6 ms·
The fascist state of Paw Patrol (2021)
- jruohonen 3y ago"All of this no doubt is taking a bunch of magenta pixels too seriously." Yes, it might indeed be so.
- hutzlibu 3y agoOn the other hand, those pixels and their message are, what gets ingrained into the next generation. So I do think, one should them take seriously. And personally I don't like Paw Patrol for my kids either, but I don't think it is that bad and the article blownup hyperbole. (also factual wrong, there is agriculture and production getting shown, but there are also worse things to criticize)
- Quinzel 3y agoPaw Patrol is so shit, I had to study it in my undergrad forensic psychology course: https://www.docdroid.net/Oq00TE7/1741659020903700-pdf https://www.docdroid.net/Oq00TE7/1741659020903700-pdf And if you can’t be bothered reading an academic journal about it, this YouTube video really emphasises the issues quite well: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rwhUpu9MfZ0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rwhUpu9MfZ0
- vikramkr 3y agoSo the article in the post says paw patrol has no commerce, this paper says it's capitalist propaganda. So which is it? Socialist countries have oppressive police forces and incompetent administrators too.
- Quinzel 3y agoIt’s definitely post-colonial, neoliberal capitalist propaganda. However, I really had to study it deeply to come to that conclusion, because my initial thoughts was that it was overthinking of children’s television - but now I can understand that my very initial perspective was literally shaped by this neoliberal bullshittery.
- SturgeonsLaw 3y agoThis sort of thing has an impact. I grew up watching Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Roger Ramjet, and it moulded my opinion of the USA and the USSR
- TeMPOraL 3y agoNah, I'd stick with overthinking - I think that when you start stringing together phrases like "post-colonial, neoliberal capitalist" to describe a thing, you're way in the overthinking land (and/or trying to confuse your interlocutor with rhetoric).
- slim 3y agoyou just reacted to keywords with preprocessed refutal to a person claiming he had to put in effort to get out of precisely that behaviour. maybe you could use some introspection, self reflection and reading ?
- vikramkr 3y agoYeah, really had to study it is a great way of saying really had to confirmation bias my way into it. First time really hearing about this show and I'm trying to find real examples of pro-laizzes-faire propaganda or facial or anything but all I'm getting is that people definitely thought real hard about this, pinky promise. I mean seriously this article is arguing that a show that shows authority figures are corrupt and incompetent is fascist. That's not like a counterexample to the claim in the article. The article claims that not blindly worshiping authority is fascist. Next thing I'll be reading that the show promotes unhealthy habits by showing the kid eating vegetables and getting exercise
- bogantech 3y agoJust reading the abstract my eyes rolled out of my head and down the hall
- Quinzel 3y agoHahaha that was my reaction the first time I read it.
- neilv 3y agoIronically, all those TV news program clips at the start of the YouTube video also look like performance intended to manipulate the viewer in what to think.
- appplication 3y agoI think that’s the point, to show exactly that.
- hutzlibu 3y ago" Specifically, the series implies that it is literal outsiders—migrants from near and far—who bring crime and disorder to Adventure Bay and threaten the residents’ idyllic life" That sounds bad, but the evil guy is a stereotype white capitalist with a melon and the good mayor is a women of color.
- Quinzel 3y agoMmmm but if you dig a little deeper you would see this is literally how we treat migrants from near and far in western society: https://www.nicholasdegenova.com/_files/ugd/4fd32d_2cb359fc9bf34d3fb21962591b5b32da.pdf#page=213 https://www.nicholasdegenova.com/_files/ugd/4fd32d_2cb359fc9... https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.359417087416006 https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.35941708741... https://theconversation.com/new-zealanders-have-a-right-to-be-angry-when-australia-deports-a-15-year-old-157583 https://theconversation.com/new-zealanders-have-a-right-to-b... *disclaimer: that’s about 2 hours worth of reading and one of the articles I couldn’t find free access to.
- hutzlibu 3y agoBut it has not the typical racist component, what one would think after reading your sentences. And whether banning foreign troublemakers is the wrong thing in general, is a quite lengthy discussion and not one I am willing to do here and now. (Because I don't think it is wrong in general, but I also don't think the Australian government is handling it fine)
- evan_ 3y agoMayor Goodway is portrayed as an incompetent, neurotic maniac.
