So, a little bothered
Caught the tail end of Dora the Explorer as I changed the channel last night. Normally, we don't watch the show; it's badly animated and the voices annoy me. But what surprised and bothered me was this - a little before the end, the show's villian character fell down a small cliff, and landed at the bottom saying "ouch" and rubbing his head. At the end, this exchange occurred:
Dora: What was your favorite part today? *pause for kid to reply to TV* Yeah, I liked that too! Boots, what was your favorite part?
Boots: When Swiper fell down the cliff, haha!
Dora: Haha, yeah! My favorite part was ...
I paused and went "Did I really just hear that right?" Perhaps I'm being oversensitive here, but that felt like tacit approval, by a character many children like, for laughing when someone gets hurt. Yes, it's the villain character, yes, he walked away from it, but that's a pretty negative message to be presenting, and it goes past so fast that there's no time to really think about it. As an adult, I can catch things like that and say "Wait, that's not cool," but a small child is probably just going to absorb it without realizing its content.
Well, I guess there's one more reason not to watch Dora. :|
Dora: What was your favorite part today? *pause for kid to reply to TV* Yeah, I liked that too! Boots, what was your favorite part?
Boots: When Swiper fell down the cliff, haha!
Dora: Haha, yeah! My favorite part was ...
I paused and went "Did I really just hear that right?" Perhaps I'm being oversensitive here, but that felt like tacit approval, by a character many children like, for laughing when someone gets hurt. Yes, it's the villain character, yes, he walked away from it, but that's a pretty negative message to be presenting, and it goes past so fast that there's no time to really think about it. As an adult, I can catch things like that and say "Wait, that's not cool," but a small child is probably just going to absorb it without realizing its content.
Well, I guess there's one more reason not to watch Dora. :|