My rant on the HIV Sesame Street Puppet [Archive]

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FMJeff

07-12-2002, 10:31 AM

It's ludicrous. What the hell do children know about AIDS? Are they even old enough to grasp the concept of a sexually transmitted disease? What good is this going to do? Is the puppet going to bear the symptoms of a compromised immune system? That's great..a puppet with pale skin, lesions, bloody noses and black eyes. That's not going to scare the shit out of them....sure.

Now I hear they are testing the HIV puppet in Sesame Street Africa. That's pretty idiotic when you consider the majority of the population lacks electricity, not to mention television sets. Maybe they should focus on creating an infrastructure where people don't feel the need to fuck as much as possible for thier lineage to survive.

Kids shouldn't have to worry about AIDS until they are old enough to be sexually active. Education should begin well after the 10th year of age, when science becomes a regular part of the curriculum.

This is really digusting. Sesame Street should be a safe haven for kids from the problems of the world. You'll never see Mr. Rogers talking about AIDS on his show.

Shain out.

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This message was edited by FoundryMusicJeff on 7-12-02 @ 2:55 PM

Aggie

07-12-2002, 10:42 AM

I understand what you're saying and I think it's pretty ridiculous too, but I don't think they are doing it b/c they want to tell them not to have sex, I think alot of children are born with it and they want them to be able to relate to one of the characters. But I'd also say that the children who are sick probably don't have a TV and the only kids who will be seeing it are the upper class who's kids won't understand. Anyway, I don't think they should, but maybe there was a reason for the idea.

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Grand Master B

07-12-2002, 10:58 AM

The only muppet I can relate to is foul mouth Elmo. But hey I don't have the HIV, so what do I know. 

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Bill From Yorktown

07-12-2002, 11:02 AM

touchy situation, but kids should learn about this stuff when they're old enough to understand - perhapse when they're 8-11 depending on the child - to have this pushed in their face when they're not ready is only going to confuse them and force parents to discuss things with their kids before they're ready. I do not want to be forced to explain this to a 5 year old. It's almost like SS is making parenting choices for you. Guess my kid'll be watching something else in the meantime....

Death Metal Moe

07-12-2002, 11:13 AM

Is the puppet bald, and shorter than the others with a weak chin and Man breasts?

IT STINKS!

EVIL REIGNS!!!

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FMJeff

07-12-2002, 11:15 AM

perhapse when they're 8-11 depending on the child - to have this pushed in their face when they're not ready is only going to confuse them and force parents to discuss things with their kids before they're ready

You think the average parent in Africa know what the fuck AIDS is?

These are people who fight over food to survive.

Education is not a priority. Establishing an infrastructure that can support the population is...once people have thier bare essentials (food, clothing, homes) they can focus on education.

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Bill From Yorktown

07-12-2002, 11:21 AM

misfire - I was talking about Sesame Street here, not in Africa.

Hosp

07-12-2002, 11:32 AM

So is it Bert or Ernie?

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FMJeff

07-12-2002, 11:34 AM

I'm dying to see how they can successfully communicate the concept of a sexually transmitted disease with a Muppet. "This is HIV Kunta. His daddy's spear went into mommy's hut, but poor daddy's spear was dripping with a viscuous yellow fluid...and now HIV Kunta has a veritable cornucopia of opportunistic diseases...don't worry though, its only life threatening and you should treat him as your brother because statistically you're going to get it too..."

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Bill From Yorktown

07-12-2002, 11:38 AM

oh and in case it wasnt obvious from what I said, I do NOT agree that this Muppet thing is a good thing - it's stupid

A.J.

07-12-2002, 11:38 AM

I'm dying to see how they can successfully communicate the concept of a sexually transmitted disease with a Muppet.

They could always have Pam Anderson come to talk to the muppets about Hep C.

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ShelleBink

07-12-2002, 11:43 AM

babe, stick to sites and making fun of Crybaby Howie :)

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Hawiian shirt craig

07-12-2002, 11:57 AM

i have to disagree with jeff... a) this will never make
american TV... b) HIV in africa is rampant. where
there are educated people with electricity (south
africa, egypt, etc) the children need to know about
this to help their neighbors. if rich south african
children become aware that this is a problem, then
they will be more likely to help as adults! come on
n

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Fallon

07-12-2002, 12:09 PM

Yeah I saw on the news that 1 out of 9 people there have HIV. That's horrible.

