Maybe this is something I worry about more than I should, but I think a lot about the kinds of shows my kids watch. Because that stuff does influence them. For the parents out there, I had an idea to start a thread where we can list kids shows that are solid choices for us as leftist parents. I’m not expecting some cartoon characters to start discussing dialectical materialism. But I’m thinking shows that highlight values like empathy, community, etc. I would also include shows that simply avoid a lot of capitalist bullshit or cop worship (hard to avoid that one in kids shows, surprisingly). Also, we can use this thread to list shows we think kids should avoid.
Some of them that I came up with:
Mister Rogers Neighborhood - Fred Rodgers, while I don’t think he was explicitly a leftist, really did seem to focus on really good things. Might be hard to get kids interested in a show that looks as old as this one, but it’s honestly pretty great.
The Joy of Painting - Just a chill dude painting landscapes. Wouldn’t think of this as a kids show but my kids loves it. I have friends with kids who say the same thing, too.
Eleanor Wonders Why - I like this one because the titular character observes the world around her and then wants to use science to explain what’s going on. Just like our boy Karl Marx!
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood - In general I think PBS does a good job in most their shows of not promoting capitalism or bourgeois values. Daniel lives in a neighborhood that doesn’t have the obligatory “good cop” in it, which is good enough for me. Overall seems solid.
Bluey - this show is pretty great, I love it. However, keep in there’s one episode that’s devoted entirely to troop bootlicking (really gross for a kids show), so just skip that one and you’re good.
Doc McStuffins - this show is ok but I’m recommending it because the lead character is POC, and even in 2021 I’m kinda surprised by how many shows still feel they need a white lead character with POC characters off to the side.
And a show I’d recommend against is Paw Patrol, I think for obvious reasons. I’ll stop here and then add more in the comments as I think of them. Please share yours!
Spongebob was pretty great when I watched it growing up. Haven’t really seen many episodes past the first film release though, so I can only assume its grown stale since the original creator passed away. Mr. Krabs is probably the best representation of a greedy, parasitic, small-business owner you could ask for. Along with this it’s fairly obvious to even kids that Spongebob is incredibly naive and how he gets taken advantage of, such as when he tells Patrick how lucky he is for only having to pay Mr.Krabs $50/hr to work for him, as when he started he had to pay Mr.Krabs $100/hr. Or how ridiculous it is for Spongebob to be forced to take a vacation by Mr. Krabs, ironically due to the Fry Cook Union threatening to fine the Krusty Krab a nickel due to Spongebob accumulating too much vacation time. Then of course there are simpler episodes like the reef-blower episode in which Squidward builds up existential dread having gone to live in the suburbs with people who live just like him, only to find the ceaseless monotony and conformity as even worse than dealing with the chaos induced by Spongebob and Patrick.
My kids know Peace, Land, and Bread well enough to ask for it by name. The new Magic School Bus is good too. A little lib on climate change because the can’t advocate for collective and direct action on a kid’s show, but it does discuss the brutalities of climate change very well
Adventure Time: super light and fluffy to start and ends in LGBTQ vampire romance. A non-binary main character. The overall theme is respecting others and cosmic horror.
Max Fleischer cartoons from the 30’s.
This one teaches about the brutality of capitalism and the folly of hoarding wealth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AobrKFsvznYHey I’m not a parent but I’ve kinda observed my gifriends sister and her kid, so I thought I would throw in a few things.
Sesame street, as far as I can tell, is good and educational for kids. If that’s wrong please lmk but from what I’ve observed it seems good
For older kids, adventure time is great and at the very least non-political and doesn’t have cop worship. Also just an all around great show that even adults can really enjoy
Recommending against Caillou - it’s a show that encourages kids to throw temper tantrums to get what they want. Very bad.
LOL this is 5 months old I’m sorry
My mother insists the reason I’m a leftist is because she let me watch Captain Planet and the Planeteers so much as a child. I’m not particularly confident that has aged well though.
When I think of the shows I really loved, they tended to be history or art based. Horrible Histories seems like a good bet based on that.
EDIT thinking more, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra seem good ideas too. I also remember Recess being surprisingly left wing when I rewatched it, but I was a heroin addict at the time and don’t remember it well so I could be over estimating that.
legend of korra is liberal brainworms made into a show. Anyway all I now from captain planet is the “throw him out, he’s got aids!” scene.
Yeah I never watched Korra, I was thinking it would be similar to ATLA. Nevermind that one then.
Honestly that scene and Jeff Goldblum voicing a character obsessed with money who has a large nose and a rats tail whose name is something to do with Vermin is what makes me suspect Captain Planet likely hasn’t aged very well at all. But as a child, it definitely introduced me to ideas that I think set me up to be open to leftism.
Also if you want to really laugh look up the episode on the The Troubles. The IRA and the loyalists are trying to nuke Belfast and everything is solved because one guy from each side open a bakery together that I swear is Queer coded.
LoK is really fun if you want to see liberals set up an entire world of strawmen to push their ideology against and still somehow lose. It’s also really just a slog and has a bunch of weird changes and failings considering how well they did on AtLA.
You’d need to go dig through the channel and find specific videos, but if you want something explicitly leftist, the YT channel NonCompete has a number of videos with puppets to explain leftist concepts. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched any of them, so can’t comment on how kid friendly the language might be, but this is the first thing that jumped into my head.
It is also most likely pretty far off from what you’re looking for.
I mean I love the idea of explicitly leftist kids videos, just that I’ve got low expectations of finding anything like that.
Welp, then definitely see if NonCompete might be something the kid would like! THe puppet videos are pretty endearing, and there’s definitely some clean jokes in there as well for adults (a horse being named “Gluey,” a robot named “Krobotkin,” stuff like that).
I love his puppet videos, and I feel like it fills a need for leftist content that targets younger viewers. We really should unironically be indoctrinating kids with communist ideas every opportunity we have.
Pingu
maybe Avatar the last airbender, you could say its a little anti imperialist and it has POC leads
Maybe not its sequel The Legend of Korra…:brainworms:
