Mar 16, 2021

Green eggs and potato heads: people taking things out of proportion.

 While I criticized the removal of Monsieur Le Pew and the misguided change to Lola Bunny, I am not against the Issues surrounding Dr. Seuss and The Potato Head brand.

I'll start with the Potato Head first...

I bring this cartoon intro up for a reason. Notice how they are the "Potato Head Kids" and not the "MR. Potato Head Kids". Thanks to this toon I met the Potato Head family. Mr. Potato Head might be the Original character of the brand, but it has expanded to add a Mrs. , kids, and pets. In the past other non-potato characters were part of the brand.

OK, since the Potato Head brand now encompasses more characters than just Mr. Potato Head AND they have used Potato Head without the Mr. For other media, it kinda makes sense FOR THE BRAND to be called "Potato Head". With that said, renaming the brand doesn't eliminate the characters of Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head. They still exist and the branding simply cements the entire family... unlike that gloryhog Ms. B. Millicent Roberts who makes everything about her...

Now on Dr. Seuss. No, it's not "cancel culture" and no, Green eggs and ham is not being removed. The estate of Dr. Seuss are chosing which books should be available to everyone based on the Dr. Seuss brand. There was no Outside forces to remove any book... unless it was The Lorax. No, really... 
So you see, they're protecting their brand by stopping the distribution of their own material that is considered racist and problematic. Do I agree with this? Yes and no. Yes, because Volkswagen was made thanks to Hitler, but that's something the company isn't proud of.  So, remember when you're watching the Herbie movies or playing with Bumblebee from Transformers, Hitler made that possible... Do you think we need to be reminded of Hitler everytime we enjoy something related to Volkswagen? No. The answer is no, because Fuck Hitler! So, yes I agree on distancing from past mistakes.

Now I disagree on the removing them from circulation part. Before I get some torches and pitchforks headed my way, hear me out... They shouldn't be made for the Children's section. They should be put in an anthology, made for adults, where you get the stories as they are, but in addition, some historical context of the era when they were written. If possible, using quotes from Seuss himself from past interviews or something. Also, the Estate could use the anthology to deliver a detailed explanation on why said stories have been pushed out of the "children's section".

But then again, what do I know? I'm just an asshole with a blog...

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