I Was Raised By A Barba?




	I Was Raised By A Barba?
	I Was Raised By A Barba?
		Being around children can certainly make one reflect on their own childhood. Spending time with my nieces and nephew is always special. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is it exposes you to things you haven't done or seen in a long time. Mainly, children's television programming. Thanks to being a parent, a grandparent or an aunt or uncle we are forced to have to endure hours of television shows geared to kids. The current favs (so my niece and nephew tell me) are Blues Clues, Teletubbies, Bob the Builder, and Caillou. Upon viewing small portions of these shows it made me remember that kids TV programs are a little messed up. They are usually educational and are good natured but for some reason they always come across somewhat creepy. Perhaps it's the animation style, the weird sets and costumes, the happy go lucky music, or the terminally cheerful and soft spoken hosts (That Joe from Blue Clues is just not right) but there is something about them that is always a little odd. Understanding that I am not the intended audience, what the hell is going on with Teletubbies? Have you seen this? I think this show is made by aliens. It is bizarre and I am not talking about John Byner. There is something else going on here with the Teletubbies. There are subliminal hidden brainwashing messages embedded in this thing. I am convinced we are unknowingly raising a generation of people who are going to snap and turn on us whenever they see a laughing baby. It is tres weird. This got me thinking though, were the TV shows that I watched as a child this weird too? Upon reflecting and remembering I feel can safely say…yes. Because anyway you slice it "Barbapapa" was some strange, weird shit. I mean come on people, clickity click, barba trick…what the hell is that all about? For those that don't remember Barbapapa, it was a cartoon about a family of…ummm barbas…which are colourful blobs that could change their shape and size. (ie. Turn into cars etc.) To transform their shape the barbas uttered "clickity click, barba trick". Still with me? (Quick sidenote: upon revisiting this show I never realized the racist undertones going on within the program. For instance, Barbabeau, the black barba was the wild erratic member of the family. His appearance was furry and disheveled unlike the other barbas. An outcast if you will. Hmmm? But I digress.) Clearly who ever created this was on drugs. Drug use may have been a requirement for entry into the children's television production industry. How many of these shows seemingly couldn't have been created without narcotics. Remember "Readalong"? With the talking shoes and the friendly skeleton? Another hit off the bong? Sure! And who could forget the "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" an unusual 60 minute live action mock horror show. One sketch on this program has forever been etched into my memory…the Wolfman. The Wolfman was a dj (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried) who every show would dance to early 1960's and 1970's rock tunes with his buddy Igor. The two of them would dance in front of a screen that would have a kaleidoscope of swirling colours. And yes, this was geared to children. What? Trippy to say the least. Most of the shows I remember did have educational merit. No one can fault Sesame Street (an institution in the children's TV programming world) or even its low class cousin "The Electric Company" for trying to teach kids math, reading and grammar. The Electric Company was kind of the urban Sesame Street. It was like the projects two blocks over from Sesame Street. Instead of Big Bird, Grover and Cookie Monster you got E.Z. Read (the reading pimp I think he was supposed to be) Gladys the Glow Worm and Mel Mounds the dj. What is with all these shows having djs by the way? I didn't know tearing this motha out was so important to children? "Polka Dot Door" was another happy go lucky educational children's series that ran for a number of years. You know the show with the two adults who'd hang out talking to stuffed toys. What's that Marigold? Humpty and Bear are harassing you again? I was always thrown off by the message they were trying to deliver with Polkaroo? Polkaroo was this…thing… in a big green suit with purple spots that would show up and play with the kids (or stuffed toys). He was always cast as a stranger who would come around and leave unexpectedly. The lead male host would never see him either. He had this weird peeper vibe to him. Polkaroo was a little unpleasant is all I am saying. Now that I think of it…maybe Teletubbies is not that weird after all? I think when you get down to it these shows are totally geared for kids only. You can not analyze them through an adult's eye. We're not supposed to get these. When seeing the new ones or revisiting the others I used to watch as a child, yes, you do realize they are quite strange. And I am sure our kids and their kid's television shows will be just as weird. But they have to be a little skewed to be able to speak directly to a five year old. Think of the mind of a child. It has to be creatively stimulating. And creatively stimulating often means odd. The key is children enjoy them. I know I did. Hell I can still quote word for word some of their theme songs. I'm a bear called Jeremy…I can do most anything. Ahem So at the end of the day, they serve their purpose. They are educational, fun and they have good intentions. Well, except for that freak Polkaroo. …but that's just my opinion. Piss off your pal! Send this article to a friend Got something to say about this article? Say it Here! or mail to michael@boldopinion.com Click here to see more articles by this Author!