Trans-humanism in children’s television.

Trans-humanism in children’s television.

Subliminal indoctrination, stagnant creativity or something else?

With my daughter’s fairly recent arrival in the land of seven years old she feels with a certain puffed chest pride that she has now ascended through and beyond the ranks of television aimed at the youngest in our society or to be specific when talking about our house…Cbeebies.

As she cuts her teeth and my parental worry nerves on the more grown up story lines of shows such as Tracy Beaker and meets endless examples of conflict between children and their adult protagonists, I feel some tiny comfort that this new battle front leaves behind Mr Tumble and company in favour of the more grown up CBBC.

Life is in some way is going to be less dumbed down, a little keener. That was my thinking…

However I am very much mistaken. For several reasons.

Firstly, we love Mr Tumble and in fact met his ‘friend’ Justin at my daughter’s former nursery in Brighton. He was fantastic, a great sport and the kids loved him.

Mr Tumble

Moreover…my son Jonny is now one and a half and forging his own Cbeebies bonds with rapidity that outstrips his older sister.

Now you might very well be rolling your eyes and tutting, “turn off the tv man, it is not difficult.”

Let me be clear.

We do.

We favour anything but tv and our daughter is a fully- fledged member of the charging around outdoors club as well as a Brownie and Ballerina.

That said, along with many parents we cannot but help enjoy that quiet time when the glow box is switched on and a kind a peace descends.

But at what cost?

You see something struck me the other day while being a seat for the fixated baby/ toddler Jonny.

Try finding a non live action show on Cbeebies that does not feature animals being humans.

Actually not just animals, also plants, cars and everything else besides.

Here are some examples from today’s schedule, Friday 26^th June.

Timmy Time- a human sheep.

Ra Ra, the noisy Lion- a human lion.

Dino Paws- human dinosaurs.

Buzz and Tell- human, animal toys in a quiz.

Kate and Mim Mim- girl and human rabbit.

Octonauts- multiple human animals in underwater adventures.

Chuggington- human train (in no way ripped off from Thomas the human tank engine)

Rasta Mouse- Rastafarian mouse, noted this show is stand alone in bringing religion to the table.

We are yet to see Hindu Frog, Christian Gerbil or Muslim Aardvark.

Peter Rabbit- Need I say anything?

Tree Fu Tom- Mystic boy and his human animal pals.

3^rd and Bird- Human birds in bow ties singing.

Everything’s Rosie (no it isn’t)

This is by no means and exhaustive list. These are just the shows that I know the content having been dragged through them.

Of course you might quickly respond that this has always and since the birth of children’s television or even children’s media in general been the case. Perhaps that is true to an extent. Though only to an extent and not with the wall to wall pasting that we now experience.

In fairness to the BBC, these programmes are interspersed with various live action productions featuring the Cbeebies cast; Justin, Sid, Poi and so on.

Without exception I find these performers engaging and displaying a level of talent that frankly outstrips the material they are frequently working with.

Cbeebies, a great cast

Furthermore the bedtime story section is outstanding and features some uber A list actors.

It was mind-blowing to see Sir Patrick Stewart or James Mcavoy in the seat (I should point out these stars are not just limited to those that have play X-Men leader Charles Xavier).

Testament to the value all of us including the super famous place in storytelling and delighting our children and/ or grandchildren, Nephews and Nieces.

So what about what I am not saying?

The other shows that don’t sit happily in the mould of my opinion?

I’ll get to them, but first I should explain my problem with this incessant grafting of human attributes on the non-human world.

My main problem with this is not that at some point my son will march up to a dog expect a conversation and get a sharp, bitey shock.

Nor that my daughter will seek the advice of trains or oak trees for pressing future concerns that may require a solution.

It is more about biological positioning.

If we had any doubt that humans were the highest form of life, by the time we reach seven and move on to ‘shouting at adults’ tv we are fully brainwashed into the mind-set that we (people) rule the world and the environment.

Er…we do? Don’t we? What is your beef?

Beef, there we have it a good example. Where does it come from?

The supermarket.

Yes, and beyond that cows.

It isn’t just that we are telling our children that the characters they engage with on their favourite shows will one day by association end up in their digestive tracts. That is a concern and something all parents of meat eating children have to go through, “Daddy, are we eating Timmy?” Shush dear, mint sauce?

Additionally and a greater concern is the imprinting and normalising of this complete divorce from the cycles of life and nature.

This is a very recent thing.

Not 150 years ago when meat would arrive on the table it would be accompanied with ritual and ceremony derived from the process of the hunt.

Nobody eating that meal would have any doubt of the toil and danger associated in the acquisition of the game. This would in most cases include huge deference and gratitude to the animals and an unspoken link to our own mortality and our inevitable return to the earth to ourselves be the food of other creatures.

As Elton so eloquently put it, ‘The Circle of Life.’

This is not just exclusively the realm of animals, the talking lettuces in Mr Bloom’s nurseries may these days arrive magically in cellophane wrapped bags, but this was not always true.

Mr Bloom and talking veg

In the past people would know and appreciate how, when, and by what effort this and all bounty arrived on their plates because the chances were they had a hand in it beyond simply typing in a pin number.

Within this knowledge of food production and familial sustenance was the implied association with seasons and nature.

A world where Somerset grown apples are not flown to South Africa to be waxed and then back to Morrison’s in …Somerset.

