July 25, 2005
SITBB Vault: Kidz on the Tube
| Inspired by recent discussions about the appropriateness for children of the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as well as by a recent article about Raven (and because I am home with two sick children watching hours of children's programming), I thought I'd re-post this entry from my Black History Month blogothon. Enjoy--and as always, comments welcome! (Originally posted February 5, 2005.) |
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
The Globetrotters' guest appearances on Scooby Doo.
The animated Jackson 5, with Michael's pet snake.
Buckwheat on reruns of Little Rascals/Our Gang.
(From the knees down) the Mammy character on Tom and Jerry.
Memory's not what it used to be, but I'm thinking that's about it for me--as a child in the mid 60s to mid 70s--in terms of African American characters and shows in children's programming.
Black History Month involves bearing witness to Black history (not just "celebrating" or "observing" or "acknowledging"...). Thus, I am confronted with the notion of, not only me bearing witness to history (as I have experienced it as an African American woman living in a certain period of time), but of my children bearing witness, now, to the history that's being made in their midst.
My own kids, born in the year 2K, have a much brighter history to look forward to in terms of seeing their own images on TV than I did. All jokes and serious laments aside: "bad Black TV," "modern day minstrel shows," "I wish TV would go back to just ignoring us" (comment overheard at a beauty salon), TV's UPN standing for "U picka n****" (comment from comedian Paul Mooney), etc. Acknowledged. But I'm going to put them aside: I'll take the bad if it means that the quantity is such that a lotta good manages to slip through.
And there are many very good kids' programs on television, all week long. Many of this good programming is excellent in its depiction of African American children, adults, and culture. I know many reading this are not currently experiencing the joys of parenting young children. But rest assured, the following programs are worth watching even if you do not have children in your home. So. Some of my (oh, and of course my daughters') favorites--and candidates for future proud "This Moment in Children's Programming Black History" features:
1) The Proud Family--Disney Channel/ABC Kids
I've gotta admit that what first drew me to this show was the actress who does the voice of main character Penny Proud's best friend, Dijonay. As soon as I heard the voice I recognized it as belonging to the same woman who played the character Charmaign from the latter seasons of The Cosby Show and on the spin-off, A Different World. Her signature line "Oooo, Lay-ance, you so sen-si-tiiive" is just one of those lines you can't help saying, repeating, using in other contexts. Never caught on, though, like "DY-NO-MITE" or "Whatchutalkin 'bout, Willis." (But that's another discussion for another day...)
Anyway. Back to The Proud Family.
This is a cartoon really aimed at a bit older set. The humor is sometimes on the...slapstick side. And there are not often many overtly educational qualities about the show. And I could do without the traditional cartoon father-as-doofus portrayals. And while some of the portrayals of Black folks and life are on point and very well done, others are on the uncomfortable side of stereotypical. (A mixed bag that is understandable, I guess, coming from writer/producer Ralph Farquhar--the same talent behind such questionable Black TV as The Parkers as well as great, sensitive Black TV like Moesha. )
So, why am I starting my must-see list with this show? First, my 4-year-olds love it. Plus, I am intrigued with the expansive African American talent involved in this program at all levels of production: Voice talent, writers, producers, animators, music. I figure all these African American animation and other entertainment industry folks have as much right as anyone else to be gainfully (and consistently) employed, to experiment with their creativity, to make some blunders, and in the process to also create some great work.
Postscript: I've never seen this episode, but I'm going to set my pvr and hope I catch it.
2) Stanley, Playhouse Disney
Lotsa stuff I love about this little guy's show. The theme sung by The BaHa Men. The fact that Stanley's mom works outside the home while his dad works at home. All the information about animals--almost every episode teaching me something I did not know before about the animal kingdom. The magical wonderful and most excellent "Great Big Book of Everything" (ohhhh, if only there were a graduate student GBBofE...) And most of all, 2/3 of Stanley's (human) best friends in the neighborhood, African American sisters Mimi and Marci.
Unlike many animated Black characters, Mimi and Marci are very well drawn--they look neither like stereotypes of Black people nor colored-in White people. And unlike many female animated characters, these girls actually do things, actively participate in the action--and they have ideas, they make substantive comments, they help solve problems, they have actual personalities, they in one episode introduced Stanley to Kwanzaa.
Of course, my twin daughters love that these little brown girls are also twins.
3) The Backyardigans, Nick Jr.
Another blogger says it all:
"The show to watch is The Backyardigans. How much do I love this show? I am tempted to watch it when the kids aren't around. I sing the songs as I do the dishes. There are only nine episodes so far and I have all nine on our TiVo. I force people just visiting our house to watch some of this show. I love this show."
What I really love about this show is that it's a great example of a "stealth" African American portrayal on an animated TV program. You see, the characters on this program--Uniqua, Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin--are all crayola-colored non-human animal creatures. But don't be fooled--these are kids of color. I have no "proof" of this. But here are my points for persuasion: Check out the names of the characters, for one. Two, Janice Burgess, The Backyardigans creator and one of its producers, is an African American woman; In one interview she said what many artists say, that "all the characters are kind of like me." Three, my favorite character, Uniqua, is an undefined creature who is purplish with pinkish polka dots; Now, I don't know if Ms. Burgess is anything like me...I don't know if, like me, she has heard a non-Black person say (usually as a prelude to saying something incredibly racist), "...Now, I don't care if someone is Black, White, or pink with purple spots..."--but if she has, like me, heard that--WOW, what a great joke making Uniqua exactly that!!!
