Depressing thought about Sesame Street?
I find all the girl muppets on Sesame Street annoying. There’s Rosita, the aqua, Hispanic monster whose voice has a grating whine. Then there’s Zoe, the female counterpart to Elmo. Elmo annoys because he refers to himself only in third person, but in general he’s a pretty nice, friendly monster. Zoe, on the other hand, can exhibit quite a mean streak, especially when she’s defending her pet rock, Rocco. She also sometimes exhibits behavior that is so flaky that she seems almost stoned. There’s one other recurring female muppet, Prairie Dawn, who is bossy and impatient.
I don’t have the same problem with the female humans on the show: Susan, Maria, Gina, and Gabrielle. These are all fine characters who are kind and interesting. I find the boy monsters–Grover, Cookie Monster, Telly, Elmo, even grouchy Oscar–cute and engaging. All these monsters were there when I was a child, though.
Sesame Street is a show that I like and respect. I hope that it will inspire the same feelings one day in my son Drake. Is it me? Do I dislike the girl monsters because they’re new and different? I didn’t grow up knowing the characters of Gabrielle or Gina, though, and I still like them. Do I dislike the girl monsters for the same reason that teachers favor boy students over girls? Or have the creators of Sesame Street, in their efforts to round out their cast of monsters, created girl monsters who are less likeable than the boys?
January 15th, 2005 at 9:08 pm
The girl monsters have always come second on Sesame street. Think about the old main characters: Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, The Count, Big Bird, Snuffleupagus are all boys. They didn’t have any girl monsters or muppets for years! And yeah, I’ve found the girl monsters annoying–even Ms. Piggy is annoying, and she’s the main girl muppet.
January 17th, 2005 at 10:48 am
I agree that the monsters on Sesame Street have gotten more grating. The worst by far is Baby Bear with his annoying speech impediment! I hate that guy!
January 17th, 2005 at 1:19 pm
I’ve sort of come around to Baby Bear. I find his lisp annoying, as I also find Elmo’s use of the third person, but I enjoy BB’s friendship with Telly and liked the storyline with baby Curly.
There is no contest for my most hated creature on Sesame Street, though. It’s that evil elephant. I fast forward through whatever skit it is in. Its screechy voice makes me want to scratch my eyes out.
January 19th, 2005 at 6:29 pm
This is a fact: Telly Monster was the last addition that was good. Elmo only seems good because he’s everywhere and if he’s so everywhere then he must be right, right? Wrong. He’s fine and all, but that’s it. And as for the female monsters, how about how in every Grover book, Grover’s Mommy (that’s her name) never has a Grover’s Daddy? Even gets a baby sister in one, but still no Daddy.
January 2nd, 2006 at 8:46 am
Just found this very fun link which will help to bail out female Sesame St characters as it lists many that we’d have forgotten. A v. fun weblink if you like Sesame St like I do.
http://www.sesame-encyclopedia.com/