I Love Trash

I will be 35 later this year, and so I was a preschooler in the grand old days when Sesame Street was golden and relatively new, and was really teaching kids how to read and be socially literate. You know, back when the show was vaguely “dangerous” because it was sort of gritty, and open, and full of characters with “personality disorders”? I was obsessed with the show. I had a Big Bird alarm clock (‘Wake up, Wake up, you sleepyhead! It’s time to get up, get out of bed!’). A blue furry Cookie Monster coat with googly eyes on the hood. And of course, books, an Ernie, and other toys.

My kids aren’t so much interested in Sesame Street most of the time. But when we watch it now, I always have this vaguely bland taste in my mouth, knowing how dilute it is compared to when I watched it as a child. Knowing that the corporate sponsorships of the show indicate the shift from educating urban children who might otherwise have preparation gaps, to entertaining affluent suburban children.

Like all public television programming today, Sesame Street and the Children’s Television Workshop mostly pay their own way compared to when I was young. The one major government grant of Sesame Street is “Ready to Learn Grant from the U.S. Department of Education,” a part of No Child Left Behind. But seriously, the curricular content of Sesame Street isn’t what it once was. Besides teaching me to read, I know friends who, along with their families, learned how to speak English by watching the show. I just don’t see how that would be possible now. Go watch it and tell me what you think.

But this is not about the state of public television in America, nor about Sesame Street in general. This is a post about Oscar the Grouch.

Here is his theme as I recall it:

“I love trash. Anything dingy or dirty or dusty. Anything ragged or wrinkled or rusty. Etc.”

I’m sure you can find the rest of it out there somewhere in the ether.

Oscar was of course that scruffy green monster from Sesame Street, who kept a pet worm (Slimy) and a pet elephant (I can’t recall the name) in his trash can home. Who growled at the kids, monsters, and muppets to be quiet anytime their jubilance got a little gagging. In promos now, Oscar is often compared to Simon on American Idol, that grouchy dude who we all love because he’s not really bad, he just has a different way of looking at the world and sharing his feelings about it. Ha.

Earlier this week, my Russian friend was telling me about her visit to a live Sesame Street show. One of those vaguely freaky affairs where the muppets are six-feet tall. She and her child liked the show and the different characters, but she didn’t understand Oscar. Wondered about the cultural significance and the value of a song about being grouchy and loving trash. “Is it good,” she wondered, “for kids to love trash and want to live in trash and be trashy? What is this Oscar all about?”

I laughed. Because I wasn’t really sure what to say to her at first.

So how would you explain Oscar to your Russian or Hindi or Martian friend?

Here are some possibilities:

—Oscar represents that part of us that doesn’t want to be polite or couth or tactful and simply speaks his mind when and how he wishes. He offers a counterpoint to the rest of the exceedingly polite and cute muppets. And while he’s not always gentle, he’s not entirely outside the realm of acceptable behavior. Being in touch with your grouchy side is not a bad thing.

—On the issue of trash, Oscar was recycling way back in the day. Back before anyone even talked about recycling, let alone did it at the curb. He saw the value in things that were cast off by other people.

— (I think this is a corollary to my first idea) Oscar represents that part of all of us that likes to get dirty, muddy, and grungy. Who isn’t afraid to put a swimming pool in the living room and go swimming with an elephant.

—Oscar, though his identity deviates from the muppet norm, is confident and firm in his self-identity and the way he wants to live his life. He shows kids that not everybody has to be like Elmo or Ernie. The way the other muppets treat Oscar (generally they greet him with good-natured laughter and love, and rarely get ruffled by his gruffness) also demonstrates that it’s important to respect all of the different monsters in your life.

What do you think? Whither goest the cultural significance of The Grouch?

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[Drythe]

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Drythe