The point of the post is "where it starts" as Wombat put in the tags. So it's not really far removed from the fairly broad domain of fuckery that we deal with, necessitating this blog. Here we have a parent who is making a mountain out of something much less than a molehill, and that parent will be emailing you one day about your condescending to his precious snowflake, and that precious snowflake is gonna be all up in your grill about any little thing that s/he doesn't like.
It's not altogether unrelated to the http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2011/08/interwebs-is-magic.html post we had the other day, where condescending professors have the nerve to claim any sort of 'authority' on anything.
I don't know -- the post seemed to be focusing more on the error tv shows (and movie franchises) often make that their viewers will not notice when a beloved character is replaced by someone vaguely similar-looking to the original.
The post linked here seemed to have a fair point. Don't you get bothered when they assume you're an idiot and won't notice the replacement?
I got it immediately. The blog-father says he doesn't "have the heart" to tell his confused daughter that the actress has been replaced by someone else. He also asks whether kids are expected to be as resilient as an earlier generation was when the actor playing Darrin on "Bewitched" was replaced by another actor without explanation. (I would add, and what about Jeremy on "The Partridge Family"? Did even his mother not see his complete facial transplant?)
Yes, Dad, kids should be that resilient. Yes, Dad, you should explain that TV is a business, that the show is make-believe, and that the previous actress was a person with her own life and concerns.
In other words, Dad, do not squander this golden opportunity to start teaching your daughter, nearly painlessly, that other people do not exist and behave solely for her benefit.
Her present and future teachers and professors will thank you.
And if the kid is too young to fully understand that the show is make-believe (and she may well be), then she probably shouldn't be watching much TV at all (and certainly not enough to be getting attached to the characters on the screen). Actually, I suspect she'd be perfectly happy if Daddy just popped in the DVD of the season that has characters with which she's already familiar, and replayed it ad infinitum (or nauseum, as the case may be). Novelty isn't really a selling point for young children; it's a marketing gimmick employed by and aimed at adults.
Which leads me to my preferred remedy: Daddy ought to turn off the TV and, in the time-honored parental tradition, get to work reading his daughter the same five books, over and over, with exactly the same funny voices, side comments, etc., for months on end. I'm not sure why this practice doesn't produce snowflakes, but it doesn't seem to. Maybe the parents have a strong incentive to teach the kid (or an older sibling, or the family dog) to read before they go absolutely screaming bonkers. Or maybe they find themselves wanting to hear "please" and "thank you" now and then. Regular contact with actual human beings who occasionally get tired and cranky (and don't switch moods no matter how much you click the remote) is a pretty good snowflake-prevention method, too.
I think people are making too strong of a connectionb between a single sentence in the much longer blog post and the problem of immature students caused by poor parenting. They really don't have that much in common.
It's by far the best post posted all day. At least someone is trying to keep the page alive. I LOVE this page and feel that it's mine, too, so don't just tell me I'm a troll.
Big ups to Wombath for at least posting something. I liked it!
Apparently, this is done all the time on Dr Who. The funny thing is that all the incarnations of the doctor start to "feel" the same although they are entirely different actors. I swear to God that David Tenant and Matt Smith are twins.
Anyway, my 'lil rustic college has a nursing program and we may go the direction of handing out passing grades before it's over with. The parents will pay for it in the end when they are in nursing homes and the people taking care of them are the same snowflakes that bitched and whined their way through college.
Think nursing homes and med facilities are bad now? You just wait. We are only scratching the surface.
@ EMH Actually, the character of the Doctor has gotten a lot better than his original incarnation, a cranky old space grandfather.
In the article, Mr. Twit asks about Chuck Cunningham, Ritchie's brother on "Happy Days", who walked up the stairway to his room and vanished, never to be brought up again. my response: this shit happens all the time on TV. On "Hogan's Heroes" the pilot originally had a Soviet POW as a tailor. When the show mnoved into production, that character vanished. Why? Beacuse the actor thought the whole concept of a sitcom in a WWII POW camp was disgraceful, and the writers dropped the character and moved on. Furthermore Ivan Dixon's "Cinchloe" character was not changed when he left the show in the late `60s and another black man took his place. Why? Lazy writing and the show as on autopilot by 1969.
"Keep your pants on kid; it's only a movie." - Ham Salad, "Hardware Wars"
"If you're wondering how we eat and breathe, and other science facts / Then remember it's just a TV show and you really should relax." -Love Theme from Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
@Cassandra: Right. Even "Make Way for Ducklings" got old on the 365th reading. Then we discovered audiobooks for kids. After an in-person bedtime story, out went the lights and in went the CD. My son could recite pages of "Charlotte's Web" in E.B. White's accent!
In the same vein, I would recommend for all parents the book, "I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy! Why You Shouldn't Say It, Why You Shouldn't Think It, What You Should Embrace Instead." Too many parents are actually afraid of telling their child "No."
I'm trying to find a .wav file for my wife's college students. It's Professor Snape telling Harry Potter, "Perhaps it has escaped your attention, but Life isn't fair."
I don't get this. What does this have to do with college? I know you see a connection, but could you explain?
ReplyDeleteAm I on the wrong blog? What the hell is going on?
