Friday, October 09, 2009

The Muppets Take Ramallah


The New York Times ran a fascinating article about the continuing attempts to make a tenable Palestinian version of Sesame Street.  Here's a link.  Sesame Street has been making contextualized versions of their show for a lot of years... including locally produced segments, Muppets unique to their version of the show, and characters interacting with issues and themes that children in that culture may face.  As you can imagine, doing all these things and also sticking to Sesame Street's values of education and tolerance can be complex, especially in war zones and the third world.  In any case, it's an interesting article that is worth your time.

Now, if you're saying, Matt, I am sick of you putting links to articles from the NYT, I want something a little less meaty and a little more based on grown up fans of the muppets discussing trivia, puppeteers, history, comics, et cetera, then say no more.  You should go visit Tough Pigs.  And now I have done my good deed for the day.  I intend to celebrate by refusing to help an old lady cross the street.

2 comments:

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  2. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing it. Puppets are serious business. It is amazing to think of the stress that children live with on a daily basis in that part of the world. So far from our world... It is probably why we are so much better at silliness. It is a luxury that we enjoy. I am sure they would never see the point of "You've Got to Put the Duckie Down if You Want to Play the Saxophone".

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