Like any parent, I am tried valiantly to mold and shape the pop culture sensitivities of my kids by exposing them to the classics: Princess Bride, Star Wars*, Lord of the Rings, Psych, Fox Trot, Weird Al, and the like.
* The original trilogy, obviously, not the abominations that some call prequels. They have seen those, of course, but not by my hand.
Of course, we are also at the point where the opposite is true - I am exposed to a variety of television shows, pop music, and books that I would never have known about otherwise. While many of these are terrible almost beyond the ability of words to convey*, in certain cases my life has actually been enriched by one of these discoveries.
* Maybe I can do another list of the bad ones! Maybe even tomorrow! Something to look forward to!
Hence, the top 4 TV Shows That I Never Would Have Heard About If Not For My Kids:
(1) Kim Possible. I may be cheating just a little here, as KP started its run when my kiddos were 1 and 3, but I would never have heard about it if we hadn't been trolling the Disney Channel for shows we could watch with Wee Little Geoffrey. And, boy oh boy, what a show. Ron Possible is, obviously, my role model. KP is a self-actualized feminist icon*, there is a somewhat idealized but basically realistic family dynamic, and of course a impressive rogues gallery. And of course, teenaged girls fighting evil is kind of a good theme as far as I'm concerned.
* It's possible that I'm pushing it just a little with that characterization.
(2) Phineas and Ferb. Delightfully silly, yet consistently entertaining. P&F themselves aren't terribly interesting, but Candice adds good solid "drama"* to the proceedings, Isabella is great, the pet-platapus-that-is-actually-a-secret-agent angle is excellent, and the constant send-ups of the standard tropes of every type are excellent. There really is something unexpected that makes me chortle pretty much every episode. Also, I'm fairly amazed that they can come up with an original song (short thought they may be) every episode that is actually generally pretty good.
* In the traditional preteen sense.
(3) Destroy Build Destroy. The name says it all, really. Teams of kids blow stuff up reeeeeeal good, build something out of the shattered remains, then use that to try to blow up what the other team made. It's really oddly compelling. It's nice to see kids actively trying to destroy other kids' stuff instead of working together to try to make the world a better place or some such crap. Also, did I mention that stuff blows up real good?
(4) Spongebob Squarepants. Yes, one of my many secret shames is that I genuinely like the stupid sponge show. Unlike the other three, I won't actively seek it out myself as something to watch when I'm otherwise unoccupied, but I don't tell the kids to change it when it's on, so it qualifies. Yes, it's stupid, and yes, I suspect that per the rumors it would likely be better to watch while stoned, but it's actually reasonably entertaining. What really makes it work for me is that there is a strong undercurrent of hate running through the show - Spongebob is generally making someone else's life a living hell in any given episode, but doing so with such apparent glib naivete that the target can't even directly take out the resulting anger on him. If one assumes that SBSP is actually a master manipulator filled with rage against his fellow beings, there is a delightful subtext waiting to the explored.
Two words: Tower Prep.
ReplyDeletePapa Funk told me to get into that, but I'm afraid that I ignored his sage advice. You like it too, eh?
ReplyDeleteYour kids may hate it (or be bored by it), but it exists at the intersection of The Prisoner, Harry Potter, and the New Mutants (lite). I enjoy it a lot, and the episode based on the Greek epic was excellent.
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