- hutzlibu 3y agoOK, I have to say I couldn't bear myself to watch one full episode yet, but in my impression she was portrayed as the nice one, which also the name "Goodway" implies. (nice does not have to mean competent)
- justsomehnguy 3y agoAbout "10% of each episode is dedicated to them jumping into their voltron vehicles": it's the story as old as capitalism and it's the same reason you have those long transformations in Sailor Moon, to give an actual example, but it applies to all off the mill series in anime, western and 'western' cartoons too. The TV time is sold as slots (usually ~30m for animation), you can't buy some arbitrary amount of time - you buy the slot, you need a serious amount of money for the prime time slots; a TV show requires money (big amounts of money) for the every second produced; so it's the easiest way to lower amount of money spent per episode - animate once, show multiple times.
- vikramkr 3y agoSo apparently shows for little kids should have serialized plot lines with redemption arcs for villains, because kids are notoriously not lovers of repetitive stories and rewatching the same show dozens of times. Also in what universe is a show fascist for telling kids they shouldn't automatically trust the government and authority figures? That sounds like a great lesson. Just because someone is powerful doesn't mean they're right. But even though the show does the exact opposite thing I guess publish or perish, can't really blame authors for churning out the crap that sells even if not really that well thought through. Gotta get those clicks from the people receptive to those specific keywords in article headlines
- ryanmcdonough 3y agoThere are elections. There is farming. There is definitely commerce (restaurants and animal parlours). Only the dogs (and 1 cat) out of all the animals can speak so the chicken being unable to isn’t unusual. I think those were the main things said in that article and they were all incorrect. Source - a parent who watched them with their child.
- jclulow 3y agoAlso, an apparently nostalgia-rich rose coloured recollection of the artistic expression present in earlier hand-animated cartoons that I suspect would not stand up to serious scrutiny.
- hutzlibu 3y agoI had to forbid Tom and Jerry to my toddler. It is just 95% violence, various forms of hitting someone on the head. And after my boy mimicked this behavior to his sister ... I stopped this good old times cartoon.
- n3storm 3y agoYou let them watch Tom and Jerry in the first because you never saw them or because you never saw The Simpsons? Glad you made the right move anyway :)
- hutzlibu 3y agoWell, I am quite liberal by default and think children can handle way more, than most adults realize ... so he can discover what he likes and he liked Tom and Jerry, but there are certain limits of what is healthy and what is depicted as normal behavior. So bybye Tom and Jerry and Minions. And the normal paw patrol behavior is mostly trying to figure out problems with the help of technology. So I think that is allright, even though the social interactions could be way better.
- enqk 3y agoAs a child owning a cat, I could not stand watching Tom and Jerry because it was just mean.
- dankle 3y agoIs this real or is the author just trolling?
- catlover76 3y agoIt is real
- anhner 3y agoHave people lost the ability to detect sarcasm?
- mmahemoff 3y agoMany have and there seem to be cultural differences about this. In any event, the modern internet incentivises outlandish positions sincerely held. Thus sarcasm is indistinguishable from what is presented as a genuine (even if insane) belief (Poe's Law).
- Faint 3y agoHave people ever had the ability detect sarcasm?
- uoaei 3y agoIf we accept that kids are impressionable, it stands to reason that we should be impressing them with things that will help their development. Is blind faith and dependence on eccentric billionaires and an omniscient police state responding to every minor disruption something we want to teach our kids?
- a_nar 3y agoEither this is a magnificent piece of irony or...
- resolutebat 3y agoRelevant and IMHO much better written: The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends” (2017) https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-repressive-authoritarian-soul-of-thomas-the-tank-engine-and-friends https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-repressiv... (or https://archive.is/fjvJM https://archive.is/fjvJM)
- Joeri 3y agoWorse than Paw Patrol is Thomas the Tank Engine, a show about mentally handicapped trains forced by a literal monopoly guy into hard labor, with the threat of imprisonment or disassembly looming over those who refuse to obey. Just go read the plot of the Sad Story of Henry and know it is just one of many bleak episodes: https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sad_Story_of_Henry https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sad_Story_of_Henry
- lliamander 3y agoYou could also explain The Wizard of Oz as "young girl travels to a foreign land and kills the first person she meets. She then teams up with three strangers to kill again" The purpose of Thomas the Tank Engine is not to speculate on the ramifications of living in a world with sentient trains like some weird sci-fi novel. You are welcome to write that if you want, but fat chance producing something kids will enjoy. Thomas the Tank Engine exists to delight children with the mystique of steam engines, and to provide the back drop for simple lessons on pro-social behavior that children can understand.
