Dino Social Commentary - Who'd a thunk?
Do you remember the TV show Dinosaurs from the early 90s where folks put on big, heavy costumes and the faces move animatronically?
BRILLIANT.
It is a Jim Henson Production, which has such an excellent output. Their shows challenge children to think about bigger issues and make their programming enjoyable for adults as well. The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, The Storyteller, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth...
I thought this was just a childhood amusement, but I put in the DVDs today and was struck by the adult themes. Apparently, Jim Henson wrote out the ideas for the show, but died before he could make them a reality.
First, it's amazing how the dinos eat live food and their food talk to them. "Go ahead, eat me." Or philosophize. Or give orders. Or talk back in angry tones.
Robbie, teenage son of the Sinclairs, provides some of the most interesting material of the series. He is a fun-loving, awkward youth who likes to hit on the girls and go out with the guys to "mark some territory." He wears a letterman jacket and has a mohawk. Though under pressure to "be a man," he questions everything. He attempts to become an herbivore, much to the shame of his family, and takes his mother's side in that women are equal partners. He tries to rescue his grandmother from an archaic ritual of tossing geriatrics into the tar pits on their 72nd birthday. He creates a pulley system for more efficient tree-knocking and designs a "green," totally efficient energy source that the large corporations manage to sabotage. He is the voice of dissent who will say, "Things don't have to be this way."
Of particular interest is the episode where Monica takes up a job as a tree-pusher and meets up with Al "Sexual" Harris as her foreman. He is master of innuendo. On Monica's first day on the job, he tells her, "I could jump onto your scales and you can tell me how much I weigh."
When Monica tells him "No," she is immediately fired.
The Sinclair daughter comes home, upset because the boys ate her astronomy project and told her to keep her nose out of the universe. Spurred on by the unfairness of the world, Monica demands a hearing.
"What kind of underwear are you wearing?" one of the male committee members ask.
"I don't know what that has to do about anything."
"If you knew, you'd be male!" they all laugh.
The Sinclair family watch as their mother's friend is sexually belittled on television by the committee. They call her out as a prostitute and a woman with loose morals.
The daughter is angered by the blatant sexism. "Males are never going to give us great jobs like tree-pushers or astronomers. We're going to have to take them!"
After being told it won't be easy, "But I think we can get males to treat us like equals. We're an advanced society. How long could this possibly take?"
LMAO.
Or Robbie saying, "Last year was 61 million BC, now it's 60 million BC. Why are we counting down? What are we waiting for?" XD
Or "Wives don't work! If they did, THEY'D BE HUSBANDS."
Or a TV program with sock puppets where the Argyle sock is Scottish and the skanks come in and the parents exclaim "You brought the hose??" (hos - they were fishnet hose puppets) LMAO.
Or their zoo with two cavemen, Ling and Ching, who for some reason will not mate. They suspect one of them is barren. (But we can see that they are actually both men)
BRILLIANT.
It is a Jim Henson Production, which has such an excellent output. Their shows challenge children to think about bigger issues and make their programming enjoyable for adults as well. The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, The Storyteller, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth...
I thought this was just a childhood amusement, but I put in the DVDs today and was struck by the adult themes. Apparently, Jim Henson wrote out the ideas for the show, but died before he could make them a reality.
First, it's amazing how the dinos eat live food and their food talk to them. "Go ahead, eat me." Or philosophize. Or give orders. Or talk back in angry tones.
Robbie, teenage son of the Sinclairs, provides some of the most interesting material of the series. He is a fun-loving, awkward youth who likes to hit on the girls and go out with the guys to "mark some territory." He wears a letterman jacket and has a mohawk. Though under pressure to "be a man," he questions everything. He attempts to become an herbivore, much to the shame of his family, and takes his mother's side in that women are equal partners. He tries to rescue his grandmother from an archaic ritual of tossing geriatrics into the tar pits on their 72nd birthday. He creates a pulley system for more efficient tree-knocking and designs a "green," totally efficient energy source that the large corporations manage to sabotage. He is the voice of dissent who will say, "Things don't have to be this way."
Of particular interest is the episode where Monica takes up a job as a tree-pusher and meets up with Al "Sexual" Harris as her foreman. He is master of innuendo. On Monica's first day on the job, he tells her, "I could jump onto your scales and you can tell me how much I weigh."
When Monica tells him "No," she is immediately fired.
The Sinclair daughter comes home, upset because the boys ate her astronomy project and told her to keep her nose out of the universe. Spurred on by the unfairness of the world, Monica demands a hearing.
"What kind of underwear are you wearing?" one of the male committee members ask.
"I don't know what that has to do about anything."
"If you knew, you'd be male!" they all laugh.
The Sinclair family watch as their mother's friend is sexually belittled on television by the committee. They call her out as a prostitute and a woman with loose morals.
- Percentage of Pangaeans who believe Monica Devertebrae: 18%
- Percentage of angry, resentful males who failed to get dates in High School and somehow blame Monica: 63%
- Percentage of self-loathing, insecure females who want to see successful females fail so that everyone can be as miserable as they are: 82%
The daughter is angered by the blatant sexism. "Males are never going to give us great jobs like tree-pushers or astronomers. We're going to have to take them!"
After being told it won't be easy, "But I think we can get males to treat us like equals. We're an advanced society. How long could this possibly take?"
LMAO.
Or Robbie saying, "Last year was 61 million BC, now it's 60 million BC. Why are we counting down? What are we waiting for?" XD
Or "Wives don't work! If they did, THEY'D BE HUSBANDS."
Or a TV program with sock puppets where the Argyle sock is Scottish and the skanks come in and the parents exclaim "You brought the hose??" (hos - they were fishnet hose puppets) LMAO.
Or their zoo with two cavemen, Ling and Ching, who for some reason will not mate. They suspect one of them is barren. (But we can see that they are actually both men)