Oy vey

[lapsedmodernist]

So while in London Fionn discovered the "Max and Ruby" cartoons and totally fell in love with them. I dig them, theophile liked what he saw of them, so we will be showing them to Fionn, who up till now has been primarily watching the Soviet Winnie the Pooh cartoons and the Frog and Toad stories.

Today I was curious and was googling "Max and Ruby" both to find out more about the books and to find reviews of the show...I found a shitload of parents' reviews that just...made my brain hurt.

I gathered my favorites in an email to theophile:

so I was looking around online for reviews of Max and Ruby and this is my favorite:

I really dont like it at all. Where are the parents? A 7 year old and a 3 year old shouldn`t live alone. Its just not right. Also, it is a bad influence on kids. Ruby clearly tells max not to do something, max promises, ruby leaves, and he does it! That is completely irresponsible. What makes him think he can just do whatever he wants, and get away with it? Don`t get mad and report me, because I am just expressing my opinion. This show is bad, and it doesnt teach kids anything at all. Parents, people say this is a kids show that teaches kids stuff, but it is about a bossy girl who has a little brother who does what he wants, and thinks he can get away with it. Don`t let your kids watch this. They will grow up to be irresponsible if you let them watch any bit of this. I am just expressing my opinion. This show is bad, and I think it is kind of a bad influence because it will teach kids to be irresponsible because max is told not to do something, yet he does it! I don`t like this show.

and he/she is not alone!

This could be a very good show. My 5 year old son loves it and has been watching it for about a month. But not any more. Unfortunately, the writing is terrible and teaches horrible lessons. hide
Max is constantly being rewarded for his inappropriate behavior. He teases his sister, he doesn't listen to authority figures. No parents, or guardians, but a little sister who constantly neglects Max in different episodes, which usually leads to Max's deviant behavior. My son started teasing his little brother and nephew, and stopped listening to his parents after watching this show. He is no longer allowed to watch it. Writers, wake up! The characters in this show, and the show itself has great potential, and it would be a really cute show if you would just incorporate good moral lessons for children. Don't let Max get his way when he's bad, and for goodness sake bring home the parents, they've been away way too long.

It's an alright show, for some people.
Max and Ruby is a show that just rubs me the wrong way. The older sister Ruby seems to have to watch her three year old brother Max 24/7 because there are absolutely no parents on the show. That seems completely unfair seeing how Ruby seems to be only eight or nine years old. Another thing that bothers me about this show is Max and Ruby's personalities. Ruby is a domineering control freak, and Max is a spoiled child who constantly has to have things his own way and who seems to always be playing tricks on his sister. I see absolutely no educational value to this show, but I'm sure some people would like it. The animation is pretty cute, and all the outfits they wear and toys they play with look very vintage, as if they came out of the Fifties, so that's pretty cool.

Why don't you see their parents?
My son loves max and ruby so much. he ask me why don't max and ruby have parents? I mean ruby does teach max alot but you never see the parents or talk about them. You see the grandmother and the bunny scout leader for the adult part. Don't you think there should be a parent around? In real life you don't see a 8 yr old raising a 3 year old. I think maybe they should bring the parents in on some of the shows. besides that i think its an okay show. But there should be some kind of parents on the show.

and the coup de grace:

a dumb show
this show is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb! it's so dumb and babiesh and there are no parents whatsoever so how they manage to pay the bills. and also why does max never speak or sometimes and only say 1 or 2 words?????????????? this show makes no sense. it's not as dumb as toopy and binoo. that show is sooooooooo dumb. it's about a mouse and a cat. believe me the storylines for this show are so so so so dumb that's it's so so so so boring. this show is so so so so boring. DON"T watch it

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??? Is everyone completely devoid of a) suspension of disbelief b) any kind of appreciation of symbolic/non-literal function of story-telling c) appreciation for a story where kids can behave like kids without normative moralizing?

Comments

[bing-crosby.livejournal.com]

I wonder if these people have ever seen that society-destroying cartoon "Charlie Brown." "The kids are all so mean to Charlie! That one girl pulls a football out when he is about to kick it. Someone could be hurt like that! And all the authority figures speak in incomprehensible monotone. How can we teach our kids to respect authority with role models like this? The most responsible member of the crew is a dog, for crying out loud!"

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

hahahahaha. so true.

[wolodymyr.livejournal.com]

My grandmother was actually one of those people who thought novels were dangerous. The only TV show she could watch was Family Feud. My aunt, her favorite, managed to stray as far as watching The Cosby Show.

People actually can have a real problem with suspension of disbelief, it's crazy. But yeah, there are people out there who are sincerely threatened by depictions, and who think for some reason (why? bible class? it may actually be possible) that ALL narrative is necessarily didactic.

How on earth one conveys that it's not, I don't know.

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

But, but novels = Family Feud.

[wolodymyr.livejournal.com]

Yes. With none of the sex scenes, yet all of the sniggering. Neat trick.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

my thoughts exactly, sort of, except that you expressed them so succinctly and eloquently, mine were just "uh, wait, something is wrong with that..."

[msmsgirl.livejournal.com]

Is everyone completely devoid of a) suspension of disbelief b) any kind of appreciation of symbolic/non-literal function of story-telling c) appreciation for a story where kids can behave like kids without normative moralizing?

Yeah and also, like, HELLO, CHILDREN'S LITERATURE?! Peter Pan, The Chronicles of Narnia, Maurice Sendak books, shit, Harry fucking Potter! The absence of parents and a fantastical level of independence and autonomy is, like, a PREREQUISITE for children's adventure stories. I had heard of this current-dumbass-mainstream-Gen-X-parents trend on the interwebs before -- of parents actually objecting to and trying to rectify the sacred tradition of NO PARENTS in children's fiction! Truly, truly sad, and infuriating!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

yes THANK YOU. Is this really a TREND? I have not come across it. It's scary and, like, cultish.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

had not come across references to it being a trend, obv. is what I meant.

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

How we loved Max and Ruby!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

it is so sweet without being at all cloy!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

cloying

[zerodivide1101.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of modern parents feel a distinct pressure (real or imagined) to overanalyze every last bit of stimuli their kids are exposed to. Among the many problems with this is the fact that the vast majority of these parents don't have the tools to perform this evaluation, so they're left with half-remembered magazine headlines and a severely miscalibrated gut instinct as a filter for raising their children.

I find it more than a little disturbing.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

It IS really disturbing for a variety of reasons. Like, there are multiple levels of creepiness in those reviews, from the totally literal interpretation of A CHILDREN'S CARTOON to that terrifying "don't let Max get away with misbehaving." Makes me think of that couple that beat their 2.5 year old daughter to death because she wouldn't call the father "sir."

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading the House at Pooh Corner, and i kept being surprised and thinking how sweet it was about how to be nice. Like when Piglet gives Wol his house and everyone is careful not to hurt Eeyore's feelings. Anway, it's surprising i think because most books/cartoons aren't full of people being terrible sensitive to each other. And there are still no parents, even then.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

like msmsgirl said, no parents is like this universal trope in children's literature!