Minority Characters

[Hays]

The point I'm making that some seem to be missing is that there's less diversity NOW. Minorities that are represented are part of very large groups - Hispanics and African-Americans. US Sesame Street certainly isn't addressing issues like AIDS.

When you bring up examples, keep in mind that you're using the word WAS. I'm not speaking of Sesame Street in the past - that's what I think we need to get back to. When Maria was one of the few Hispanics on TV, not many people had a Latin family next door. That's not the case now.

Right NOW there's no Linda, no Tara, etc. All the monsters and muppets speak either English or Spanish with the possible exception of the two-headed monster. Nobody eats "different" foods - unless you count Cookie Monster or Baby Bear's porridge. Outside of Global Grover or other special segments, this stuff doesn't appear directly ON the Street as a part of everyday life.

Sonia Manzano has been on Sesame Street one way or another since 1969. The character Maria has been around since 1973 - waay back when I was a little girl.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Mabe What your saying hays is just the problem. Sense African American and Hispanic pepole are of larger majority then other minority groups, mabe thats the reason they are more common place on the show.

And the reason why there is more English and Spanish is beeing spoken and taught is because they are the first and second most spoken languages in this country,and you can't relly live in any country without understanding it's first language (again, having to do with the mojority).

Cookies and porridge happend to be very well konwn American foods, in fact, cookies being one of the best, and while there is a wide range of food in America, (most of it originating from other countries) The reason we see a lot of American food on the show (besides the fact that this is America) is because it's teaching kids about their fimiliar soundings first and formost, and because of this fact, the show teaches children basic foods that your more likely to see every day.

Even thow there's no Tara or Linda, the show still continuse to teach kids adout people with disabilities and people who are deaf (sing language word of the day).

One of the Reasons that aids isn't adressed is because it is more common placed with children in that part of the world, and Sesame Street had made effort's to teach Kids Languages such as Swahili as well as others.

You know one of the reasons that Sesame Street Origanally go over well in Japan, was because it was not very adapt so to speak to the enviorment (or mabe too Anericanised) on that side of the world, and it was simply due to the fact that kids were not familiar with it. I could be wrong on this one, but mebe with all the resent event's that have taken place (even If it's a huge misunderstanding) mabe with all the tention between the middle east and the United States, mabe the public isn't ready for that type of thing yet, but then again, this is Sesame Street were dicussing here, so if it's past due time, ready or not, here change comes.(Of corse, not to sound ignorant or anything ).

Plaese respond if I am wrong about this.

 

[Censored]

I could be wrong on this one, but mebe with all the resent event's that have taken place (even If it's a huge misunderstanding) mabe with all the tention between the middle east and the United States, mabe the public isn't ready for that type of thing yet, but then again, this is Sesame Street were dicussing here, so if it's past due time, ready or not, here change comes.(Of corse, not to sound ignorant or anything ).

And that is what I truly fear may have happened to Sesame Workshop. I worry that they may not be willing to take the same risks or go the extra mile that the Children's Television Workshop did in 1969 when integration between Blacks and Whites was still a controversial issue. CTW stood up to many forms of political pressure of that time who criticized their show for integration, secular values, and the absence of nationalism. CTW did not back down and it evolved into the mainstream with an identity all its own about universal values and unity.

While I don't see Sesame Workshop taking back any of those established values from the show's past, it seems that they may not be willing to go any further now and stand up to the political pressure of the day. One reason may be is that the political landscape is quite different now. I hate to bring politics into this, but I do think it plays a role. In 1969, a progressive agenda was in style, the establishment was in question, and money was generously given to education and arts. Today, we have a Republican Congress, public television is accused of having a "liberal bias", funding for public television has been cut and existing money is in jeopardy. Maybe those are just too many factors for Sesame Workshop to stand up to today.

Or maybe I'm off the mark about the whole thing. It's just a theory I have and I really hope that I'm wrong.

 

[superfan]

Well said, GeeBee. SO much has changed in 36 years. What's it going to be like in 2041??

