I and hubby were discussing some christmas goodies to buy our little one when the subject of the R18 rating of the latest Sesame Street DVD featuring the classic episodes was brought up. Yep, you read that right, the Sesame Street show that our generation chewed on daily during our early years has been stamped with the “Adults Only” tag (the warning is actually on the box!).

This article in New York Times states:

According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, ?Sesame Street: Old School? is adults-only: ?These early ?Sesame Street? episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today?s preschool child.?

Ernie and Bert’s homosexuality and living together turns out to be a non-issue compared to the other social misdemeanors that are subliminally featured on the early episodes. A lot of the scary issues parents are facing in the present day are actual scenes from the early Sesame Street. Among the many that are mentioned in New York Times blog are the following scenes:

• A girl is sitting alone when an older stranger approaches her to make friends. He then invites her over to his house and she gleefully agrees. (pedophilia?)

• Oscar the Grouch lives alone in his bin, deteriorating in his mood swings and depression with nobody to help him. Everybody treads gingerly when passing by as he tends to snap at anyone he feels like being grouchy to. (antisocial/sociopathic behavior?)

• In the first runs, no one was overtly cheerful, except Ernie who seemed a little dumb and slow to learn.

• Cookie Monster blatantly encouraged the concept of addictive behavior (cookies… want cookies… need cookies…)

• Big Bird tried to convince everyone in a creepy, strained tone that his imaginary friend (Snuffleupagus) was a real, living creature. Like he was in a perpetual state of hallucination… like he was high on something….

Overreactions? Exaggerations?

Admittedly, maybe only paranoid adults painted the show’s noble child-friendly stance with lurid pictures of reality. But looking at how this generation (the ones who viewed the episodes in question on a daily basis when they were kids) turned out, I’d say we cannot risk the psychological stability of the next ones by allowing shows with ‘adult’ themes to feed their subliminal messages to our kids.

I wasn’t a Sesame Street kid, I was a Batibot kid. Sesame Street freaked me out, even before. The only thing I liked in that show was the pinball showing different numbers.

Edit: some people commented on the inappropriateness of the title. Editing…