Katy Perry song banned from Sesame Street Season 41

[Animal31]

All it is was jealous moms complaining who wish they looked like that, I guess they'll be banning Wonder Woman as well............

 

[matleo]

as usual, well put DW. I agree completely.

--Matt

 

[Drtooth]

Can someone PLEASE tell me how her dress is ANY Different from anything anyone else is wearing in real life right now? And AGAIN it's not just the dress, it's the combination of that and the fact she's an adult's musician with adult lyrics. And this, for the hundredth time is not a detailed, organized letter writing campaign. These are Youtube comments. And with the wave of bitter losers angry at the wrong people, comments on EVERYTHING are basically just to drum up more angry rage at the wrong people. And this smacks of "Look what happened when a Democrat gets in the white house" or "why can't we go to the fifties where we WEREN'T afraid of stuff" (you were). SS already has the "evil liberal brainwashing cult" thing for not liking Fox News, I guess they were too afraid of more fatso loudmouths saying "Oh.. look what PBS is doing again! I say we pull funding and kill some women and children in another part of the world."

I'm sorry, but I've said it before and I'll say it again... this country has one of the strictest, most ridiculous rules and regulations for kid's programming right up their with the UK (for the stunt they pulled with Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles) and I'm sure some Middle Eastern countries. We can't show death or even mention it in an action TVY7 show for example. Not even if it's integral to the plot. I hate to play the Japan card again, but for the longest time they showed actual topless women (for albeit comedic effect) in kiddy shows. They don't anymore, of course... but we're upset over a person wearing a fairly obvious body suit? I don't see why they just don't pull a 4Kids and graphically alter an obvious looking fix. it's not that they don't have the technology.

And if we listened to every nagging comment, Sesame Street wouldn't be anything but Elmo staring at the viewer for an hour not saying anything. People get offended too easily. Yes, I'm sure as a parent blah blah blah... but how then do you deal with actual people on the street dressed less than that? We got low rise pants out there. Some people with NO way to even pull it off. it's a simple matter of reality. They aren't purposely trying to sexualize anything, and SW clearly argued her down to a body suit giving a "Okay, this is absolutely ludicrous, but if you insist." If she were bumping and grinding with Elmo and the word on the street was motorboat, THEN I'd agree. Kids are JUST going to stay fixed on Elmo. They will. If the Pope was their, kids would stare at Elmo.

 

[zns]

It is kind of a shame, but it's probably better to be safe than sorry.

 

[matleo]

Can someone PLEASE tell me how her dress is ANY Different from anything anyone else is wearing in real life right now?

The main difference is that it's on a children's tv show. A show that I feel comfortbaly watchign with my daughter and can leave for a minute to run to the bathroom, get a drink of water, change the laundry without having to worry about what my daughter will be exposed too. And while there is a 'mesh top' , it doesn't really hide or cover anything. The outfit is, in my opinion, inappropriate for the show.

Also, if you're going to complain about how people dress (or don't dress) nowadays you've got to look at where we're given the standard that dressing like a tramp is is 'ok' and like I said, that's hard enough for a parent as it is.

And AGAIN it's not just the dress, it's the combination of that and the fact she's an adult's musician with adult lyrics.

I haven't see anyone whose said that aside from here on the forum where people have put words in the mouths of those complaining or made general assumptions about the people who are complaining (bitter women who don't look like that, nannies and grannies, who don't look like that, leftist cultists who don't look like that, etc.). Personally I have no problem with the fact that she was on the show. Sesame has always worked with the top talents in the industry and that's fine.

And this, for the hundredth time is not a detailed, organized letter writing campaign. These are Youtube comments. And with the wave of bitter losers angry at the wrong people, comments on EVERYTHING are basically just to drum up more angry rage at the wrong people. And this smacks of "Look what happened when a Democrat gets in the white house" or "why can't we go to the fifties where we WEREN'T afraid of stuff" (you were). SS already has the "evil liberal brainwashing cult" thing for not liking Fox News, I guess they were too afraid of more fatso loudmouths saying "Oh.. look what PBS is doing again! I say we pull funding and kill some women and children in another part of the world."

ok, you lost me, I don't know what most of this has to do with Katy Perry's cleavage and again I think you make a few too many assumptions about who's complaining and why. Again, this isn't some political group. These are parents. Having said that, I need to wrap this up, my daughter is screaming for some to take her outside to play with her and is (not kidding) as we speak pointing at the computer and yelling at me.

