‘The Demands of Political Correctness’

In reply to a recent political and cultural controversy involving “Sesame Street,” Sesame Workshop Executive Vice President Miranda Barry wrote:   

Jim Henson, Jon Stone, Frank Oz and others set a witty and silly tone for Sesame Street that our current writers work to maintain despite the demands of political correctness. 

What then, specifically, are the demands of political correctness that Ms. Barry’s taxpayer-funded organization operates under? 

What is Political Correctness? 

For an exacting scholarly analyses of Political Correctness we can turn to Free Congress Foundation & William Lind’s The History of Political Correctness. 

As Mr. Lind distills:

If we look at [Political Correctness] analytically, if we look at it historically, we quickly find out exactly what it is. Political Correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms.  (more…)

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Tags: Miranda Barry, Ms. Barry, pbs, political correctness, Sesame Street
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 1:18 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics, Television | 262598176 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/11/13/the-demands-of-political-correctness/%27The+Demands+of+Political+Correctness%272009-11-13+21%3A18%3A01Adam+Baldwin

‘Sesame Street’: Habitat for Political Correctness

Having received some criticism for my last post about “Sesame Street,” I would like to briefly respond to some of the questions and assertions in the comment section. 

What’s so bad about saying “we share common humanity despite ethnic/religious/linguistic differences?” 

A main tenet of the multiculturalism and Enviro-Statism inculcated by Modern Liberal educators and as practiced on “Sesame Street” — exemplified in “We All Sing the Same Song,” is the diminishment of the unique greatness of American culture. 

Political Correctness and its Critical Theory are shamefully deployed against American culture to create a false front of “equality” to less free, less successful, and deviant cultures around the globe. 

That is neither a healthy, nor appropriate form of values inculcation upon young American children, nor is it a responsible expenditure of American tax dollars.  (more…)

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Tags: children, DVD, environmentalism, pbs, Sesame Street
Posted Nov 9th 2009 at 8:28 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics, Television | 260138173 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/11/09/sesame-street-habitat-for-political-correctness/%27Sesame+Street%27%3A+Habitat+for+Political+Correctness2009-11-09+16%3A28%3A01Adam+Baldwin

‘Sesame Street’: It’s About My Children, Not the Puppet

Just as I suspected, it has happened.  They are trying to “Falwell” me and my colleagues here at Big Hollywood for raising concerns about “Sesame Street’s” description of Fox News as “Trashy.” We are “stupid,” “idiotic” and we are whining and pathetic (impressive debate tactics there, Mr. Socrates).  And, according to PBS’ own Ombudsman, Michael Gelter, we are….  right:

I don’t know what was in the head of the producers, but my guess is that this was one of those parodies that was too good to resist. But it should have been resisted. Broadcasters can tell parents whatever they think of Fox or any other network, but you shouldn’t do it through the kids

I was planning on letting the issue die after being romanced by Media Matters, but I noticed something fascinating.  I’ve written here about a lot of subjects.  Mostly about theatre and the arts, and I also defended that “racist-fascist” Rush Limbaugh,  but, never has a post of mine gotten the kind of hate-filled comments this one did.  Also, for the first time I started receiving hate e-mails… the long, rambling, Holden Caufield kind of e-mails (you can forgive me for feeling a little “Grouchy”).  What gives?  Why was this post different? (more…)

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Tags: big hollywood, Fox News, free to be you and me, holden caufield, Media Matters
Posted Nov 6th 2009 at 1:49 pm in Culture, Television | 25944687 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/11/06/sesame-street-its-about-my-children-not-the-puppet/%27Sesame+Street%27%3A+It%27s+About+My+Children%2C+Not+the+Puppet2009-11-06+21%3A49%3A58Stage+Right

PBS Ombudsman: ‘Sesame Street’ Fox News Slam Crossed Line

Earlier this week, Big Hollywood’s Stage Right broke the story of a ”Sesame Street” episode which referred to Fox News as “Pox News” and “trashy.” In response to the episode, PBS also received a number of complaint letters from viewers which prompted a reply from PBS Ombudsmen Michael Getler:

I don’t know what was in the head of the producers, but my guess is that this was one of those parodies that was too good to resist. But it should have been resisted. Broadcasters can tell parents whatever they think of Fox or any other network, but you shouldn’t do it through the kids.

