Sesame Street: Innocent kid's show or left wing propaganda.?

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Conservative writer and columnist Ben Shapiro new book Primetime propaganda accuses some of the most popular T.V. shows including M*A*S*H*, Friends and even Happy days of spreading left wing propaganda.

Shapiro drew his conclusions after interviewing hundreds of industry insiders, some of whom admitted using their shows to spread secret political messages.

Well I don't think this will come as much of shock to members of this site.
I think most of us have realised long ago that the mainstream media uses popular T.V. shows to spread they're
agenda and now some of the creators of these shows are openly admitting it.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

reply to post by Roguesheep


Or maybe the producers (naturally) drop their beliefs into the production. I wouldn't expect a left wing to produce something that was 100% neutral, and definitely not right wing. It's just natural if you ask me.

one of the obama slags on sesame street? what business does politics have in a childrens tv show?
absolutely outrageous.

Originally posted by My.mind.is.mine
reply to post by Roguesheep

 

Or maybe the producers (naturally) drop their beliefs into the production. I wouldn't expect a left wing to produce something that was 100% neutral, and definitely not right wing. It's just natural if you ask me.

I agree some producers may (naturally) drop their beliefs into the production.
But for one of the founders of sesame street to admit they used the show to spread a political message just seem's wrong to me.
I thought the point of the show was to educate and entertain in a fun way and not to spread a political agenda.

*sigh*
I have to agree, OP. Sadly, my youngest son won't go into McD's anymore because, in his words, "They lure kids with toys".

Is there an agenda? Hell YES!

Originally posted by beezzer
*sigh*
I have to agree, OP. Sadly, my youngest son won't go into McD's anymore because, in his words, "They lure kids with toys".

Is there an agenda? Hell YES!

Wow I wonder where he got that from.
Although I have to agree with him I personally wouldn't touch that "food" if you paid me not because of any moral issue just because it taste's like s##t.

reply to post by Roguesheep


Who do they think they are with that love your neighbor, anti war message?

Do they really think people or even children are going to listen to those programs and come out with a bad feeling about war?

Who is stupid enough to love their neighbor?
We all know that is how people get aids right?

Why not balance it with some right wing propaganda films like Top Gun or A Few Good Men?
Lets see some war movies showing the soldiers all having a big adventure and how happy their families REALLY are they they are over there fighting the bad guys.....( and their wives and children but who cares?)

Hip hip hooray for soldiers and war!!!!!

Gimme more of that!

Clearly there is a fan base for brave (or is it stupid enough to fight for somebody else) soldiers and the wars they fight and there are places that promote WAR and places people can go to see it GLORIFIED.

That should be enough.
Do you really want to hear the bombs going off in your sleep the way we have imposed them on other nations because to promote this sick and twisted mentality is to ask for it.

i dont know if sesame street or any other show has changed that badly over the years , but i remember in my case , it was really benefical for me to learn english !


im a french canadien , and watching that show while young helped me to learn a lot ..

thats all i could remember !!

How is this a bad thing?

"It turns out, says the author, that Happy Days pedalled anti-Vietnam War messages and that MASH evangelised pacifism."

"he used the programme, in the wake of 9/11, to highlight how there were peaceful alternatives to war."

Democrats seem to like war as much as the next guy, so this is hardly a partisan thing, and making it into one ruins the message. These are just good morals to teach kids. War IS bad.

Like Teletubbies just "happening" to have one of them in purple(gay color) and that one just "happenes" to have a triangle on his head(gay symbol) there are lots of programming items in kids TV and other media sources.....there are mulitple agendas in media

Seseme Street was created to educate inner city and newly-arrived immigrant children to get them up to American education standards. Seseme Street's producers used the latest techniques at the time to educate children, techniques that were found through psychological advancements in how children behaved and learned...scientists and the science field was and will always be liberal so yes, Seseme Street was always created from a progressive, left wing stance. That's no conspiracy since the producers are quite open about their views.

Im starting to think that we have been teaching kids the wrong thing all these years and low and behold it is a left wing conspiracy. Lets stop our children sharing their toys and candy, instead lets encourage them to be selfish and to keep their toys and candy to themselves, if their friends want a piece of their candy or to play with their toy, there must be a financial transaction involved.

You can loan out the toy to a friend and charge for the candy. We must teach our children that all other children are only there to take advantage of, financially if possible. All these commie ideas of sharing and looking after ones environment have to be nipped in the bud. The children are our future, lets stop brainwashing them and teach them the true virtues of selfishness.

reply to post by Roguesheep
I always remember MASH as being ant-war or showing the futility/stupidity of war.

