As a staple of educational programming for kids for decades, Sesame Street has never shied away from addressing difficult topics, but a recent episode has parents saying they’ve crossed a line: Did Sesame Street go too far when they showed Mr. Snuffleupagus being flattened in a garbage truck to teach kids about the dangers of technology?
Yikes. Wasn’t there a way of teaching this lesson without showing that in graphic detail?
The controversial scene, which has inspired hundreds of angry comments on the Sesame Street Facebook page and even a petition to cancel the show entirely, begins with Elmo wandering down Sesame Street while flying his new drone. Alan the shopkeeper overhears Elmo say, “This thing is so neat! Technology is the greatest thing in the world!” and he responds, “Now Elmo, technology can be neat, but we have to be careful with it, too.” They are then startled by the sound of Mr. Snuffleupagus screaming for help and turn to see him being crushed in the back of a garbage truck.
From there, the scene proceeds to show Mr. Snuffleupagus’ gruesome demise from three different camera angles while his gigantic body is flattened like a pancake by the garbage truck and all of his organs, blood, and skeleton are slowly forced out of his trunk hole. Elmo then runs yelling to alert the garbage men that they are crushing Snuffy, but it’s too late. They rush to reverse the trash compactor, screaming in horror when they discover that nothing is left of Snuffy besides his blood-soaked, flattened pelt. Then, the entire Sesame Street gang wanders outside to check out all the commotion and take pictures of Snuffy’s broken remains, while Bert and Ernie start singing, “Technology can help us, but it can hurt us too. // Just look at Snuffleupagus, and you’ll see what it can do.”
In a statement, Sesame Street defended its decision to air the scene, saying, “For over 50 years, Sesame Street has been a trusted source that millions of families count on to teach their children important life lessons. While watching Mr. Snuffleupagus’ brains being forced out of his eye sockets like that may have been uncomfortable for some children, the threats humanity faces from industrialization, AI, and other technological dangers are even more uncomfortable, and children deserve to be educated about them.”
Wow! Sounds like Sesame Street is really digging in their heels on this one.
What do you think? Will this all blow over in a few days, or could this be a turning point for Sesame Street as a cultural fixture? Let us know in the comments!