In response to Stage Right using “Sesame Street’s” unfortunate behavior as an example with which to speak for the many, many many parents frustrated with the idea of partisan programming aimed at children, some online outlets responded with the expected and usual dismissive snarky contempt. But now that PBS is on record agreeing with Stage Right, we’re left to wonder if they find PBS ”stupid,” “asinine,” “absurd,” and “idiotic.”

You can read Getler’s full article here, along with some of the complaint letters PBS received. (more…)

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Tags: Michael Getler, Ombudsmen, pbs, Sesame Street, Stage Right
Posted Nov 5th 2009 at 1:58 pm in Culture, Media Criticism, Theatre | 258774164 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/11/05/pbs-ombudsman-sesame-street-fox-news-slam-crossed-line/PBS+Ombudsman%3A+%27Sesame+Street%27+Fox+News+Slam+Crossed+Line2009-11-05+21%3A58%3A44John+Nolte

New PBS Doc Embraces Big Gov’t, Criticizes Individual Freedom

Government broadcaster PBS is running a new, five-part series on a subject naturally interesting in our time: American Experience: The 1930s. Episodes are available for online viewing here.

The program is just what one would expect from PBS: earnest, well-researched, skillfully presented, and eager to lick the boots of government while criticizing individual freedom for everything wrong in the world.

There are two important lessons to be learned from the Great Depression, in my view:

1. The government causes business cycles and downturns through its erratic, manipulative policies intended to benefit powerful voting blocs at the expense of those less able to fight back. The market works when left alone, and government interference should be limited to redressing actual harms done by one party to another. This includes combating fraud, enforcing valid contracts, and setting clear but liberal guidelines for transactions made across political borders. And nothing more.

(more…)

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Tags: American Experience: The 1930s, Depression, Federal Reserve, Great Depression, Irving Berlin
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 2:49 pm in Politics, Reviews, Television | 25591444 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/11/03/new-pbs-doc-embraces-big-govt-criticizes-individual-freedom/New+PBS+Doc+Embraces+Big+Gov%27t%2C+Criticizes+Individual+Freedom2009-11-03+22%3A49%3A44S.T.+Karnick

‘Sesame Street’ Trashes Fox News

Add one more soldier to the Left’s war on Fox News:  Oscar the Grouch.

Last week, in a re-broadcast of an episode that originally aired two years ago, Oscar starts his own news network, GNN (Grouchy News Network).  An irate viewer calls in to berate him that the news is not grouchy enough:

“I am changing the channel. From now on I am watching ‘Pox’ News. Now there is a trashy news show.”

–

Later in the episode, Anderson Cooper from 4th place CNN, guest stars as a reporter for GNN.  He interacts with “Walter Cranky” and “Dan Rather-Not” —  Muppets representing real-life liberal news personalities — and they talk about “Meredith Beware-a” and “Diane Spoiler.” But no affectionate nicknames for Fox News personalities; no Spill O’Reilly or Brittle Hume — nope, and the only disparaging characterization of real-world news is reserved for Fox:  Fox is a POX.  It is trashy.  They didn’t even attempt to try “MessyNBC.”

If Mom and Dad watch cable news, it’s better than 50/50 they watch “POX News.”  So what gives? PBS — a network partially funded with my tax dollars — has the right to tell my kids that their parents watch “trashy” news?  The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of “Sesame Street” without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority. And don’t tell me, “If you don’t like it change the channel.”  There are no channels left! It’s everywhere. Just last week I had Obama’s service and volunteerism promoted on every single major network, including Disney and Nickelodeon. (more…)

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Tags: "Learning From the Left”, Anderson Cooper, Fox News, Jerry Falwell, Julia L. Mickenberg
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 3:37 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics, Television | 255466519 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/11/03/l-is-for-leftist-thats-good-enough-for-me/%27Sesame+Street%27+Trashes+Fox+News2009-11-03+10%3A37%3A24Stage+Right

PBS Drama Episode Centers on Evils of Communism

The latest episode of PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery includes a surprise: criticism of communism.

