When we were talking in class about the sexist and racist undertones that we never noticed in Disney movies as children, I started thinking about a lot of television shows I watched as a child that contained other content that is not really appropriate for their target audiences. I thought of “Rugrats” in particular. I’m sure most of you are familiar with it and probably watched it as a kid. It’s a show about babies who can talk to each other and follows storylines for both the babies and their parents.
I used to watch this show all the time as a child; I even had all the holiday specials on VHS. I remember flipping through the channels when I was randomly up at 6 am on a Saturday a few years ago and stopping on Nickelodeon to watch an episode. It was “A Visit from Lipschitz,” in which the child psychologist Dr. Lipschitz comes over to the Pickles’ house for dinner and the babies think he’s a “mommy.” The first thing I remember being shocked at was the fact that they named this doctor “Lipschitz” and that I hadn’t made any sort of connection to the implications of that name when I was younger. Basically everything he says and writes is ridiculous; everything that comes out of his lips is made up shit, so to speak. For example, he gives advice about tying a bib that satirizes some of the more outrageous claims that baby raising books have: “tie it too tightly, and you’re depriving the baby of its emotional freedom. But tie it too loosely, and you deny him the firmness of your love. Either way the damage could be irreparable.” As a young child watching this show, I never connected the name with the bs advice he gives in countless episodes; however if I were a parent, I don’t know if I would feel comfortable with my children being exposed to these double entendres in a kid’s show. They even have the babies try to figure out what a “Lipschitz” is and wonder about the person behind the name.
That’s where the stereotypes about the parental role in the family also comes into play. Didi (the mom) is excited for Lipschitz to come over for dinner and spends time preparing the house and the meal, as Stu, Chas, and Grandpa all look for an excuse to ditch the dinner and go to a baseball game, suggesting that it is the woman’s role to entertain and to take care of the children, as the fathers participate in stereotypical “men” activities. Tommy and Chuckie assume that Lipschitz is a “mommy” because he does “everything the mommy is supposed to do, like put on your bib, and cut your vegetables, and he’s got bottles and diapers in his purse.” Even from the babies’ perspectives, it is clear that in this show, the role of the mother is stereotypical and is the only one involved with childcare. Again, this is something I didn’t notice when I was young. However I doubt I would be comfortable instilling these values in the young children who watch the show. Without realizing it, they adopt these notions and values that are sexist and play off of social norms that are not necessarily the case.
Below are two YouTube links to this episode. If you’re looking to kill 11 minutes, you should watch it. It’ll bring you back to your childhood for a bit and make you realize what you were exposed to as a young and innocent child watching Saturday morning cartoons.
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