what is the point of oscar the grouch on sesame street?
It’s okay to not like things and it’s okay to be unhappy. He was created from the idea that “non-destructive deviance” would go over well with kids.
THANK YOU!
Basically, the point of Oscar the Grouch is so that kids know it’s okay to have fucking emotions and moods that aren’t all cheery. That’s the fucking point. And that’s even more important to the kids who are living in harsh realities. Realities where their families are falling apart or they’re not getting food every day or they’re getting abused. Telling them it’s okay to express that they are NOT HAPPY because they are HURTING is so fucking important I cannot even say it.
Big Bird is nice, but goddamn, when you’re a kid who’s hungry and you just got beat by your caretaker and all you wanna do is hole up somewhere and tell everyone else to go away because you don’t even have words for how bad things feel? Big Bird is not your dude. Cheery happy, “well, let’s play a happy game!” Big Bird ain’t cutting it for you. Oscar the Grouch is your dude. Oscar the Grouch is the dude who tells you it’s okay to put the lid on your garbage can and be alone and be upset.
Big Bird tries to talk you out of being upset (and maybe sometimes that’s okay). But Oscar the Grouch teaches you that, no, it’s okay to be upset and you have every right to stay upset and grouchy and unhappy until you’re at a point where that can change. Oscar the Grouch teaches you that you have a right to your emotions, whatever they are.
On a more advanced level, the point of Oscar is to start teaching kids that it’s okay to have boundaries, it’s okay to want to just go into your trash can (home/safe place) and not be bothered, it’s okay to defend those boundaries and say “go away!” when you want people to go the fuck away and that you can still have a place on Sesame Street. That not everyone has to be shiny, happy Big Bird.
That’s the point of Oscar the Grouch.
“what is the point of oscar the grouch” who even made you
Also Oscar the Grouch *likes* things that no one else likes and he’s completely unapologetic about it.
The fact that people tell you things you like are stupid doesn’t make it’s true. He loves trash. He loves it because it’s trash. That’s important too.
As is the fact that *even though everyone thinks his interests are stupid*, people don’t take his trash away and they don’t drag him out of his can.
Also he has *fantastic* body language. Boundary laden but also very emotional. And just the way he likes stuff and expresses interest…
…Oscar the Grouch = awesome.
This is a wonderful series of texts post that needs to be shared with all of you
Thing of it is, they don’t even think his interests are stupid. Weird, yes. But here’s the great part.
THE DENIZENS OF SESAME STREET FREQUENTLY INDULGE OSCAR IN HIS WEIRD LIKES, AND END UP HAVING FUN DOING SO.
At least back in the 80′s, Oscar had a whole troupe of grouch scouts who enjoyed looking for nifty trash, a group of kids and even Telly Monster. Susan and Gordon end up at a Grouch club with Oscar after their original dinner and dance plans fall apart, and end up having a great night dancing the award-winning Trash Can Tango.
And there’s Oscar’s beloved pet Slimey the worm, possibly the only being Oscar openly admits he likes. Not everyone goes the puppy or kitten route, and thus the idea of unconventional and less-than-cuddly yet no less beloved pets is brought to kids (on top of Slimey’s own adventures).
Oscar teaches that it’s okay to be weird, okay to be different, and that maybe if you don’t reject the weird and different at first glance, you may very well find something (or someone) interesting and fun. And that even when someone can be prickly and dour at times, you can still be their friend. He also subtly teaches a bit of Henson’s love of subversion, of quiet rebellion, of questioning and skepticism and snark.
1. “Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so.”
2. “This must be a Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.”
3. “Don’t panic.”
4. “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?”
5. “If there’s anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now.”
6. “We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!”
7. “The answer to the Great Question… of life, the universe and everything… is… is… 42.”
8. “So long, and thanks for all the fish.”
9. “Did I do anything wrong today, or has the world always been like this and I’ve been too wrapped up in myself to notice?”
10. “____! There’s an infinite number of monkeys outside that want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they’ve worked out.”
11. “If I asked you where the hell we were, would I regret it?”
12. “Ah. This is obviously some strange usage of the word ‘safe’ that I wasn’t previously aware of.”
13. “Life. Loathe it or ignore it, you can’t like it.”
14. “Is there any tea on this spaceship?”
15. “I don’t want to die now! I’ve still got a headache! I don’t want to go to heaven with a headache, I’ll be all cross and I won’t enjoy it!”
16. “It’s part of the shape of the universe. All I have to do is talk to someone and they begin to hate me.”
17. “Very deep. You should send that in to the Reader’s Digest. They’ve got a page for people like you.”
18. “I know as much about myself as my mind can work out under its current conditions. And its current conditions are not good.”
19. “You watch this door. It’s about to open again. I can tell by the intolerable air of smugness it suddenly generates.”
20. “Do you find coming to terms with the mindless tedium of it all presents an interesting challenge?”
21. “I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle.”
22. “Hey, this is terrific! Someone down there is trying to kill us!”
23. “The mere thought hadn’t even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind.”
24. “It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level.”
25. “I could have more fun in cat litter.”
26. “If you ever find you need help again, you know, if you are in trouble, need a hand out of a tight corner, please, don’t hesitate to get lost.”
27. “I was created to fulfill a function and I failed in it. I negated my own existence.”
28. “You’ll need to have this fish in your ear.”
29. “They’ve got about as much sex appeal as a road accident.”
30. “You’re turning into a penguin. Stop it.”
31. “Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied.”
32. “Ow! My brains!”
33. “If you just ignore me, I expect I shall probably go away.”
34. “It’s partly the curiosity, partly a sense of adventure, but mostly I think it’s the fame and the money….”
35. “The old me knew. The old me cared. Fine, so far so good. Except that the old me cared so much that he actually got inside his own brain–my own brain–and locked off the bits that knew and cared, because if I knew and cared I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
36. “If you’ve never been through a matter transference beam before you’ve probably lost some salt and protein.”
37. “Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.”
The WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) flew noncombat and training missions for the US during WW2, but were not afforded honors such as burials in military cemeteries – until now.
They flew over 60 million miles, in every type of military aircraft. They suffered 38 losses. Their members included trailblazers like previously-covered Maggie Gee (who, undeterred by how difficult this was, went on to become a nuclear physicist).