What's wrong with that.

I was pretty young when Sesame Street came out, but was a little too old for it at the time. However, I was still young and innocent enough to believe that Bert and Ernie were brothers, even though we never saw their parents. After I got older it seemed they were living an alternate life style. Of course the purse carrying teletubby called "tinky-Winky" is quite obvious.

There's nothing at all wrong with this, the producers of Sesame Street never lied or tried to cover-up that their show has a progressive bent. In fact I'd bet that they would be surprised if one didn't pick up on that right away, it is common knowledge.

Bias is acceptable to me so long as it is admitted to. One major show from my country that I hear is getting much bigger in America is Doctor Who, I grew up watching it, still love it to this day, and there is a pronounced progressive atheist agenda to it. The BBC has never denied this, in fact they have made statements at various times that the ideas of progress through scientific advancement, rational compassion and an endless desire for factual learning are inherent ideas to the people of Great Britain and can better all of humanity should they learn them too.

I recall from my time in America that at least where I was living in Wisconsin there was an absolutely massive number of television channels to choose from. There were some very conservative ones too, I remember there being 2 or 3 devoted entirely to Christian religious programming.

In short, there are choices and decisions that can be made about viewership. If you don't want your child watching Sesame Street because of the admitted progressive bias, then don't let your child watch it. The same "conservatives" that constantly are on about wanting more "freedoms" are also the very first to call for censorship in the media. Grow up.

reply to post by ProjectJimmy


I started watching Dr. Who on Canadian television in the late 70's before anyone I knew even heard of it. Tom Baker was my favorite Doctor. Of course I was into Monty Python and the Goodies too. I have read articles about the political and social messages conveyed in the Dr. Who episodes. I'd have to say that Star Trek was the same in that aspect.

Duh...

This should really go without saying. TV...is used to project and condition certain views in its viewers? That was its main attraction to those in positions of power. Imagine Hitler had the power of television at his disposal.

Obviously. 99.9% of TV shows on major networks promote a liberal agenda.

Even shows which could be regarded as 'conservative' like 7th heaven actually interposes into the storyline common, "modern" problems which ultimately stem from the conflict between the liberalizing trend of society and conservative Christian values. Thus, stop watching TV if you want to escape the liberal agenda. Thats the only way out.

There is no such thing as a genuine "conservative" power in politics today, You merely have open liberalism - the democrats, and those who pretend to be 'conservatives', but are actually just as liberal.

Look at Fox for instance. Foxnews seemingly promotes an ultra conservative agenda. And yet look at Fox - the network. The most liberal and nihilistic shows on TV are there; The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Cleveland Show. This is probably a symbolic indication of the duplicity specifically poigntant in the American right.

And last, look at Bohemian Grove - the great republican vacation getaway. Can you get anymore Greek? And Pagan? And Liberal?

Theres only one agenda and both parties serve its purpose; to liberalize and morally anesthetize the worlds public.

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck


Tom Baker was my favorite too, and I would agree that Star Trek did a lot of the same type of thing, but both series were quite up-front about it too. I think it really is quite sad actually, that in this new age of absolutely idiotic reality television that we are, I fear, starting to loose some of that good storytelling that the old shows had.

I think it has to be mentioned though that the people who write for television shows, at least the good shows, are very creative people, and creative people tend to be more liberal, however as I said there is also a staggering number of viewing options out there now, so there is more than likely something for everyone.

I really actually do not think their is a conspiracy here, I mean there would be if the writers and producers were lying about their show's ideological content but it's rather on the up-and-up.

reply to post by newcovenant


Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your post


Of course I have nothing against political issues like anti war messages in T.V. shows or Movies aimed at adults but I don't see why they have to put political messages in shows aimed at pre-school kid's.
Can't they concentrate on learning kid's how to count properly or showing fun way's to learn they're ABC's or how to be nice to each other.
I just don't see why they have to put political issue's either left or right in kids shows just let them be kids and stop trying to push they're own beliefs on them.
Plus I can't help thinking what other messages are they putting out there they don't admit. (or maybe I've just got a suspicious mind).

Originally posted by MichiganSwampBuck
I was pretty young when Sesame Street came out, but was a little too old for it at the time. However, I was still young and innocent enough to believe that Bert and Ernie were brothers, even though we never saw their parents. After I got older it seemed they were living an alternate life style. Of course the purse carrying teletubby called "tinky-Winky" is quite obvious.

What you mean to tell me Bert and Ernie are actually a gay couple.
And yes tinky winky is pretty obvious I don't why they didn't go the whole hog and give him a handle bar moustache and a pair of leather chaps.