These messages of friendly chatty crocodiles and coarse mannered cabbages sinking slowly and deeply into our children’s psyches give a widening idea of dissociation of the real and frankly at times gritty relationships between, humans, animals, the land and oceans.

Human beings used to be seen as part of nature, not sitting above it where the greatest pinnacle we can place on a mighty bear is that it can be likened a cuddly non-threatening middle aged man.

This marsh mallowing of nature is a new thing too, one only has to read the works of Rudyard Kipling to see a different relationship to the wild, even where advanced communication between species is possible. One cannot help but think Disney has a hound in this rabbit chase.

So am I right?

 Is there a strange shadowy agenda to separate our children further and further from nature, make us increasingly helpless and reliant on our masters filling the boxes and cellophane so that we might survive?

I will leave that hanging as there is another point to make, but let me close this by posseting the dreadful and of course ‘impossible’ notion that one day those boxes will be empty.

GM foods fail and there is not enough go around.

What happens then?

Ask the Oak tree? It will I expect be happy that human were finally on the way out!

If I am prepared to put this all down to coincidence and the natural evolution of thought, ideas and human society then I run into my 2^nd point.

We may be witnessing the stagnation of creativity or possibly the furring of the creative editorial filters of the commissioners.

You see there are other shows on Cbeebies far more creative that incidentally do not feature humanized animals.

It is not in my view a coincidence that these shows have in some cases been internationally syndicated and awarded the highest accolades. They are brilliant shows.

These names may be familiar to you;

In the night garden- a heady array of characters based on…well goodness knows what, but the kids love it. The BBC stopped commissioning this show in 2010.

In the night garden

Telly Tubbies- Eh Oh…Stopped in 2001 as with Night Garden this was a Rag Doll production. The good news is that this is coming back, fuel to my view point.

Postman Pat- Remade again and again and still going strong.

Charlie and Lola- Lauren Child’s excellent year 2000 creation of books and adapted shows now 15 years old.

Reading this list one might be forgiven for thinking that there was a creative burst around the turn of the millennium that has now dried up in place of talking animals and objects.

What happens in commissioning meeting?

“Mt Stevens, I’ve got this amazing idea about a boy a hedgehog and a clock.” Sounds boring Pete.

“No Mr Stevens, I haven’t told you the amazing part…the hedgehog is just like another small boy…but hedgehoggy.” Hmmm. Go on.

“Er…and the clock talks too!” Brilliant. Two series please. Wait a minute, what is it called?

“Hodge O Clock.” Genius, have a BAFTA.

Now some people might quite rightly be screaming at me that aside from the home grown BBC talent which I have been at pains to show my gratitude and support for, I am completely overlooking some of the other hot new live action stars currently lighting up Cbeebies shows.

The only reason I don’t put too much cache in these new fledgling performers is that it is early days in their careers and I want to see how they mature as seasoned entertainers.

That said the likes of James Bolan in Grandpa in my pocket and Bernard Cribbins in Old Jack’s Boat seem to have made bright starts. I shall watch their progression with earnest.

Old Jack and not talking dog

Yes yes, the lowest form of wit.

This very much ties into my point that were we are seeing innovation without an animal face it is little but nostalgia on behalf of a commissioner or two rather than surfing the wave of something new and exciting.

The return of The Clangers does little or nothing to dissuade me from this solidifying position.

There is one more example to blow my idea out of the water faster that Old Jack’s Boat and is in fact my son’s absolute favourite, so much so he chirps with excitement when the brilliant opening credits pump.

The Furchester Hotel…

Jim Henson’s creature workshop doing what it has always done, hilarious anarchy.

The Flipping Funny Furchester Hotel

Now at this some readers may well furiously ask, “what the heck? Talking animals! Big Bird! Gonzo’s chickens, come on! Kermit, Miss frigging Piggy?”

Well no.

Henson’s characters are contained in the context of an imagined Muppet World even when that world co-exists and collides with our own.

In fact anyone associated with the shows will report they are absolutely not puppets (controlled by humans), they are Muppets.

Within this world of mayhem there is no illusion that we are looking at an example of the real world, even via a twisted lens.

Far more it is a place of metaphor with sufficient abstraction to enjoy the monstery, muppety fun without worry of ecological quandary. Cookie monsters do not exist (apart from my son Jonny).

So as I steel myself to fight off Tracey Beaker Returns making Grange Hill seem like Song of Praise, I thank the ether that I live in a rural environment.

This somewhat works in my favour and as my boy grows I can easily introduce him to the cycles of nature and make sure he like his sister before him, understands that pedestals invite knocking over and those humans that perch on them are deluded if they think the natural world exists below.

My children will grow up being humble in the face of Mother Nature, accepting flow and fluidity in life as far more appropriate mind-set for survival than the sharp, spikey top of an imagined pyramid.

Perhaps in conclusion I must grit my teeth and fight against this wave of confused messages and open yet more books to find the truly creative as it seems the BBC have abandoned us in favour of easy half smiles.

Finally despite all I may have moaned about in the proceeding paragraphs I want to end on bitter sweet praise for old Auntie which by the way is by no means the only or even main culprit of this. Disney and Warner Bros collectively have without question led the way.

I would take her bizarre fascination with Cbeebies’ melting the human world into and onto that of animal any day over the other beast that lurks in my daughter’s ever quickening lightning fast fingers…it is called I pad…This hypno slab  is mobile!

There be monsters contained within …and they must be stopped because it isn’t just their faces  and paws I’m worried about! 

By Mark W Hunter