--Matt

 

[Drtooth]

I'm sorry if I sound argumentative, but again... I HATE the idea of unnecessary censorship and all this "Won;t someone think of the children" stuff. it's been plaguing the series for years, and it's the reason why we have disclaimers saying that everything's inappropriate because it doesn't treat kids like the pampered suburbanites that wasn't even the show's main focus.

Now, considering there are 3 major points I'm making, I'm gonna really have to sell them.

The Dress is an issue, sure, but make no mistake, they also complained about the lyrics. It's BOTH those things. And I find it super hypocritical that the same parents will run out and buy Kids Bop versions of the same songs. Lesse... they let Beyonce on the show, and in one of her videos she danced so explicitly that I can't even finish the story. And not only did they not delete the clip permanently, it's been on every single DVD release to date. And even if the dress is still an issue (though, frankly, I saw more cleavage on puppets used on the show... no kidding, wish I had an example though) it can always beGRAPHICALLY ALTERED for the broadcast. it's not going to air for several months yet. Though, I honestly find the Desperate Houseplants skit a little more questionable. And no one mentioned Narf saying "Furry Triangle Feel Good?" Again, I'd all agree IF there was no body suit and if there was a clip of Elmo saying "Ooh! Can Elmo Feel Katy up?" Again Graphically alter the sketch and it's completely safe.

This isn't a well crafted thoughtful complaint campaign by an organized parental group, but rather internet comments. If it were an organized group, I'd still be miffed, but they're at LEAST organized. If you are not familiar with what I'm really getting at look up any Youtube video. Heck, I'm sure they got a fun bunch of complaints from the first lady appearing last season too. I did a Youtube Poop of the How Milk is Made segment, and I got a Food Inc rambling I was this close to deleting. You don't even have to go to Youtube. Yahoo. Look at ANY given news story and there's nothing but political rhetoric, even if the subject is "What city has the best Burgers?" Above all if internet comments actually meant a dang, well... I'd hate to live in that world. The internet is the exchange of ideas... and some ideas are best kept in private. I'm sure a GOOD number of the commentators on that video didn't even watch it and just wanted to blow some smoke. And that's not even the people who rate videos bad just for the sake of rating them bad.

And above all You can't censor reality, and honestly, that can mess a child up more. Sure, I don't like the fact that some girls wear band aids over their worst bits, but at least we're not wearing full body gear. No matter how hard you try to hide swearing from your kid, someone's gonna drop a hammer on their foot and let them fly. And why is it that more focus and pressure goes into making sure we never see a gun on Batman than we do getting them out of the hands of gangs (we've got a horrible gang problem in parts of Boston. Hearing about violence is a constant on the evening news). Sure, we can claim safe haven as much as we want. But who are we kidding? Didn't we have 3 year olds watching Britney bump and grind, playing with Bratz and singing "All the Single Ladies?" Didn't we just come out of the "sexualize girls who didn't develop" stage anyway? I'm glad that changed and all, but kids really have NO idea what they're doing until about age 6. And I'm sure the outfit in question is still a full body suit compared to what half of little girls are still wearing. Fix reality first, THEN whine about television. I'm sure you'll have a fun hundred years fixing all of that.

Above all

GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE
GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE
GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE
GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE
GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE
GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE
AND
GRAPHICALLY ALTER THE FOOTAGE

And everything will be fine.

 

[Oscarfan]

I don't really know how they'd be able to do that. If you're referring to 4Kids Cartoons, then those are easier to alter. If anything, they could blur the area, but then that'll look weird. They do it on PS with logos on shirts and such.

 

[StreetScenes]

sigh. my two cents: they shouldn't ban it, but they shouldn't have made it like that either.