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Michael Fury

07-12-2002, 12:21 PM

An HIV muppet will be useful in Africa, where the AIDS stats are unbelievable. People there need to be taught - and taught early.

In this country, as many people die of acetaminophen poisoning (Tylenol) as AIDS. It's an avoidable disease & educational efforts have worked.

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Cybersoldier

07-12-2002, 12:23 PM

I got to agree, what is next the gay puppet. This kind of topic should not be seen be kids. The only thing there doing is taking away the innocent of being kids. By put adult oriented topics like HIV, Aids, etc. These kind of topics should be seen in the earliest junior high school, not on a show where your learning the A,B,C's.

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FMJeff

07-12-2002, 01:38 PM

if rich south african
children become aware that this is a problem, then
they will be more likely to help as adults! come on

come on yourself, Craig...this is fucking Sesame Street...you learn your ABC's and your 123's and have a fun time doing it. It's no place for death and sickness. Let them learn that when they are old enough to appreciate the severity of the situation.

Today's letter is A for AIDS....yeah that's just great...

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FMJeff

07-12-2002, 01:47 PM

babe, stick to sites and making fun of Crybaby Howie

i hope that's not directed toward me...

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Tall_James

07-12-2002, 02:21 PM

I gotta say...I'm inclined to agree with Jeff. The only way to prevent children from practicing unprotected sex is to scare the living shit out of them. Every kid thinks that they're indestructable, here and I imagine in Africa as well.

I can't say that a cute HIV-infected Muppet will scare kids into practicing safe sex.

And please...don't tell me to reason with pre-teens. There is no reasoning. There is just parenting.

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EffMeBoobs

07-12-2002, 02:34 PM

This is outrageous. Instead of using puppets to teach kids that hanging out with an HIV infected person is ok, try to stop the spread of unneccesary infection of the disease.

As a matter of fact, today, I had a patient who was talking to me about her 3 month trip to South Africa. She along with her husband belong to a church that goes out on missions to help the poor in other countries. They went to South Africa and spent time feeding the poor and building water wells, etc... She was telling me that a lot of the children have malaria because the medication is only for adults, they haven't received any medication for children. She also mentioned that AIDS is very rampant. She mentioned a lot of them practice witchcraft and believe the religion of witchcraft, following it rigidly. She said one practice of witchcraft is that a person with HIV/AIDS is told to go out and spread the disease to others by sleeping with many people to rid yourself of the disease. AND THEY DO THIS AND FOLLOW IT LIKE A FUCKING RELIGION!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, isn't this the most FUCKING ridiculous thing you ever heard?!?!? I mean how fucking stupid are these people???? No fucking morals for another person's life. No fucking wonder why 1 out of every 4 people in South Africa have the disease.

Makes me fucking sick.

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This message was edited by EffMeBoobs on 7-12-02 @ 6:44 PM

ChrisTheCop

07-12-2002, 09:15 PM

So is it Bert or Ernie?

Believe me, if one has it, so does the other. They were male room mates in nyc (ahem).

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BigKing

07-14-2002, 12:00 AM

I dont think it'll be a puppet. I think it'll be a 'human character' played by an actor. Unless they stated its a puppet. 
BTW, I saw an episode of Mr. Rogers where they were discussing AIDS and gay people. I never saw the trolly or those puppets used in such an unusual way before.... 

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ShelleBink

07-14-2002, 08:36 AM

i hope that's not directed toward me...

i wuv u jeff ;)

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Dudeman

07-14-2002, 04:02 PM

testing the HIV puppet in
Sesame Street Africa.

i believe this concept was just for
south africa (not that south africa
was a testing place for america.)

my understanding is that this
was not meant to be a way of
educating the kids about sex and
aids, rather it is just a reflection
of their society and a way to help
promote tolerance in the future
generation.

of course much more should be
done regarding this situtaion, but
this is sesame street's little way
of pitching in (rather than
ignoring it... see bush, cheney,
republicans, tommy thompson)

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Tall_James

07-14-2002, 05:32 PM

of course much more should be
done regarding this situtaion, but
this is sesame street's little way
of pitching in (rather than
ignoring it... see bush, cheney,
republicans, tommy thompson)
As opposed to the great strides made during the 8 years of Clinton/Gore.