- rewmie 3y ago> Thomas the Tank Engine exists to delight children with the mystique of steam engines, and to provide the back drop for simple lessons on pro-social behavior that children can understand. It's kind of weird seeing someone claim "lessons on pro-social behavior" in a direct reply to a quote on how the show depicts immurement as a reaction to refusing direct orders from the company owner.
- nvm0n2 3y agoThe lesson it's supposed to teach is to be helpful to others, and that disobedience can lead to punishment. A fairly basic part of parenting, employment, fighting in the military or many other things that boys grow up to do.
- rewmie 3y ago> The lesson it's supposed to teach is to be helpful to others, and that disobedience can lead to punishment. Unquestionable obedience to the company owner under the threat of immurement is not a basic part of parenting. I also question how formatting our children to unquestionably accept fighting and dying in armed conflicts as being healthy and in their best interests. The Fascist motto was “believe, obey, fight.” It is in line with the ideas you're trying to pass off as good parenting.
- Tao3300 3y ago> cars, trucks, boats, aeroplanes, submarines, and even, insanely, a recycling van Once again, Zuma and his hovercraft are overlooked. SMH
- askiiart 3y agoAnd Rider's ATV is very cool, it can transform its wheels to turn into a hovercraft, Mario Kart 8-style.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoWait until they read/watch Thomas the Tank Engine, a kids story centered around slavery, anti-communism, and anti-labor unions.
- catlover76 3y agoI've never seen Paw Patrol, but based on what I can deduce of its premise, complaining that "emergency services seem to be the only thing going on in this horrifying world" sounds like complaining that idiots trying to commit crimes is all that ever goes on in the world of the show Cops, or that the only things that seem to exist for the hosts of Top Gear are cars.
- IshKebab 3y agoYou are correct. And also lucky for never having had to watch it!
- hawski 3y agoPaw Patrol is a show where first a toy company made a line of toys and then wanted to have a show that would go with it. It is one big commercial for toys. There is not much of a redeeming value left. When my daughter was watching the show she was always hyped up it is far too engaging for younger viewers and too basic for older viewers. For family viewing I can recommend Octonauts - it is delightful for all ages.
- brendamn 3y agoI have a theory that someone found a bunch of cheap generic toys (vehicles, dogs, etc) and realised they could sell a lot of them if they slapped a logo on the side and made a cheap, below average cartoon that showed them to kids. I’m almost certain that there are other examples of this too.
- despideme 3y agoThis is exactly what Transformers were in the 1980s: pre-existing Japanese toys whose existence had nothing to do with the retconned “Autobots vs. Decepticons” cartoon plot. That was invented to drive the toys into the American market.
- justsomehnguy 3y ago> PAW Patrol is a Canadian computer-animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman and produced by Spin Master Entertainment, with animation provided by Guru Studio > Spin Master Corp. is a Canadian multinational children's toy and entertainment company Sorry, but in this case they are designed in concert: shitty toys and a cartoon to advert^W sell these shitty toys.
- whelp_24 3y ago>...a toy company made a line of toys and then wanted to have a show that would go with it. That's true of Transformers a bunch of other shows. Sometimes it's good
- hawski 3y ago
- locallost 3y agoOne thing that I definitely agree with from the article is that the quality in everything is much lower than it used to be. The cheap 3d visuals aside, the storylines, the dialogues etc. are so basic and crude. My daughter likes Fireman Sam and it's just so bad. It could be that previously nobody made something specifically for 4 year olds. I don't know. Someone mentioned Thomas the Tank Engine - I was stunned how bad it was when I first saw it.
- hutzlibu 3y ago"Fireman Sam and it's just so bad" Huh? What is so bad about it? It is simple, but not bad. It is a kids show, not deeply philosophical adult entertainment. It shows how easy and badly things can go wrong while playing and what the firemen will do to solve it. My only critic with the show would be, that often problems could be solved way quicker, by the ordinary people, but everyone MUST call firemen sam as the first thing and then helplessly wait, till he arrives. But apart from that, I liked it waaay more, than paw patrol.