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I see a little bit of what you mean when you say that they have trouble standing up to political pressures, correct me if there is something I'm missing here, but the funding for Sesame Workshop was not cut even thow there was a bit of a scare there for a moment.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I'm not saying that this is what your doing, but I'm not big on blaming one political party for everything and I personally think that they all have there flaws. thats's sort of having the opinion of everything staying humble and having a checks and balance system on things, and lets be real, nothing is perfect, but of corse, thats just my opinion. But with that said, you could be right, and the just might be the very reason these thing are happening. Let's not forget that while Lyndon B. Johnson was President through 1969, that Richad Nixon was president from 69 and up, which was around the time that Sesame Street first aired, and at the same time, things like the Civil Rights Movement was coming to an end, which is confusing to me because the show could have been affected either way.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

The fact of the matter is none of us really know if Sesame Workshop is afraid to stand up to polotical pressers or not, or the reason why there is a lack of smaller minority caracters, or if Sesame Workshop is awear of this fact, and is doing somthing about it. We can only assume based on preception. But that does bring a few options to mind. For instense, we could ask them about it, as the Sesame Street composition gose "a-s-k, just ask", or if some of us feel that mabe their not the most Knowledgeable or up to date on the issue, then mabe they can inform them about it. We could wait and see if thy are responding or have a response to this porblem, and then react as we feel accordingly about it. Are there any other proposals.

 

[Hays]

This is what I'm asking. Why isn't Sesame Street willing to take the risks it used to?

It meant a lot to me when I was a little girl. I'm sure there are lots of little girls out there now who need to see what I saw on SS years ago.

Right now we've got plenty of role models for Hispanics and African-Americans. Lets see some others.

 

[Censored]

This is what I'm asking. Why isn't Sesame Street willing to take the risks it used to?

It meant a lot to me when I was a little girl. I'm sure there are lots of little girls out there now who need to see what I saw on SS years ago.

Right now we've got plenty of role models for Hispanics and African-Americans. Lets see some others.

Well, to answer the question and recap what I said before, I suspect that the conservative movement of today, which holds the power and the purse strings, makes it more difficult.

Add that to the possibility that after 35 years, Sesame Workshop may not have the same kind of energy that the Children's Television Workshop had in 1969. It was a bold new experiment then and people were building it from the bottom up. There was nothing to lose, but everything to gain by taking risks. If it succeeded, wonderful, if it failed, it would go down as a noble effort. But, today, after 36 years of success, the people inheriting the production of the show have pressure to maintain it and would rather keep the status quo than make waves.

Again, it should be noted that this is just a theory and I have no evidence to prove it. It should also be noted that if it is true, I think Sesame Workshop is making a mistake. Risks are part of life and are needed to make things thrive.

One of my favorite quotes is, "A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ship's are built for." I fear that Sesame Workshop may be simply trying to maintain its place in the harbor right now. JMO

 

[Ilikemuppets]

You know, Politics seems like a war in its self, the bottom line is that for the most part is it seems like nobodys side can ever cone to an agreement on anything, but that’s kind of a whole other story.

It’s just my feeling that Sesame Street doesn’t play that game, and instead they would rather want people to work out their difference despite personal opinions. But if you remember that the whole reason that PBS shows commercials in the first place is because, during 1994, which was around the beginning of the Clinton era, the government made the decision to stop funding public broadcasting, which resulted in the cancellation of many PBS programs, including some Sesame Workshop shows.

One of the thing that has kept Sesame Street on the air this long is change, and to be honest, it is not 1969 anymore and now days, the main source of revenue and the financial back bone for The Sesame Workshop is merchandising and not funds or grants from the government, and other institutions like that.

When I was in kindergarten, we had video tapes and filmstrips, and by the time I was in twelfth grade, the were using movie projector and DVD, and kids in the future will be using HD DVD’s, and I know that Sesame Street would be the first people to jump up and take notice. So maybe it is not that Sesame Street is struggling in the time, but maybe, their just with the times.