The U.S. TV network PBS and the British Broadcasting Corporation, both government-owned, tend to soft-pedal the evils of communism while placing every imperfection of life in the United States under a microscope. Hence it’s rather noteworthy when those organizations air a program in which the central problems are traceable to communism. That’s what happened in last week’s episode of Masterpiece Mystery. (more…)

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Tags: BBC, communism, Inspector Lewis, Masterpiece Mystery, pbs
Posted Sep 17th 2009 at 6:22 pm in Reviews, Television | 22483048 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/09/17/pbs-drama-episode-centers-on-evils-of-communism/PBS+Drama+Episode+Centers+on+Evils+of+Communism2009-09-18+01%3A22%3A32S.T.+Karnick

Streep Trashes Julia Child as Corporate Pawn, Cashes in on Her Legacy

Celebrated actress Meryl Streep’s latest project “Julie & Julia” is out in theaters. I have not seen the film and am not sure if I will. I did see the trailers, and admit to being tickled by Streep’s uncanny portrayal of Child’s mannerisms and unusual voice. (For Big Hollywood reviews of this film, click here and here.)

Streep is one of those rare thespians who truly morphs into the character she is playing. You forget for a while that you are watching Meryl Streep (as opposed to never forgetting it’s Tom Cruise in “[insert film title here]“), and for that she deserves heaps of praise.  But her off-screen silliness is ripe for mocking.

Take, for example, her declaration during a promotional interview for “Julie & Julia” that she was “disappointed” in Child because 20 years ago, Child refused to take part in Streep’s efforts to get organic produce into supermarkets: (more…)

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Tags: corporations, environmentalism, Julia Child, Julie & Julia, Meryl Streep
Posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 5:03 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 214926110 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/09/03/meryl-streep-somehow-mangages-get-over-disappointment-julia-child/Streep+Trashes+Julia+Child+as+Corporate+Pawn%2C+Cashes+in+on+Her+Legacy2009-09-03+12%3A03%3A00Pam+Meister

Happy Flag Day

I painted my first American flag in 1997 after viewing Robert Hughes’ PBS series “American Visions” about the history of American art and its coming of age in the fifties. This left me wanting to see Jasper Johns 1954 flag painting so much that I got up the next day, headed to the library, returned home and wound up painting my own flag. I have painted the American flag numerous times since and will continue to do so.

All Quiet on the Western Front, 1997

In 2001 I wanted to create a work of art that would fuse Jasper Johns flag and Andy Warhol’s 32 Campbell Soup Can paintings titled “Choices” with a little Ed Ruscha thrown in for good measure. The soup can paintings were all identical except for the flavors on the cans and that’s what I would do to my Johns inspired flags. All identical, as much as you can make thirty-two separate paintings, except in this case, instead of flavors, each vertical flag painting would have an almost invisible word at the bottom. (more…)

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Tags: American Visions., Andy Warhol, Art, Choices, Ed Ruscha
Posted Jun 14th 2009 at 9:37 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1595702 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aalvillar/2009/06/14/happy-flag-day/Happy+Flag+Day+2009-06-14+16%3A37%3A20Alvaro+Alvillar

Into the Gathering Storm

If you’re a history buff and you’ve got HBO, then have I got a movie for you: Into the Storm. (And if you’re cable-less, add it to your NetFlix queue.) Yes, it’s made-for-HBO, but it’s from the John Adams/Band of Brothers wing, not the Recount/Angels in America department.

It’s a sequel of sorts to The Gathering Storm, known informally around my home as the Greatest Churchill Movie Ever Made. And in answer to the first question on your mind right now, no, the new HBO/BBC co-production is not quite as good as Gathering Storm. (But then, we just have to resign ourselves to the fact that nothing ever will be.)

Partly it’s Albert Finney’s fault. They say nobody’s perfect, but they haven’t seen Finney play Winston Churchill. (He most deservedly won both an Emmy and a BAFTA.) You’ve heard the phrase “tears of joy”? A largely alien experience to me, a pretty stoic, manly guy. Alien to me no more, my friends, once I watched Gathering Storm for the first time.

I regret to report that Brendan Gleeson, who essays the role in the sequel, gives it a yeoman’s try, but can’t quite measure up. There are simply more and richer layers to Finney’s performance, perhaps due to nothing no less unfair than a longer and more experienced life, even (dare I say it, oh what the hell) more talent. Janet McTeer, who plays wife Clemmie in the new movie, fares better, nearly matching Vanessa Redgrave’s marvelous performance in Gathering Storm. (Why, they even look alike.) (more…)

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Tags: Albert Finney, brendan gleeson, Churchill, Film, hbo
Posted Jun 4th 2009 at 8:14 am in Military, Reviews | 150698One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/06/04/into-the-gathering-storm/Into+the+Gathering+Storm2009-06-04+15%3A14%3A07Andrew+Leigh

Wanted: A Vaccine for Liberalism

Whenever I have suggested that left-wingers aren’t normal human beings, and have wondered if perhaps they’re some weird interplanetary life form like the pods in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” the liberals accuse me of indulging in ad hominem attacks, and I suppose I am.  But I am honestly bewildered.  It just doesn’t seem plausible that Americans could find good things to say about tyrants like Castro, Chavez and Ahmadinejad, while at the same time reviling the likes of Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and General Petraeus.