- locallost 3y agoIf that's the threshold than almost anything is good. It doesn't need to be philosophical, but there's a difference in giving an effort in creating something or just chucking out content. All the dialogue is just so basic it's almost weird and like listening to aliens pretending to be human. When they get a phone in about a new case you first hear the problem, then it gets repeated word for word to the crew, a.k.a. the very cheap way to add 15 seconds of content with 0 effort.
- jeffreygoesto 3y agoThat repetition might also be there to extend the target age downwards?
- kofejnik 3y agoIn terms of story and dialogue, Peppa Pig is quite ok, as is Ben and Hollys little kingdom. Both British, of course :)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- irrational 3y agoPaw Patrol raise so many questions. What happened to the community that they have to rely on a 10 year old and his puppies to provide emergency service? Speaking of puppies, how are they kept permanently as puppies? Where does the 10 year old get the funding for their headquarters and vehicles?
- hutzlibu 3y agoIf realism is your critizism, you might also start with, since when can dogs speak and operate vecicles ...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- medo-bear 3y agoThere was also the theory that smurphs are communists https://time.com/5431298/are-the-smurfs-communist/ https://time.com/5431298/are-the-smurfs-communist/
- haunter 3y agoI grew up watching animes from the 70s-80s-90s when there was a push in Japan for adapting western books and stories. Moomin, Heidi, Nils Holgersson etc. But whenever I see these modern western animated shows… They look like fast food turned into cartoon. Probably has the same effect on kids’ brain too.
- BiteCode_dev 3y agoYeah, and looney toons are bullying apologists, pokemon is child endangerment and animal cruelty, batman beats people instead of creating a better world with his money... It's a kid show. Chill.
- galkk 3y agoAll jokes aside I also didn't like paw patrol and stopped showing it to daughter. Here are my reasons 1. The episodes are mostly non stop action where, without any reflection/ or slow pace. Also 0 teachings for viewers 2. All primary decisions made by Rider. Paws have 0 agency. ---- There are lots of criticisms of other media in this thread. I will add my 2 cents Superkitties. Every villain is justirier, just doesn't chose right approach. Even if they commit bad things one after another. And in the end of show moral of story is literally spelled out. Authors hammering it down too hard. Brer Rabbit stories by Joel Harris (old books). I started reading aloud to kiddo and stopped, as some stories are too cruel and unfair. The world is unfair, but this is too early for kiddos age.
- petesergeant 3y ago"Does Peppa Pig encourage inappropriate use of primary care resources?" https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5397 https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5397 > Conflicts of interest: None declared. It may look like my child is sponsored by Peppa Pig, but any claims to this effect are false.
- siquick 3y agoPeter Rabbit and his associates are the bad guys. Mr Macgregor, Mr Tod, and Old Brown are just trying to lead a simple quiet life but instead live under a reign of terror from the rabbit and squirrel gangs.
- vladms 3y agoI wonder what the author would say if he would view now a couple of the cartoons he saw as a child. When I stumbled upon an old cartoon I was seeing I was kind of amazed/put-off by how stupid it felt and how many "bad messages" (according to my standard now) I would see. I do not have much experience with the topic but my impression is that toddlers/kids experience things quite differently (ex: liking to see the same cartoon N times, with N rather large) so we should be careful when trying to draw conclusions about good and bad.
- AnonymousPlanet 3y agoTo be honest, I'm more worried about the influence the author's friends and parish have on his kids.
- koonsolo 3y agoMy daughter now loves Paw Patrol, and so did my other kids. They also love PJ Masks an Miraculous. If they enjoy it, they can watch it. If that show is the biggest problem in your life, you either have a fantastic life or you're focusing on the wrong thing. First world problems indeed.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoMy daughter loves it so much she screamed Paw Patrol first thing in the morning few times for last 2 weeks, which is wild and super concerning (and annoying). She pulled one of the happiest smiles when I said she'll get to watch Paw Patrol. And she only gets 1 hour of screen time per week. How the hell it's so addictive?
- TeMPOraL 3y ago> How the hell it's so addictive? Because it's not just your daughter that gets hooked up on it, but also nearly every kid in her daycare/kindergarten, every other kid she sees on the playground, etc. With so much Paw Patrol-branded merchandise everywhere, the show is stuck in the "pit of success", a self-reinforcing popularity loop. And that's on top of the show being heavily optimized for its audience.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoGood point. I don't see much of that merch, but one day she asked me to buy paw patrol wet bag, next day she ask for paw patrol skateboard. Maybe I should ask for it local giveaway groups.