SW is spineless and pandering to the most shallow adults to ban a video because of some youtube comments...but they made the darned video in the first place because they are spineless and pandering to the most shallow adults to try to convince them that the show is trendy enough to show their kids.

in addition to spoofing the current trends, Sesame Street used to do spoofs of 20s through 60s celebrities/songs too, and have celebrity guests of wider renown, and from a wider range of professions. now they stick mostly to the flavor of the week.

look at the celebrity list for this season. almost all actors in recent tv shows or movies aimed at a young audience (therefore i've never heard of half of them). a couple of comedians, a journalist & a football player. for musicians it's katy perry, the run dmc guy & someone from american idol.

no classical, jazz, folk, or rock musicians, no painters or sculptors, no theater actors, no dancers, no tennis players, no gymnasts, no architects or gardeners or animal tamers, no [insert interesting profession here]. there are only two celebrities of an older generation or who transcend generation (run & mckean). and they're mostly not being used in creative ways, either--they're almost all the word of the day, & which neither spoofs nor showcases what they're known for--it can be done by anyone. so they pick a bunch of b-list actors who are currently enjoying their 15 minutes of fame.

and this is the way they promote it, too. they think they need to convince grownups of the parenting age that the show is still hip, and that it's still the same cool-for-adults-too show as always but still has contemporary relevance. so they point to the celebrity guests & the spoofs, and how current they are. um...so? doesn't mean they're good. & it doesn't mean parents & kids wouldn't watch a less mainstream celebrity...

it seems like they used to start with the education goal and think of a play on words that they could use as a spoof, no matter when the movie or song was from, no matter if anybody watching would get the joke. now they think they need to pack the celebrity list with trendy people (at the expense of their own characters...for crying out loud, there's more celebrities than episodes, and yet how often do we get to see the regular characters?)

so they try too hard to pick trendy celebrities, and dress them in trendy outfits, and do trendy dances with elmo. they go overboard and it gets a little inappropriate. but all they can think about is how it's going to get shallow trendy young parents to think it's a cool show. then people complain, rightly about the outfit in my opinion but wrongly about the content of the song. so they pull it, because that's what the trendy youtube commenting bloggers want, and for gosh sakes, they've got to be trendy.

when you try to be cool, you just look like an idiot. when you just be yourself, people will like you. especially if you're as talented & creative as the collective team that makes sesame street is. for heaven's sake, i wish they'd take a lesson from their own book on this one, and write for themselves again, and air whatever they want, without worrying about whether people will think they're cool enough for today's audience. they will be if they stop tryng so hard.

 

[MelissaY1]

I also think people whining about the dress is ridiculous. Yes, she showed some cleavage, but it wasn't anything extravagant. The clothes they have for kids today are ridiculous, and I'm sure some (and I say some, not all) of the parents out there who are complaining are the same ones will buy their kids a midriff top or something that makes them look like those tortured children on Little Miss Perfect.

And like Dr. Tooth said, some of the other guest stars on Sesame Street have worn far worse than what Katy Perry wore. And maybe my Raquel Welch/Muppet Show example was not the best for this situation, but I still think it poses a good point. While Muppet Show wasn't geared towards kids specifically, a big part of the audience was kids, and I'm sure CBS didn't get complaints back then from angry parents that their kids saw a little leg and FAR more cleavage than Katy did.

I WILL agree though with those on here who are saying if it was going to be even a slight problem, who okayed it behind the scenes?

And in the case of the Chris Brown episode being kicked out, that I was glad because to show that would've been promoting a jerk who abused his girlfriend. Katy Perry is singing songs...and that's pretty much it.

 

[minor muppetz]

Lesse... they let Beyonce on the show, and in one of her videos she danced so explicitly that I can't even finish the story. And not only did they not delete the clip permanently, it's been on every single DVD release to date.

Wait, were you making a theoretical scenario, or was Beyonce really on the show (I haven't heard anything, but I don't really care if she's on the show or not)? I especially don't know of her being on every Sesame Street DVD (nothing is on every DVD release, even if they are frequently released).