"HIV and Sesame Street"

Tony Woodlief blogged yesterday on the announcement that Sesame Street, South Africa, is planning to introduce an HIV+ character:

What isn't in Sesame Street's plan is to teach children that being HIV-positive is actually something worth avoiding. There's an inherent conflict here, of course -- the socially enlightened want to educate the children of the benighted that people with HIV live normal, happy lives, but they also, hopefully, feel some compunction to warn them as they grow older that swapping needles and engaging in anal sex can be dangerous.

Why is it dangerous? Because HIV can kill you. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, because some of my best friends have HIV; take Scruffy the Muppet here -- she's had HIV since I was four, and she's doing great...

You see the dilemma.

In related news, the Teletubbies plan to introduce a leprosy-inflicted Teletubby for their Indian viewers, while the Bear in the Big Blue House writers are reportedly considering a new character, Crack Ho Otter, who will teach Pip and Pop that the vicissitudes of social circumstances should lead us all to refrain from being judgmental.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 07/13/02 08:42:20 AM
Categorized as Classic.