Monday, May 18, 2009

Curious George: SVU


Old-school fairy tales are terrifying. A cannibal crone has an appetite for children. A mean lady is trying to kill the nice princess. All of the moms die and are replaced by evil stepmothers. Since our son Bob is just 3 years-old, we are still trying to avoid these types of plotlines. Enter, Curious George. Bob has a deep affection for this little monkey. George is sweet and curious and likes to get into mischief, all of which I believe Bob identifies with on a personal level. George takes over a pancake breakfast. So cute! George accidentally let the baby bunny out of her cage. Adorable!

On a recent trip to the library, we checked out some vintage George books (circa late 1960s) and we were surprised with the darker, tragedy laden, C.G. experience.

Curious George Goes to the Dentist introduces the concept of going to the dentist as a frightening journey filled with toothaches, shots, and crying. Lots of crying. We also discover that nurses are young and pretty. (Dear Penthouse Forum…)

Reading Curious George Learns the Alphabet, we discover:

“Alligators will eat you if you don’t watch out.” (Don't worry honey, we don’t live in Florida.)

“Bees might sting, and that would be bad.” (Ouch!)

“Crabs can be funny, but they can also pinch you.” (Really, ouch.)

“Dinosaurs have all died out.” (Ready to explain death to a pre-schooler?)

“Never fool the fire department, or you go to jail, and that’s not fun.” (Time to explain the prison system.)

“A goldfish lives in a glass bowl and looks gay.” (And now, a lesson about homonyms.)

“The lucky lion is having a leg of lamb for lunch.” (Not so lucky for the sweet baby lamb.)

“Two roosters will start a rumpus. They really can get rough”. (Yay! Cock fighting!)

In Curious George Goes to the Hospital, George swallows a puzzle piece and is admitted into the children's ward at the hospital. He is made to drink sweet, thick barium before his x-ray, meets a boy named Dave who is having a painful blood transfusion and a girl named Betsy who doesn’t smile. When George’s friend the man in the big yellow hat goes home, “George lays in bed and cries himself to sleep.”

Sweet dreams everyone.

6 comments:

  1. Disney movies also fit in the horrifying genre... Dumbo, Bambi, Old Yeller and Song of the South gave me nightmares as a child... No wonder some of us grew up with separation anxiety.....

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  2. I will never be grown up enough for Old Yeller.

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  3. My sister and I used to hide in terror watching reruns of Lassie!

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  4. This all begs the question whether we in the west, and the U.S. especially, coddle our children too much. Anywhere else in the world children see and experience things far more dangerous, frightening and 30- years -later-therapist- couching from the very earliest age as a matter of course. Parents my age seem almost to live in a panic mode today. How hot, how sterile, how nutty, how toxic, how benine, how loud, how naked....who, what, where.

    Maybe it's just me getting older, but the funny thing is, when I look around at the kids of people my age, the vast majority are little monsters.. Perhaps a good tiger or wicked witch is in order?

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  5. I believe that can all be found on CNN 360.

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  6. We had to make Jack and the Beanstalk....disappear. The giant eats little English boys for snacks. Nice. But I really enjoyed the moral of the story. If you become a sneaky little thief you will eventually steal the thing that makes you happy, rich and will make your momma proud. Fe, fi, fo, fum.....


    Karen

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