Thomas the Tank Engine and His Evil Republican Train - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Thomas the Tank Engine and His Evil Republican Train
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Brian Ledbetter at Snapped Shot calls our attention to a Canadian academic who has spotted the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy’s secret agenda at work in kiddie TV:

Research by the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus contends that children’s programming can carry underlying political themes that may surprise parents. After analyzing 23 episodes of Thomas and Friends, a show about a train, his friends and their adventures on a fictional island, political scientist Shauna Wilton was able to identify themes that didn’t seem constructive for youngsters.
“While the show conveys a number of positive political values such as tolerance, listening, communicating with others and contributing to the community, it also represents a conservative political ideology that punishes individual initiative, opposes critique and change, and relegates females to supportive roles,” said Wilton, an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Augustana Campus.
The Thomas and Friends TV series is shown in 130 countries around the world. Wilton noted storylines in several episodes that divided the characters into different social classes and punished those who tried to gain individual power. “Any change is seen as disrupting the natural order of things.” As well, of 49 main characters listed in the show, only eight were female, reflecting a general trend among children’s programming, Wilton said. (Emphasis added.)

Coming soon to a PBS station near you: “Barney Is Gay (That’s Why Dinosaurs Are Extinct),” and “Let’s Deport Dora the Explorer.”

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