You will be made to care. Or, if not you, then your kids will.
Child advocates are speaking out against what they say is a “predatory” and disturbing new video released by the Nickelodeon kid’s program “Blue’s Clues & You!” that takes place at a Pride parade and includes many forms of sexuality and gender expression.
The parade is emceed by an animated version of drag performer Nina West, a beloved “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant from season 11. The video features a sing-along in which West’s animated character is shown singing to the melody of “The Ants Go Marching.” The lyrics were changed to fit the LGBTQ theme.
The video was released online days before LGBT Pride Month begins in June.
Full of waving rainbow and other striped flags and banners, the video features many LGBT themes, including families with two moms, two dads, trans-identified members, “ace, bi and pan” parents.
“Love is love is love you see, and everyone should love proudly,” West sings.
“Allies to the queer community can love their friends so proudly,” West adds.
The display also featured a group of beaver characters. One of the beavers wore a transgender pink-and-blue-striped armband and what online commenters say appears to be scars on its chest, presumably because of a cosmetic double mastectomy.
Critics of the video noted how flagrantly gender confusion and sexualized themes were targeted at young children.
Although it’s only the latest installment in an ever-lengthier saga, this one deeply saddens me. See, back when the young ‘un was but a wee tot, Nick Jr and PBS Kids were staples at our house, and Blue’s Clues was one of her verymost favorites. Rightly so, in my estimation, because I thought it was pretty good myself. Blue’s Clues was on a depressingly short list of kids’ shows that I could sit through without grinding my teeth down to stumps; it was clever, entertaining, and had none of the hamfisted PC politicking of, say, Dorah The Explorah, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, or the godawful Sid The Science Kid (shudder).
I always ranked Blue’s Clues just slightly behind real standouts like Clifford The Big Red Dog, Wild Kratts, Curious George (theme song by the one and only Dr John, by the way), and the all-time Numero Uno: Dinosaur Train. Apart from being just a really excellent show—for God’s sake, it’s DINOSAURS, man!!—DT got a strong boost in my ratings from its theme song, a seriously jumpin’ little rockabilly number:
I like that so much the Playboys actually performed it onstage a few times at my urging, thoroughly mystifying my bandmates and probably heightening concerns among the guys as to my mental health. In my own defense, though, they’d never seen the show.
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Responsible parents shouldn’t let their kids watch TV:
“Further research by Krugman revealed that our brain’s left hemisphere, which processes information logically and analytically, tunes out while we are watching television. The left hemisphere is the critical region for organizing, analyzing, and judging incoming data[4]. This tuning-out allows the right hemisphere of our brain, which processes information emotionally and uncritically, to function unimpeded.
In other words, we switch off our critical thinking abilities and just absorb anything thrown at us. We watch emotionally, not intelligently.
Further to this, psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television the brain begins to produce alpha waves, which indicates torpid (almost comatose) rates of activity. Alpha brain waves are associated with unfocused, overly receptive states of consciousness (as with the left-to-right hemisphere shift). High frequency alpha waves do not normally occur when the eyes are open. In fact, Mulholland’s research implies that watching television is neurologically analogous to staring at a blank wall.[6]
Production of alpha waves and the subsequent receptive state are also the goal of hypnotists. They’re both present during the “light hypnotic” state used by hypno-therapists for suggestion therapy.” https://sidawson.org/2011/03/tv-is-heroin-crossed-with-hypnosis
And it’s not especially doing them any favors, either.
When I watch TV I want to throw a brick through it. Are those alpha waves or hate waves?
Blue’s Clues was a big hit in our house for a couple of years for the eldest. It went downhill after the original Steve left. This is just beyond belief now.