It is not uncommon ted cruz To put up a defiant Jeremiad against “government propaganda” or to denigrate your political enemies as “petty authoritarians who will deny you the right to make your own medical choices” or “puppets”[s] … with one hand pushed his back up”. But this time the Republican senator’s target was an actual puppet—the 8 ft 2 in (249 cm) sweet yellow Big Bird, whose spontaneous tweet about vaccinations made America’s most vulnerable. The orthodox culture inspired a period of puppet-ridicule from the warriors.
Anti-Sesame Street enthusiasm isn’t exactly new, as I learned during my nearly two-year stint as a diminutive production assistant. People had problems with everything from Burt and Ernie’s sexuality, the time Cookie Monster tried to eat healthier, and an HIV-positive Muppet named Kami. Apparently not everyone was in line with the company’s mission of helping kids be “stronger, smarter, and kinder.”
Cruz reaffirmed his party’s anti-puppet stance last week after Big Bird tweeted, “I got the COVID-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it will give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy.”
The non-profit organization behind Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop, declined to comment on the social media conversation.
Cruz isn’t the only one who thinks the educational program is appalling. When Elmo and his father discussed racism in the wake of the George Floyd protests at a CNN town hall for children, Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized the children’s television show, saying it was telling children that America There is a “very bad place” and it was their fault.
Sesame Street funding has always been politicised. When Mitt Romney ran against Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, he promised to cut federal support for public broadcasting, causing Obama to mock Romney after Sesame Street instead of Wall Street (in 2015, TV The show received a controversially unexpected one (in the form of privatized financial support) from HBO.
First broadcast 52 years ago, Sesame Street has its roots in the civil rights movement. With an unprecedentedly diverse human cast and an array of colorful Muppets, it was a trailblazer. In the early episodes, Grover also learned about civil disobedience from a hippie.
Recently, Sesame Street aired a special episode to address discrimination against the Asian American community in light of the rise of hate crimes during the pandemic. In one segment, Annalyn, a child who was bullied about her eyes, is comfort with a song.
Sesame Street is unique in its genre in that, unlike other children’s television shows, it does not suspend reality for its millions of small audiences. In addition to racism, the show has dealt with real issues such as living with a disability, coping with the death of a loved one, and poverty with the introduction of a homeless character named Lily.
In 2018, conservative America drew a collective gasp after former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman said he wrote of Burt and Ernie as “a loving couple.” Sesame Workshop eventually surrendered to the debate and issued a statement declaring that Burt and Ernie, wearing rainbow sweaters, were not in fact lovers, but non-sexual friends who lived together.
Big Bird’s recent vaccination tweet was not the first Sesame Street to lead a nationwide vaccination campaign. There is a video from 1972 resurfaced online From an episode that shows an 8-foot yellow Muppet preparing for its measles vaccine—hardly controversial at the time.
It’s not just Republican politicians who are cold on Big Bird — their voters are too. After Romney tried to cut funding a Vanderbilt/YouGov Poll found that while 85% of Democrats had views in favor of Big Bird, only 55% of Republicans did. Perhaps he never forgave her for his 1985 hit I’m So Blue.