6 Insane (But Convincing) Theories on Children's Pop Culture

[n2doc]

1. Thomas the Tank Engine Lives in a Totalitarian Dystopia


Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, a story about sentient trains learning about responsibility, friendship and all that noise, might possibly be the most sickeningly wholesome children's show in existence. With that in mind, it'd take some pretty massive balls to accuse said show of, say, promoting totalitarianism, fascism and racism.

Shauna Wilton, a professor of political sciences at the University of Alberta, has just such balls. She argues that the world of Thomas the Tank Engine is in reality a fascist, racist hellhole where dreams go to die and where only "useful" elements are allowed to continue to toil away in pointless misery.

Why It's Not That Crazy:
Here's a totally hypothetical question: What if one of the trains on the show decided that he wanted to do something else with his life, like travel or star on Snakes on a Train 2: Snake Harder? He'd probably get yelled at and told to get back to work.

You see, on the island of Sodor where the show takes place, there is only room for really useful engines. That's not only the show's catch phrase, but also the basic summary of every episode in the series. That is, the engines are either trying to prove themselves or worrying that they aren't working hard enough (see "James and the Coaches," "Thomas, Percy and the Post Train," "Tender Engines" and many more).

This totalitarian obsession with usefulness is instilled in the engines by the iron fist of Sir Topham Hatt, aka the Fat Controller, who swiftly punishes all those deemed as "useless."


more

http://www.cracked.com/article_19673_6-insane-but-convincing-theories-childrens-pop-culture_p2.html

[TheWraith]

1. Dunno about this one, but Cracked.com in general should be required reading.

They have far too much brilliant information on history, science, and things that are wrong to be able to summarize, all delivered in a gaspingly hilarious manner. It's a must read.

[fishwax]

2. It's a must read, but also a better-not-read

unless you have a ton of time to spare. I've found that the typical visit to cracked lasts between 4 and 40 times longer than it takes to read the initial article. Just about every article is a gateway drug.

[TheWraith]

4. Yes, I've often used the term "browser narcotic." nt

[xmas74]

6. I'll log on for one article

and find myself still there ninety minutes later.

I "liked" them on Facebook and now get daily links from them. They really have some good stuff.

[Enrique]

3. i don't know, i kind of agree with that

[craigmatic]

5. You know I had the same thought about Gargamel when I was watching an old smurfs episode I recorded.

He really does look like one of those jewish stereotypes in a pamphlet that the nazis would've handed out. It really doesn't help matters that he wanted to eat the smurfs (blood libel stereotype) or turn them to gold (the other jewish stereotype). That's probably why he wasn't in the live action movie. After reading this I can't say I blame them. It's fucked looking back on that show in retrospect. Besides the shows in thearticle I wonder what other childrens' shows had similar issues.