- Ygg2 3y agoI'm reminded of the old joke when a critic looks at Mondrian's squares copycat at declares that artist is obviously suppressing his thoughts of incest with his sister. The tagline being "Sometimes our critique say more about us than the artists". I mean it takes some mental effort to look at Paw Patrol or Thomas the Tank engine and spit out Communist Manifesto.
- Ylpertnodi 3y agoFunny, you heard 'communist', yet i heard 'nazi'.
- Ygg2 3y agoI said Communist Manifesto not Communist. Communist aren't only people referring to it. So can antifa. They paint most their enemies as Nazis.
- drKarl 3y agoThis article seems to be written by a religious zealot, and the fact that the article opens mentioning his concern of whether or not his friends at church nod in approval or not about what he does is very telling. I have 2 young kids, and I select what they can watch. And I'm aware that when I was a kid I watched lots of violent shows like Tom and Jerry like someone else said, or even Dragon Ball which is a million times more violent, but I hesitate to let them watch other much more innocuous shows. I'm an atheist, so I'm not burdened with religious prejudices, and I'm very open minded, I think everyone has a right to sleep with and love whoever they want, and to identify themselves as whoever they want, I also think no one should be discriminated against because of their skin tone, nationality, beliefs, identity, disabilities or anything else. But I also understand the outrage against wokism. There is an episode in Ridley Jones which is a show for young kids, where there is a bison saying that it's non-binary and what are their preferred pronouns. This is completely unnecessary for the plot and those are subjects that go miles above the heads of the intended audience. Also in many of the latest Disney productions and other shows in Netflix there's been a lot of queer characters and gay/lesbian relationships, which is not necessarily a problem depending how it is treated, specially if the production is for teenagers and adults, but I think it's completely unnecessary and kind of force feeding to include that kind of topics in the shows for the youngest kids. That trend also brings us ludicrous contradictions like an upcoming version of Snow White and the 7 dwarves, which are not actually dwarves, I think there's maybe 1 dwarf only. Having said that, there's so many examples of religious extremisms taking things to the, erm, well, extremes. And I'm not going to even mention Muslim Theocracies because I think those are ultimate level of autocratic religion fuelled fascist regimes. But for example in Catholic Poland, the children's show Teletubbies was banned because they said the purple teletubbie was gay. I think there are lots of shows in Netflix that it would be wise to don't allow your kids to watch, depending on their age of course. But the concerns the article raises about Paw Patrol are honestly laughable. There's a lot of illogical things in kid's shows. Just look Spongebob Squarepants and you'll see that they're under the water but most of the time physics and everything else behaves as if they're not. In Paw Patrol I always asked myself how a 10 year old doesn't seem to have adult supervision and seems to have unlimited resources and money to fund his organization. But again, in this show puppies talk and can drive cars, so you can't expect it to be based on reality. Of course in this show there will always be some kind of trouble which the Paw Patrol will happily solve, but there wouldn't be much of a show if that wasn't the case, isn't it? I can think of many series I watched when I was a kid and teenager, that also show a different problem or villain in every episode, actually that's the case for a large number of series. Just think of those oldies Knight Rider, McGuiver, A Team... The same critiques applied to Paw Patrol in the article would applie to all of them. Also it calls the Mayor in Paw Patrol tyrannical when there's no evidence of repression or autocracy in the show, and I find it funny that he fantasizes with a resistance composed of poets and religious types. As if religious types weren't on the oppressing end of autocracies most of the time along history.
- snapplebobapple 3y agoI cant' tell if the author is radical leftist enough to be serious or if they are just aping the radical leftist thought process so well it seems that way....
- fourgreen 3y agoIf you want to see good children cartoons, try old Soviet ones. For instance "Grandmother's umbrella": https://youtu.be/pxgSvZoZoso https://youtu.be/pxgSvZoZoso Or "Ant's journey": https://youtu.be/l132u2nIpkI https://youtu.be/l132u2nIpkI Other ex-communist countries cartoons are also good: https://youtu.be/vgIHGmwHEsA https://youtu.be/vgIHGmwHEsA