This past week the people at Sesame Street gave in to what I believe was undue pressure to remove the Katy Perry video from their site and broadcast plans. This is most unfortunate. I’ve seen the video and concerns over the dress that Ms. Perry was wearing are frankly irrational, in my opinion. The outfit that Ms. Perry was no worse than the outfit that women figure skaters wear during competition. It was a one piece outfit and there was no chance Ms. Perry was going to have a Janet Jackson moment.
The video is cute, generally any video featuring Elmo is cute, and funny. Katy wants to play a game with Elmo and Elmo wants to play with Katy. But as you will see in the video they’re not playing the same game. The video is harmless and is not offensive and was only slammed because, in my opinion, it was Katy Perry.
I understand parental concerns. I am a parent and a grandparent and I know that Sesame Street works best when it is watched by the child and parent together. Television is not a babysitter. Television provides content, but it doesn’t provide context. That is the job of the parent. I regret that Sesame Street caved in on this issue, but because they rely so much on Federal funding, in their minds, they probably felt they didn’t have a choice. I think they did have a choice and I think they made the wrong one. The Katy Perry and Elmo video is below.
Thanks for the link! I hadn’t heard about the issue, but Girl liked watching the video. Katy appears to be wearing Tinkerbell’s dress. I don’t see the problem with it.
@ MM – I didn’t either. Miss Piggy has worn less and hasn’t been criticized nearly as much. Glad Girl liked it. 🙂
Katy Perry is a sex symbol, and the Victorian-thinking public found themselves uncomfortable. And I honestly think people just need something to complain about. Poor Katy. Can’t wait to see what GaGa wears if she ever guests stars.
@Sandy Plexi – Going to Katy Perry’s website will make you uncomfortable, but that’s not the woman image who appeared in the video. I don’t think GaGa will be on Sesame Street any time soon, after all, Madonna hasn’t appeared yet either and her act has been cleaned up for at least 10 years.
Unrelated, but I read the article and thought of you: http://www.slate.com/id/2198316/
You’ve brought up the laser/inkjet business model before, iirc.
Good morning! 🙂
@MM – Thank you. Brother follows the HP model better than HP and, sadly, I haven’t learned to walk away from Brother printers yet. An updated printer post is coming soon.