ReplyDeleteThe point of the post is "where it starts" as Wombat put in the tags. So it's not really far removed from the fairly broad domain of fuckery that we deal with, necessitating this blog. Here we have a parent who is making a mountain out of something much less than a molehill, and that parent will be emailing you one day about your condescending to his precious snowflake, and that precious snowflake is gonna be all up in your grill about any little thing that s/he doesn't like.
ReplyDeleteIt's not altogether unrelated to the http://collegemisery.blogspot.com/2011/08/interwebs-is-magic.html
post we had the other day, where condescending professors have the nerve to claim any sort of 'authority' on anything.
I don't know -- the post seemed to be focusing more on the error tv shows (and movie franchises) often make that their viewers will not notice when a beloved character is replaced by someone vaguely similar-looking to the original.
ReplyDeleteThe post linked here seemed to have a fair point. Don't you get bothered when they assume you're an idiot and won't notice the replacement?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI got it immediately. The blog-father says he doesn't "have the heart" to tell his confused daughter that the actress has been replaced by someone else. He also asks whether kids are expected to be as resilient as an earlier generation was when the actor playing Darrin on "Bewitched" was replaced by another actor without explanation. (I would add, and what about Jeremy on "The Partridge Family"? Did even his mother not see his complete facial transplant?)
ReplyDeleteYes, Dad, kids should be that resilient. Yes, Dad, you should explain that TV is a business, that the show is make-believe, and that the previous actress was a person with her own life and concerns.
In other words, Dad, do not squander this golden opportunity to start teaching your daughter, nearly painlessly, that other people do not exist and behave solely for her benefit.
Her present and future teachers and professors will thank you.
And if the kid is too young to fully understand that the show is make-believe (and she may well be), then she probably shouldn't be watching much TV at all (and certainly not enough to be getting attached to the characters on the screen). Actually, I suspect she'd be perfectly happy if Daddy just popped in the DVD of the season that has characters with which she's already familiar, and replayed it ad infinitum (or nauseum, as the case may be). Novelty isn't really a selling point for young children; it's a marketing gimmick employed by and aimed at adults.
ReplyDeleteWhich leads me to my preferred remedy: Daddy ought to turn off the TV and, in the time-honored parental tradition, get to work reading his daughter the same five books, over and over, with exactly the same funny voices, side comments, etc., for months on end. I'm not sure why this practice doesn't produce snowflakes, but it doesn't seem to. Maybe the parents have a strong incentive to teach the kid (or an older sibling, or the family dog) to read before they go absolutely screaming bonkers. Or maybe they find themselves wanting to hear "please" and "thank you" now and then. Regular contact with actual human beings who occasionally get tired and cranky (and don't switch moods no matter how much you click the remote) is a pretty good snowflake-prevention method, too.
I think people are making too strong of a connectionb between a single sentence in the much longer blog post and the problem of immature students caused by poor parenting. They really don't have that much in common.
ReplyDeleteIt's by far the best post posted all day. At least someone is trying to keep the page alive. I LOVE this page and feel that it's mine, too, so don't just tell me I'm a troll.
ReplyDeleteBig ups to Wombath for at least posting something. I liked it!
Apparently, this is done all the time on Dr Who. The funny thing is that all the incarnations of the doctor start to "feel" the same although they are entirely different actors. I swear to God that David Tenant and Matt Smith are twins.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, my 'lil rustic college has a nursing program and we may go the direction of handing out passing grades before it's over with. The parents will pay for it in the end when they are in nursing homes and the people taking care of them are the same snowflakes that bitched and whined their way through college.
Think nursing homes and med facilities are bad now? You just wait. We are only scratching the surface.
Lord have mercy on us.
@ EMH
ReplyDeleteActually, the character of the Doctor has gotten a lot better than his original incarnation, a cranky old space grandfather.
In the article, Mr. Twit asks about Chuck Cunningham, Ritchie's brother on "Happy Days", who walked up the stairway to his room and vanished, never to be brought up again. my response: this shit happens all the time on TV. On "Hogan's Heroes" the pilot originally had a Soviet POW as a tailor. When the show mnoved into production, that character vanished. Why? Beacuse the actor thought the whole concept of a sitcom in a WWII POW camp was disgraceful, and the writers dropped the character and moved on. Furthermore Ivan Dixon's "Cinchloe" character was not changed when he left the show in the late `60s and another black man took his place. Why? Lazy writing and the show as on autopilot by 1969.
"Keep your pants on kid; it's only a movie." - Ham Salad, "Hardware Wars"
"If you're wondering how we eat and breathe, and other science facts / Then remember it's just a TV show and you really should relax." -Love Theme from Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
ReplyDelete@Cassandra: Right. Even "Make Way for Ducklings" got old on the 365th reading. Then we discovered audiobooks for kids. After an in-person bedtime story, out went the lights and in went the CD. My son could recite pages of "Charlotte's Web" in E.B. White's accent!
Wombath. Heh heh.
ReplyDeleteIn the same vein, I would recommend for all parents the book, "I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy! Why You Shouldn't Say It, Why You Shouldn't Think It, What You Should Embrace Instead." Too many parents are actually afraid of telling their child "No."
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to find a .wav file for my wife's college students. It's Professor Snape telling Harry Potter, "Perhaps it has escaped your attention, but Life isn't fair."
fog Gary, Snape soundbyte:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hark.com/clips/nlmqlrdvdx-life-isnt-fair