The next best thing I love about this show is the dance numbers. Yes. You heard me--dance numbers. According to one animation authority: "Each of The Backyardigans animated dance steps are choreographed by a former director of the Alvin Ailey Dance School's children's program and performed by real dancers, whose movements are then recreated in animation."
How's that for unique!
Nick Jr in general is just packed with wonderful children's programming. Their "My World" animated short stories are a good example. If you link to nothing else from this entry, link here and view the video of "No Mirrors in My Nana's House." Music by Sweet Honey in the Rock. Book by Ysaye Barnwell. Beautiful illustrations of a beautiful little brown girl and her beautiful adoring Nana. What's there not to love.
Another Nick Jr. must see is Little Bill
From the imaginatioin of Bill Cosby. Strong, loving, multi-generational African American family--including a non-doofus Dad! Voices of Phylicia Rashad and Ruby Dee. And a slammin' jazz soundtrack. (Note: Janice Burgess is co-executive producer of Little Bill.)
4) Sesame Street, PBS
I only mention Sesame Street briefly because most people probably are already familiar with it--Heck, many probably grew up on it. If you haven't seen it in a while, it continues to be one of the best children's shows on TV with some of the best depictions of diversity. It's gone through some changes--some good, some I have issues with. But still: One of the very best.
You may not know that there is a whole--I'd go so far as to call it--international human rights organization connected with this program, the Sesame Workshop. Check it out.
And one more thing. Elmo. Another example, in my opinion, of stealth African American protrayal. You can argue with me again, if you like. But I say the red monster is Black. (You may already be aware that Kevin Clash, Elmo's voice and motion, is African American.)
5) Gullah Gullah Island, (formerly) Nickelodeon (See http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-3197/)
Unfortunately, as far as I can tell this excellent show portraying a little known facet of the Black American experience is no more. My kids loved the re-runs that we caught for a few months a while back (I think on the Noggin network). Fortunately, though, real-life partners and parents on the show, Ron and Natalie Daise' are keeping the African American Gullah culture of North and South Carolina alive. (See this SC tourist site.) The show also lives on in several books and videos.
6) Teletubbies, PBS
I have to discuss this at length because I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't.
Actually, my kids have long since become bored with Teletubbies. But when they were infants and toddlers--man, this show had an amazing calming hypnotic (and somewhat creepy) effect on them. Regarding one character, the green Dipsy, the only one with a brownish face. I could read all sorts of things into his character--for instance that he is the most hyper of the four or that of the four his is the only antenna (those shapes on the tops of their heads) that sticks straight up in a perhaps/maybe/likely/kinda/obviously phallic manner or that his special possession is a large animal-skinned pimp hat... (From the official Meet the Teletubbies page: "Dipsy loves to dance, make cool moves and fancy steps.... Being super-cool doesn't stop Dipsy loving big hugs.")
I wouldn't be the first person to read things into one of the 'Tubbies characters, as everyone by now is probably aware.
So, I mention the Teletubbies to make one last Black History Month point: Although there has been improvement in children's TV depictions of Black people and culture, there is a long way to go--both in depictions of African Americans and in depictions of other diverse groups. And, well, the Teletubbies is symbolic of this issue.
Admit it, all you parents who are or have been regular viewers: Tinky Winky very definitely crosses traditional gender boundaries in his behaviors and likes. Two examples. All the Teletubbies have a special toy, or object they are associated with. Tinky Winky's is a red purse (though the narrator calls it a "bag"). In what used to be my kids' favorite episode, a pink ballet tutu magically appears one day in Teletubbieland. All the Teletubbies get a turn with the tutu. Well, guess who wants to keep the tutu, who doesn't want to share the tutu when his turn is over. Yep.
For me, though, Tinky Winky's gender exploration is not cause for concern: It is cause for rejoicing. I remember a kid I had in my class when I taught preschool who was obsessed with Cinderella and always wanted to dress up as Cinderella in the dramatic play area and who came back from Disney World with a beautiful delicate Cinderella porcelain figurine that he chose all by himself with the money his parents had given him to buy whatever toy in all the theme park that he wanted--Wouldn't his time in my class have been easier, more accepting, if his classmates had been exposed to lovable, purple-with-the-triangle-antenna Tinky Winky?
All this hand-wringing over "homosexual influences" in children's programming continues, intensified, today. Sponge-Bob Square Pants. And most recently, this.
Anyway.
All children deserve to see themselves, their families and their lives depicted in shows aimed at them. All children. And all children deserve to see images, families, cultures that are not like their own. I'm happy that my own children will be able to grow up and look back on the television they watched as kids and (I hope) remember with fondness that they saw themselves reflected there. And I'm happy that my daughters' future college mate or co-worker, someone who is at this moment growing up someplace around no Black people, will look at my girls and first see Mimi, Marci, Uniqua, Little Bill's sister April, or Penny Proud.
And not the Mammy from Tom and Jerry. ("Taw-MUSSSS!!!!! You better sho-nuff be gettin that MAWSE...")
Posted by perry032 at July 25, 2005 02:24 PM