I have been disturbed by the amount of anti-Elmo propaganda that I have encountered over the past few weeks. I have heard him variously described as “too mainstream”, “Sesame Street’s version of Jah-Jah Binks”, “F&*#$@g annoying”, and most commonly, “Elmo has been the ruination of Sesame Street.”
Intrigued by other people’s apparent loathing of the furry red monster, I naively Googled “I hate Elmo” and got three hundred and twenty-nine thousand responses. There is even a group who have organised an International "I Hate Elmo" Week!
Having a look at most commentaries, people seem to feel that Elmo is somewhat low in IQ compared to the other Muppets on Sesame Street. But my understanding is that Elmo's character is three-and-a-half, and his development was designed to introduce a character with the mentality of a toddler, someone the really little ones could relate to while their older siblings enjoyed other aspects of the show.
Elmo wasn’t a character back when I watched Sesame Street, and wouldn’t have been present in the memories of the show in most of his critics (that I know). They appear to hate him because his reasoning is simplistic, he has an annoying voice and that he is repetitive activities are annoying. They also comment on how he compares unfavourably to other, more fondly-remembered characters.
All I can say is, err, what? Maybe because Elmo is fresher to me, I find him less boring than all of the characters I know. Really, The Count? Telly? The Cookie Monster? Bert and Ernie? Big Bird? Snuffie? They’ve been doing the same old stale act for over forty years! God, Telly grates with me in a way that Elmo never could. He’s so damned stupid. At least Elmo is a toddler.
Anyway, I just wanted to publicly say “I have no problem with Elmo”. And it has nothing at all to do with the fact that he is a sure fire way to distract Henry from assaulting me.
Intrigued by other people’s apparent loathing of the furry red monster, I naively Googled “I hate Elmo” and got three hundred and twenty-nine thousand responses. There is even a group who have organised an International "I Hate Elmo" Week!
Having a look at most commentaries, people seem to feel that Elmo is somewhat low in IQ compared to the other Muppets on Sesame Street. But my understanding is that Elmo's character is three-and-a-half, and his development was designed to introduce a character with the mentality of a toddler, someone the really little ones could relate to while their older siblings enjoyed other aspects of the show.
When contacted by this blog, Elmo declined comment
Elmo wasn’t a character back when I watched Sesame Street, and wouldn’t have been present in the memories of the show in most of his critics (that I know). They appear to hate him because his reasoning is simplistic, he has an annoying voice and that he is repetitive activities are annoying. They also comment on how he compares unfavourably to other, more fondly-remembered characters.
All I can say is, err, what? Maybe because Elmo is fresher to me, I find him less boring than all of the characters I know. Really, The Count? Telly? The Cookie Monster? Bert and Ernie? Big Bird? Snuffie? They’ve been doing the same old stale act for over forty years! God, Telly grates with me in a way that Elmo never could. He’s so damned stupid. At least Elmo is a toddler.
Anyway, I just wanted to publicly say “I have no problem with Elmo”. And it has nothing at all to do with the fact that he is a sure fire way to distract Henry from assaulting me.
Comments
I searched "エルモ 嫌い"(hate Elmo) in Yahoo.Japan.
But I found no crresponding article.
I think that in Japan,there is no power try to entrap Elmo to difficult.
So the whole story is just meaningless to me. I can't relate personally to any of these characters. Amazing, eh?
I also left a comment on your 'unwashed cups in the sink' post.
And congratulations on the award. I really enjoy visiting here. Cheers !
so good on you and long live elmo! no time for hatred..
I am more disappointed that mr. snuffaluffagus is known to the community at large.