Well, my sons have a new obsession. Trains. They got mildly interested last year after we took them to see The Polar Express. We saw it at the IMAX in 3D, which was really cool, but on DVD it's much less compelling. The characters have no names and there is no logic behind anything that happens. It's like a Steven Seagal movie for the younger set: It's been five minutes, something has to explode. Not to mention the lesson learned is to stop asking questions and just believe what you're told (yeah, I know they're talking about Santa Claus, but it's still an evil thing to tell kids). And don't get me started on the creepy zombie children.
For Christmas this year the boys got a Lego electric train (which is more interesting than a regular electric train that just goes in circles because you can build your own train cars, and Oliver can build some pretty whacked-out cars). Since then they've both been mad about trains. So my husband came home one night with a stack of Thomas the Very Useful Engine DVDs (he's a shopaholic, but that's a whole other post).
And I thought I hated The Polar Express! This show is just like watching electric trains go round and round. Although I like it when the engines steam up; there's more smoke pouring around than in a Cheech and Chong movie. But again mostly I hate the message (and this shows really pushes its message). These engines are very neurotic about whether they are being Useful enough. That is their only goal in life. Most of the engines are green and blue, and in one episode they threaten to repaint the only red train because he's just too proud of being different. Apparently he proved his Usefulness enough in other ways, because he's still red. The creepiest by far is when one of the engines hid in a tunnel while it was raining, and the station master went out with a bunch of bricks and walled him in because he wasn't being Useful enough (and he stayed there until the next episode).
But it was when the station master gave Thomas two passenger cars, Annie and Clarabel, as a reward for being a Very Useful Engine that my husband finally suggested I keep my opinions to myself, as the boys were actually enjoying the show (I made some remark about the best hunters and warriors always getting two wives. Also, I probably griped that the only female characters were passive passenger cars and not active engines).
Still, it's the idea that the highest goal in life is to be Useful to others that bugs me most. Which made me think, what would Ayn Rand think of this show? She must be spinning in her grave. I have nothing against helping others, of course, but the emphasis this show puts on self-sacrifice for the good of others and the disdain it has for people who actually take pride in their work and abilities is extreme. I just think that societies get on better when everyone works hard at the sorts of things they like to do for the rewards they want to have (like the industrialists in Atlas Shrugged) rather than everyone putting aside their own desires (like being red in a world of blues and greens) for the good of others. But then that's why I'm a capitalist, not a socialist.
Ringo Starr narrates one of the DVDs, and George Carlin does the other. That and the Cheech and Chong subtext is all the enjoyment I can get out of this show. I count the years until they are old enough to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer with me. *Sigh.*
No comments:
Post a Comment