I haven't even watched any of the episodes, so I can't object specifically to any of the content; we just observed a consistent, counterproductive effect on their behavio…

How come your kids are watching a show that you haven’t even seen a single episode of?

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

#219

Post by karmajunkie »

berrel wrote: post #166
karmajunkie wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that’s an interesting way of justifying homophobia and transphobia.

Is it? How did you come to that conclusion?

Because you cloaked it in false concern about misogyny by redefining misogyny. Really, well done, I feel certain that it fooled about 4 people on HN.

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

#220

Post by KnlnKS »

ursuscamp wrote: post #213

Bluey blew me away when I saw it with my daughter. It's sweet, positive, emotional, well written. It's not the slightest bit cynical, handles every issue with tact, doesn't contain heavy handed messaging and has traditional values. It also has a very positive two parent dynamic. This is an absolute unicorn of a show. Note: my usage of "traditional values" is not meant to evoke anything political or intended to be int…

[flagged]
Post reply on HN