Time for a little ranting, I've decided.
I've made no secret of my feelings towards Diego. Dora, I'm not fond of, but her show can at least be classified as "charming" and "harmless." Diego, on the other hand, MUST be setting the scientific community back a few decades (which, considering how far the community here in the states was already set back over the past decade, is quite a feat) with its unforgivableness and stupidheadity.
The problem is, I support the show's premise. It conveys a strong message of environmental responsibility, which is something I think people need more of--and the only real way to get people to accept something as a given is to expose them to it from a very young age. Well, it's not the ONLY way, obviously, but it's the most successful. So, I support the message the show is giving kids.
What I don't support is its method. And its inconsistency. And the way it encourages kids to be friendly with wild animals.
Actually, I wouldn't have a problem with its method if it wasn't so closely intertwined with the other two hate-making aspects of the show. Each episode is pretty similar--animal is in trouble, Diego has to face several Dora-esque "obstacles," animal is rescued. In theory, this could be a great, educational show, exposing kids to various aspects of geography, ecosystems, environmental issues, and animals--which it does, in a not entirely consistent sort of way.
See, the show doesn't follow any sort of scientific approach--it haphazardly mixes the fantasy aspects of Dora (talking animals, improbably convenient Deus ex Machina type uses of either Backpack or Rescue Pack, that sort of thing) with what should be science. Some animals talk, but some animals can't--and ALL animals are reliant on Diego to save them, which is a bit of a troubling concept in and of itself. I don't like it. Science is science, fantasy is fantasy. Science fiction is one thing, but this show pretends to be science, so its fantasy aspects, I think, are inexusable because they are, in effect, teaching young children all sorts of wrongness.
Take the episode Gabe and I just finished watching. Diego had to help a hippopotamus rescue his oxpecker (heh, heh, oxpecker) friend (actual quote from the show: "I'm glad you're safe, too, oxpecker. Seeing you makes me one happy hippopotamus." That made me laugh. This was then followed with a Lion King style musical number about symbiosis, which I also thought was humorous. Except, I shouldn't be laughing at ANY of this stuff, at least not ironically, because this isn't supposed to be that kind of show) who had done something typically stupid to get itself into trouble. The hippo had a "big dumb oaf" voice--like the abominable snowman/space alien from Bugs Bunny that said, "I will hug him and squeeze him and call him George" all the time--and was comically helpful.
That's just dangerous. Hippos are mean, dangerous, far from benign animals! They might LOOK like big dumb water cows, but they are, in fact, big dumb water cows that can, and will, crush a human's bones to dust should one wander too close! And Diego was all buddy-buddy with the thing, riding on its back while it ran here and there. I don't like that, during every episode, at least once I have to say something like, "Remember, Gabe, a hippo is ACTUALLY a very territorial animal with jaws powerful enough to crush a human skull like a mango--and they HATE humans. You should never try to ride one, even if you are trying to save a friendly oxpecker." Oxpecker. I love that. See, THAT is scientific humor I can support.
And don't even get me started on Rescue Pack. Usually, Diego turns it into some environmentally irresponsible gas-guzzling eco-terror, like a jet ski, snow mobile, or helicopter, which sends the message that thinking of the environment is all well and good, as long as it doesn't get in the way of our fast and convenient transport from point A to point B. Sometimes I just want to knock him off the damn thing and leave him freezing in the arctic waters. Maybe he could find a friendly polar bear to quickly grab his leg in its razor sharp jaws and drag him back to shore where it could slowly devour him.
Yeah. THAT'S how dangerous wild animals help people, Diego! Get it straight and stop teaching my kids to walk up to pumas and scratch them behind the ears!
It's true most of what you're saying. The problem is not so much that these animals are actually dangerous, it's that anytime they try and give any kind of science or trait that the animal has to help it survive, it's not even accurate. I have to say Dora is worse though. They were on a trip to go to the "purple planet". They had to cross space. They used a grabber arm from the spaceship to grab onto the tail of a comet!!!!! Then instead of calling them asteroids, they called them "space rocks"!!
ReplyDelete