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My Turn
by

Wayne Chan

From The Asian Reporter, V31, #12 (December 6, 2021), page 6.

Defund "Sesame Street!"

Many years ago, writer and columnist Wayne Chan met a young man who creates comic strips, a good portion of them drawn from the perspective of an Asian American. When Wayne saw the cartoonist’s works, he thought they were truly terrific. They got to talking and thought it might be a perfect match if they collaborated, combining Wayne’s writing and the artist’s strips. The two work in different mediums, as Wayne writes columns and the illustrator draws comics, but they share a commonality of perspectives as Asian Americans who find humor in everyday life. Wayne Chan the columnist lives in the San Diego area. Wayne Chan the cartoonist is based in the Bay Area.

Defund "Sesame Street!"

I had no idea "Sesame Street" was such a subversive, government-controlled, woke monster designed to brainwash children at the most impressionable period of their lives.

At least that’s the takeaway I had after watching political commentary from Matt Schlapp, the president of the Conservative Political Action Committee, and Ted Cruz, an actual, real-life senator of the United States of America.

As a middle-aged man, I haven’t watched an episode of "Sesame Street" in 50+ years. My kids haven’t watched it in 18 years.

Apparently, I’ve missed a lot of destabilizing propaganda in five decades … if one believes the hyperbolic levels of outrage coming from these two politicians. If you believe their talking points and rhetoric, the global COVID-19 epidemic, climate science, the January 6 insurrection, and other global threats don’t really exist.

No-no, I need to be up in arms over Big Bird and Ji-Young instead.

Senator Cruz is accusing Big Bird of "government propaganda" after the radical fowl had the audacity to say he received a COVID-19 vaccine. And Mr. Schlapp says "Sesame Street" should be defunded of government support after the introduction of a new muppet character. Ji-Young is, <gasp!>, Korean American.

I don’t want to paraphrase Mr. Schlapp’s outrage, so here are his actual statements:

* "What race is Ernie is Bert (sic)? You are insane PBS and we should stop funding you."

* "We all loved Bert and Ernie without the foggiest idea of the racial demographic they may have represented. Afterall, Ernie is orange. The taxpayers deserve a big rebate. If PBS and NPR want to be in arms in the socialist movement, they need to pay their own way."

I have to face the real possibility that my lack of watching children’s television programming for many decades has led me to the false belief that "Sesame Street" is only interested in the health and welfare of our children.

This whole "growing-up" period of my life may have led me astray. I may need to reevaluate some of the common notions I’ve had about "Sesame Street" all this time. Once one goes down this rabbit hole, there are all sorts of revelations:

* Elmo only refers to himself in the third person, like "Elmo likes to paint!" I had no idea "Sesame Street" was intent on promoting narcissistic behavior.

* Big Bird is a six-foot-tall bird walking around wild on the streets of Sesame. No enclosure, no license to possess a wild animal. Apparently "Sesame Street" is promoting anarchy in the streets.

* Oscar the Grouch is homeless and lives in a trash can. Has the sanitation department been notified of this? What if the sanitation truck inadvertently dumps Oscar into the trash heap? Who is liable?

* The Cookie Monster only eats cookies. What kind of message is this sending our children about our dietary needs? I demand equal time from "Sesame Street" and they should introduce a new character called "The Salad Beast."

I could go on. But suffice it to say, Mr. Schlapp and senator Cruz, you have my full support. You keep on criticizing children’s educational shows. I mean, that’s why we voted for you, right?

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Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the
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My Turn by

Wayne Chan

My Turn
by