5 ms·

Beside specific stories, there are two things in the general set up of Thomas that makes it IMO a toxic show. - The trains, who have children's minds, are unqu

by pygy_ 9y ago

Beside specific stories, there are two things in the general set up of Thomas that makes it IMO a toxic show. - The trains, who have children's minds, are unquestionably servile. They obey a pompous and capricious elite (humans) and the narrator goes along for the ride. Obeying is very important for Thomas (who's physically constrained to spend his life on rails). He'll do whatever is needed to stay in his master's good graces. It is the perfect show to condition child slaves into compliance. - The trains are racist, and it is normal and acceptable. Steam and Diesel engines loath one another. The show is presented from the steam team point of view, without an ounce of distance. The Diesels have inherent character flaws because of their engines. I just found a recent episode [1] where they kind of address that, but it is AFAICT a recent development. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YUoBOEsB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YUoBOEsB4

falsedan 9y ago
> The trains, who have children's minds, are unquestionably servile The trains, who have children's minds, are constantly breaking rules, forming petty cliques, tormenting each other, and ultimately getting some comeuppance. How could they be used to teach obedience if they never showed the folly of not following instructions??
- pygy_ 9y ago
  I didn't watch it as a kid, and only sampled a few episodes. From what I've seen, while they may break rules, they do so in order to comply with an order coming from the humans (or to fall into their good graces).
  - falsedan 9y ago
    That's not the case at all, Thomas is always doing things he shouldn't for fun, like disturbing sleeping trains (Gordon), winding up trains with remarks (also Gordon), passing warning boards in mines, and falling into subsiding mines[0]. Then there's not being nice to trucks, refusing to pull trucks, panicking from a near-collision and running away, ignoring advice from more-experiences engines and losing a head of steam, deliberately causing passengers to get wet, … The ones where they do as they're asked to are the minority… I don't recall any instances when an engine was directed to ignore a rule by a driver or the Fat Controller. 0: http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Down_the_Mine http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Down_the_Mine
    - pygy_ 9y ago
      > The ones where they do as they're asked to are the minority. As I told you I only sampled a few episodes (4-5), and servility and/or racism (Diesel) were present in most of them, without any distance or criticism. I'm glad there are other themes, but I don't want to watch every episode before I show them to my kids, so I avoid the series altogether. Edit: BTW, By Diesel, I meant Trucks, that's how they are called in the French translation.
gadders 9y ago
You say that steam engines not liking diesel engines is an example of racism? I guess that goes to show you can find racism everywhere if you look hard enough.
jawilson2 9y ago
I don't think it's racist, more classist. The "new" diesels are threatening to obsolete the older, dirtier, less efficient "steamies", the the steam engines understandably resent them for it. It reminds me more of the dynamic in The Office between the warehouse and office workers than anything to do with race.
- pygy_ 9y ago
  Tribalism due to physical traits.

by pygy_ 9y ago

falsedan 9y ago

> The trains, who have children's minds, are unquestionably servile The trains, who have children's minds, are constantly breaking rules, forming petty cliques, tormenting each other, and ultimately getting some comeuppance. How could they be used to teach obedience if they never showed the folly of not following instructions??

pygy_ 9y ago
I didn't watch it as a kid, and only sampled a few episodes. From what I've seen, while they may break rules, they do so in order to comply with an order coming from the humans (or to fall into their good graces).
- falsedan 9y ago
  That's not the case at all, Thomas is always doing things he shouldn't for fun, like disturbing sleeping trains (Gordon), winding up trains with remarks (also Gordon), passing warning boards in mines, and falling into subsiding mines[0]. Then there's not being nice to trucks, refusing to pull trucks, panicking from a near-collision and running away, ignoring advice from more-experiences engines and losing a head of steam, deliberately causing passengers to get wet, … The ones where they do as they're asked to are the minority… I don't recall any instances when an engine was directed to ignore a rule by a driver or the Fat Controller. 0: http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Down_the_Mine http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Down_the_Mine
  - pygy_ 9y ago
    > The ones where they do as they're asked to are the minority. As I told you I only sampled a few episodes (4-5), and servility and/or racism (Diesel) were present in most of them, without any distance or criticism. I'm glad there are other themes, but I don't want to watch every episode before I show them to my kids, so I avoid the series altogether. Edit: BTW, By Diesel, I meant Trucks, that's how they are called in the French translation.

gadders 9y ago

You say that steam engines not liking diesel engines is an example of racism? I guess that goes to show you can find racism everywhere if you look hard enough.

jawilson2 9y ago

I don't think it's racist, more classist. The "new" diesels are threatening to obsolete the older, dirtier, less efficient "steamies", the the steam engines understandably resent them for it. It reminds me more of the dynamic in The Office between the warehouse and office workers than anything to do with race.

pygy_ 9y ago
Tribalism due to physical traits.