Left-wingers side with the so-called Palestinians and insist that their country was stolen from them by the Jews, but when you ask them just exactly where the country was located, what their flag looked like and who their president was, they huff and they puff and they denounce you as a tool of the Jewish lobby. (more…)

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Tags: Ahmadinejad, Barbara Boxer, Castro, chavez, CIA
Posted May 21st 2009 at 9:42 am in Politics | 137590One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/05/21/wanted-a-vaccine-for-liberalism/Wanted%3A+A+Vaccine+for+Liberalism2009-05-21+16%3A42%3A45Burt+Prelutsky

PBS’ Dickens Adaptation Politicizes, Vulgarizes Classic Novel

The latest PBS adaptation  of Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist demonstrates the urgent need for reform of the taxpayer-supported broadcasting service–or an end to taxpayer funding for it.

The temptation to “improve” on classic works of culture seems all but irresistible, especially to the political radicals and social transformers who infest public broadcasting organizations in the United States and Europe. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has long been known as a very aggressive practitioner of efforts at political and social transformation through its partially taxpayer-funded Public Broadcasting System (PBS) for television and its National Public Radio (NPR) network. (more…)

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Tags: Dickens, film adaptations, Masterpiece, Oliver Twist, pbs
Posted Mar 30th 2009 at 4:13 pm in Politics, Reviews | 917345 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/03/30/pbs-dickens-adaptation-politicizes-vulgarizes-classic-novel/PBS%27+Dickens+Adaptation+Politicizes%2C+Vulgarizes+Classic+Novel2009-03-30+23%3A13%3A01S.T.+Karnick

“NewsBusted” 3/17/09 — Fake News from the Right

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: Bernie Madoff, President Obama’s popularity, Newsweek, Air America, Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer, John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston, The Taliban, Sesame Street, and PBS.

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Tags: Air America, Bernie Madoff, Jennifer Aniston, Jim Cramer, john mayer
Posted Mar 17th 2009 at 1:25 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Political Humor | 827149 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/epeterkofsky/2009/03/17/newsbusted-31709-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%22NewsBusted%22+3%2F17%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right+2009-03-17+20%3A25%3A54Eric+Peterkofsky

Masterpiece Jew Haters

I must have missed a few subtle literary points in college when I was taking a Charles Dickens seminar.

I missed the spot where Fagin, in Oliver Twist, is wearing a gigoondo yarmulke.

Also, blasting right by yours truly—alas, never the best of students—is the part where Fagin abstains from eating pork chops because they’re not kosher.

Who knew that Fagin was an observant Jew? (more…)

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Tags: Charles Dickens, Fagin, Jew Hatred, Oliver Twist, pbs
Posted Feb 17th 2009 at 5:15 am in Featured Story, Media Criticism | 5221073 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ravrech/2009/02/17/masterpiece-jew-haters/Masterpiece+Jew+Haters2009-02-17+13%3A15%3A04Robert+J.+Avrech

Music Sets the Mood

When I was a kid, my favorite show was PBS’s NOVA. As a child I expected to be on the show as an astronaut – I can imagine my youthful disappointment that I was to appear on NOVA as a politician.

NOVA’s “Big Energy Gamble” aired January 20th to rave initial reviews in the DeVore household. The show detailed California’s effort under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in 11 years while the state is expected to grow by 20 percent.

I was the show’s skeptic. I maintained that it is physically impossible to reach the governor’s lofty goals without first lifting the state’s obsolete ban on the construction of modern, safe, and reliable nuclear power plants. (more…)

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Tags: Music, nova, pbs
Posted Jan 27th 2009 at 5:15 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Media Criticism | 3014524 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cdevore/2009/01/27/music-sets-the-mood/Music+Sets+the+Mood2009-01-27+13%3A15%3A33Chuck+DeVore