A pawprint? Where?!
Why is it that kids' shows absolutely insist on recruiting the child's involvement in the task at hand? The kids in blue's clues are always expected to find the clue before Steve or Joe. Dora can't even open her backpack or look at her map without you saying "BACKPACK!" or "MAP!" If you ask me, that makes her a pretty lousy explorer. Where did she go before the audience was around to yell at her backpack and map? How did those items get IN her backpack? How did her eyes get so BIG?! But I digress...
I think for most young children this isn't really annoying. In my young childhood years I don't remember thinking to myself "Man, what a moron. How can he run his own show if he can't even find giant blue pawprints right in front of his face?" I think younger kids these days just sort of take it for granted that the TV, an inanimate object that often appears as exciting as a rock (when turned off), is going to ask them questions or tell them to stand up, take a bow, move your hand like a lion going through a hoop, or tell the TV about their favorite part of the show. I think most young children enjoy this interactivity, and don't think twice about it.
And then there are children like Nikolai.
He is OK with simple questions, "Do you see the yellow banana in this picture?", because he just doesn't answer and that's just fine with him. For those of you who know Nikolai this makes perfect sense. It's when the characters on TV try to get him to *do* something that he becomes uncomfortable. And the characters on TV are really pushy, too. They start out by asking nicely, but don't account for those young viewers who are going to be offended by the expectation that they should go along with something they declined to do in the first place. Here's a good example:
JoJo: Do you want to take a bow with me?
Nikolai: No. I don't.
JoJo: OK, Stand up, please!
NikolI: NO! NO THANK YOU!
JoJo: Now put your arms out to the side like this.
Nikolai: NO! I DON'T WANT TO! (yelling at the tv as one would yell at a mostly deaf great grand parent, looking at JoJo like she's deaf or really just that dim-witted)
JoJo: Now beeeend at your waist like this.
(Nikolai begins to cry and scream at JoJo, I finally intervene)
Mama: Nikolai, it's ok, just don't listen until this part is over.
Nikolai: FAST FORWARD MAMA! Can you fast forward, mama?
If JoJo weren't so pushy this wouldn't be a problem. Of course, I can't take it all out on JoJo. Really almost all children's shows are guilty of this these days. I think that if TV characters are going to pretend to interact with the children in the audience, then the shows should account for multiple answers to questions, kind of like a "choose your own adventure" movie plan. Most of these questions really are presumptuous, such as "Do you like music?". I know a child who'd answer "no" to this question.
This reminds me, though, of another time when we were watching Blue's Clues and Joe was wandering around and walked past a pawprint. Nikolai scared the bejeesus out of me when he *screamed* at the screen "A CLUE!!! A CLUE, JOE!! RIGHT BEHIND YOU! BACK THERE! LOOK! IT'S A CLUE!!!" And Joe just kind of looked dumbly at the screen, like he generally does, and Nikolai threw his hands up in the air and walked away. This just strengthens my argument against unilaterally interactive TV shows.
I think for most young children this isn't really annoying. In my young childhood years I don't remember thinking to myself "Man, what a moron. How can he run his own show if he can't even find giant blue pawprints right in front of his face?" I think younger kids these days just sort of take it for granted that the TV, an inanimate object that often appears as exciting as a rock (when turned off), is going to ask them questions or tell them to stand up, take a bow, move your hand like a lion going through a hoop, or tell the TV about their favorite part of the show. I think most young children enjoy this interactivity, and don't think twice about it.
And then there are children like Nikolai.
He is OK with simple questions, "Do you see the yellow banana in this picture?", because he just doesn't answer and that's just fine with him. For those of you who know Nikolai this makes perfect sense. It's when the characters on TV try to get him to *do* something that he becomes uncomfortable. And the characters on TV are really pushy, too. They start out by asking nicely, but don't account for those young viewers who are going to be offended by the expectation that they should go along with something they declined to do in the first place. Here's a good example:
JoJo: Do you want to take a bow with me?
Nikolai: No. I don't.
JoJo: OK, Stand up, please!
NikolI: NO! NO THANK YOU!
JoJo: Now put your arms out to the side like this.
Nikolai: NO! I DON'T WANT TO! (yelling at the tv as one would yell at a mostly deaf great grand parent, looking at JoJo like she's deaf or really just that dim-witted)
JoJo: Now beeeend at your waist like this.
(Nikolai begins to cry and scream at JoJo, I finally intervene)
Mama: Nikolai, it's ok, just don't listen until this part is over.
Nikolai: FAST FORWARD MAMA! Can you fast forward, mama?
If JoJo weren't so pushy this wouldn't be a problem. Of course, I can't take it all out on JoJo. Really almost all children's shows are guilty of this these days. I think that if TV characters are going to pretend to interact with the children in the audience, then the shows should account for multiple answers to questions, kind of like a "choose your own adventure" movie plan. Most of these questions really are presumptuous, such as "Do you like music?". I know a child who'd answer "no" to this question.
This reminds me, though, of another time when we were watching Blue's Clues and Joe was wandering around and walked past a pawprint. Nikolai scared the bejeesus out of me when he *screamed* at the screen "A CLUE!!! A CLUE, JOE!! RIGHT BEHIND YOU! BACK THERE! LOOK! IT'S A CLUE!!!" And Joe just kind of looked dumbly at the screen, like he generally does, and Nikolai threw his hands up in the air and walked away. This just strengthens my argument against unilaterally interactive TV shows.
posted by rebecca at 9:11 AM
4 Comments:
i sometimes yell at my computer, which unilaterally expects me to interact with it in order for work to get done. i find this annoying.
how would you know what your computer expects, unilaterally?
Malachi and I loved this post! Malachi's favorite part was when Nikolai started screaming at the TV saying "NO! NO THANK YOU!!!" -- Thank you for the laugh :-) -- Deb
I'm glad this entertained you guys. I had a good chuckle putting it into words.
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