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A.J.

07-14-2002, 06:48 PM

As opposed to the great strides made during the 8 years of Clinton/Gore.

Exactly James.

Here's a novel idea -- personal responsibility instead of government programs.

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Pootertoot

07-16-2002, 06:18 PM

I just want to hammer in the fact that this is for children in a country where:

-in some parts, 40% of child-bearing women have AIDS.

-6% of the children will be orphans because of AIDS by the end of the decade.

-In 2000, 40% of Adult Deaths were attributed to AIDS.

This is not some wacky move to get attention (how far can this really take Takalani Sesame, anyway?), this is LIFE over there. This is something that the children NEED to be taught about that, something that affects their lives deeply.

They're not bringing up sexuality at all, anyway. They'll be addressing issues like "What should I do if I cut my finger?", "What should I do when you cut your finger?"

Do you honestly want to have children running in fear from each other because they hear their friends have a disease that they don't understand?

I can only assume you really don't understand the issue at hand, that you're imposing your own sensibilities on the rest of the world as we're wont to do. What applies to us does not apply to everyone. And never fuck ANYONE in Baltimore without a condom.

That all being said, does the HIV muppet cough up bloody felt?

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toxi

07-17-2002, 12:39 PM

Kids shouldn't have to worry about AIDS until they are old enough to be sexually active. Education should begin well after the 10th year of age, when science becomes a regular part of the curriculum.

exactly. and from what I remember, as a kid, I was totally terrified of getting some kind of disease and dying. everytime I saw something about AIDS on the news or in a movie I would get all paranoid and scared because I knew it was bad and that it caused people to die, but I didn't really understand how people got it and how it was transmitted.

so maybe it would be ok to explain to kids that they can't get it from hugging and holding hands, but wouldn't having a little puppet with AIDS make kids think it could happen to them? and that would scare them, because they can't understand all the things about unsafe sex and drug needles, and what kids can't understand, they fear.

I think the station should just donate more money to AIDS awareness and safe sex education in africa instead.

I can't believe they 1st wanted to air the AIDS puppet in the US too, what the hell, I'd never let my 4 year old sister watch that, it would totally fuck up her innocent childhood years.

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Grand Master B

07-17-2002, 01:49 PM

I just want to hammer in the fact that this is for children in a country where: 
-in some parts, 40% of child-bearing women have AIDS. 
-6% of the children will be orphans because of AIDS by the end of the decade. 
-In 2000, 40% of Adult Deaths were attributed to AIDS 
Hee...Hee.Statistics - you're funny 

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Arienette

07-17-2002, 03:04 PM

i think jeff and pooter each did a wonderful job of presenting the two sides of this issue. well thought out and articulted arguments both.

i'm not really sure where i stand on this. in africa, i can see the reasoning behind having this sort of television. the fact that so many children there are born with AIDS eliminates the need to make the HIV character at all sexual, or to try to explain sexuality or STDs. however, as jeff pointed out, the majority of people there don't have access to television and, therefore, the message (though a good one) won't have any chance of reaching the people who actually need to get it.

now, i dont know if this has been discussing offically or not, but IF there is any thought of bringing a similar HIV character to american sesame street, i am completely and emphatically opposed. here, there is no reason whatever that children should be seeing an HIV puppet or learning about AIDS at such an early age. as jeff said earlier, it's ridiculous to think about explaining anything sexual to children who are too young to understand it

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Pootertoot

07-18-2002, 09:11 AM

, but IF there is any thought of bringing a similar HIV character to american sesame street,

Don't we already have that in that slut Prarie Dawn?

They call her the pin cushion for how many times she's been sticked.

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kinghooah

11-16-2002, 12:23 PM

What's next? A little sesame street sketch showing kids how to put on condoms? How age appropriate is that?

(i took the condom thing from the show the other night)

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