Nightmare on Sesame Street

Monsters. In my experience, they are baby-snatchers, murderers, and frightening beings. Recently, I realized that Sesame Street made light of such a serious thing as monsters. At first, I was in disbelief. I had always thought that the furry, unidentifiable creatures on the show were merely animals of a phylum of which I had never heard. Not monsters. Monsters enjoy punching puppies in the face.

But the truth hit hard one Thursday afternoon, when I noticed that the characters on my beloved Sesame Street were reminiscent of the monsters I often battled in my dreams. Elmo. Oscar the Grouch. Also Cookie Monster. In fact, Monster was Cookie’s last name.

PBS taught me to love these mischief-makers. I trusted them. And I was caught off guard. I shudder to think of the destruction a beloved character like Cookie Monster would wreak if his supply of confections ever ran out.

Hitler was a monster. So is Elmo. I don’t understand why a TV show would ever want me to sympathize with either. On Sesame Street, I was only shown the side of Elmo that lived in Elmo’s World, a crayon-drawn utopia where he played with a little goldfish named Dorothy. What of Elmo’s monstrous side, the side that ate souls and sucked happiness out of children, the side that leapt out of closets and disemboweled the elderly?

I feel sick to my stomach from the thought that I stood by passively as my favorite TV show supported some of the most horrific creatures this world has ever seen. Shame on PBS. Shame on my parents. I only hope that tomorrow’s word of the day is “monster-slaying,” because Sesame Street could sure use some. \\\