Author: Higher Things

by Kimberly Grams

I just learned that original episodes of Sesame Street are out on DVD (Volume 2 was released in November). They come with a warning: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” This is a joke, right? This is the show that taught me to READ. By kindergarten, I could read any book they threw at me. Why the warning? So, I did a little research.

Back then kids rode bikes – with no helmets! Yeah, I know, it’s safer with a helmet. But now kids can’t even SEE someone riding without a helmet. How come kids don’t need a helmet for the playground, or sledding, or at the skating rink? Back in the day, no one wore a helmet. I only had one concussion (tubing on an icy hill). So today, helmets for any activity where they might fall on their heads. And let’s wrap them in bubble wrap. OK, my kids DO have helmets, which they wear (sometimes) when they scooter –they don’t even ride bikes. When we were kids we rode our bikes everywhere. My kids are 10 and 11, but they don’t go anywhere on their own because I’m much more worried about some freak grabbing them.

And that brings up another Sesame Street “Old School” moment. Gordon befriends a little girl and brings her back to meet his wife, Susan, and get a treat. OK, I can see why you’d have red flags on this one – don’t talk to strangers. Back then no one thought that scene was weird. Should today’s kids be watching this?

Reality check. THIS was the conversation I had to have with my girls, after a 15-year old newspaper carrier was murdered in our town. A man in a car with a gun approached her on her 5 a.m. route. She was afraid, so she got in. I told my daughters that even though this is unlikely to happen to them, if someone with a gun ever approaches them, they should run away (in a zig-zag) and yell. The person probably WON’T shoot at you – people will hear and they will get caught. IF they do shoot at you, they will probably miss. If they hit you, it will hurt, but you’ll probably survive. If you get in that car, you will be DEAD. Yeah, I’m SO worried about them watching old episodes of Sesame Street.

When Sesame Street premiered we had about 4 channels. When Big Bird was on, he was the only game in town. EVERYBODY watched. We weren’t all permanently damaged. In my research, an article quoted a parent as saying “What did they do to us?” Are you serious? They’re now blaming childhood obesity on Cookie Monster. Yep, a puppet yelling “Cookies! Um, num, num, num, num!” and spewing crumbs is responsible. It couldn’t POSSIBLY be the gazillion commercials for junk food. Cookie Monster is also in trouble for smoking (and eating) a pipe during a spoof called “Monsterpiece Theater”. Cookie Monster was funny. I don’t recall anyone suddenly craving a pipe for breakfast.

Other evils of early Sesame Street? Oscar is grouchy. He has no ambition and no one is treating his obvious depression. It used to be that Big Bird was the only one to ever see Snuffleupagus. Why is Big Bird hallucinating? Now EVERYONE can see Snuffie, and Big Bird won’t have to go to rehab. Don’t even get me started on Bert and Ernie. To keep the modern child safe from the horrors of 1960’s/’70’s Sesame Street, scenes have been deleted, altered, and the whole enchilada slapped with an adult-only label.

I’m more worried about consumerism than I am about a giant yellow bird’s imaginary friend. Let’s talk about Elmo, shall we? I’m not anti-Elmo. I’m irked by what they did with Elmo outside of Sesame Street. I had a LOT of stuffed animals when I was growing up, but when did we reach the point where we need 50 different kinds of Elmos? Not for collecting mind you, but animatronic ones that DO stuff. It started with “Tickle Me” Elmo and went downhill from there. My youngest daughter used her actual imagination with the single, small stuffed Elmo she had – and she survived without even one Elmo that laughed, sang, or did the Macarena!

I find THAT more offensive than anything I remember from my era of Sesame Street. Something else offensive? We’re watching Nick Jr., the morning block of shows especially for preschoolers. Mine were older, but there was no school and we were checking something out. During the commercials, there was an ad for an MTV award shows with clips of famous people – and one of them says the word “slut”. They showed it about 10,000 times. In what universe is that OK? I banned Nick until after the awards, kept an eye on the commercials and wrote an email complaining (no response).

Is this a rant? Maybe. I think I’m almost done now. Pop culture influences the world and vice versa, and the world has changed. I usually like to have a point in these articles, and this time I’m not sure I do. It made me sad to see how the world has changed, mad at the PC police, and generally gave me a headache. I could say some things about the old Adam, sin in the world, etc., but I’ll leave that to the theologians. All this thinking about the state of the world has made my brain hurt.

I can’t wait to Netflix “Sesame Street: Old School”. There are lots of things from the 60’s and 70’s that I’d never let my kids do now. I wouldn’t let them play in a construction zone, but when we watch it, couldn’t I just say, “That’s not safe”? I actually watch stuff with my kids and then talk about it. Instead of being labeled “adults only”, they should be viewed with kids, maybe slightly older than preschool, as a tool to talk about how the world has changed. It’ll be nostalgic, educational and fun. I want my kids to be safe, but do we really need to drain ALL the fun out of EVERYTHING? Cookie Monster, rock on!

Kim Grams is a writer and pastor’s wife who lives in Scottsbluff, NE. A dancer and an avid reality TV viewer, she has also written So You Think You Can Dance? True Confessions of a Former Liturgical Dancer 

by Kimberly Grams

Vicarious. Cathartic. There’s something therapeutic about watching fictional people do outrageous things. “Desperate Housewives” is my favorite, over-the-top show. It’s juicy – deliciously satisfying. I rate the greatness of the episode how many times there is a plot twist I wasn’t expecting and on the cattiness of the episode, i.e. how many times I say “that witch!”

“Desperate Housewives” is one of the only shows that I DVR, but can’t WAIT to watch. Cheating, lying, stealing, blackmailing – all complete with witty banter. Fake pregnancy so people won’t know your teenage daughter is pregnant? Check. Amnesiac husband addicted to painkillers? Check. Current husband married you to boost his political campaign, so you’re having an affair with your ex-husband? Check. Have five kids and just got through cancer treatments? Check. Mystery about the new neighbor returning to the cul-de-sac years after leaving abruptly – and some unspeakable secret involving her daughter? Check.

I thought that the tornado episode would be the last and leave us hanging on indefinitely until the end of the writer’s strike. The episode started with a comment along the lines of “little did the four women know that four hours later, one of them would lose a husband, and all of them would lose a friend”. OK, Gabrielle’s current husband is evil and got staked with a fence post during the tornado, so he’s likely the dead husband. But no one liked him, so he’s not the friend. Is it Carlos, the ex-husband who got hit in the head? Is it Tom, trapped with the kids under the rubble of what used to be Wisteria Lane? Will it be Ida, who was trapped with them? Presumably the psycho-stalker girl sucked out the door by the tornado is dead, but she wasn’t a friend either. Who else? Will any main characters die? Or will Ida be the friend they will lose?

When I saw there would be at least one more episode I was definitely relieved. How much will be revealed about the aftermath of the tornado? How much of Wisteria Lane will be destroyed? What new questions will arise? The writers of this show have never been afraid to shake things up a little. The show was just hitting its creative stride again this season, and now who knows how long we’ll have to wait to find out more.

As of mid-November EW reported that there were 3 new episodes left for “Desperate Housewives,” so the one on Sunday will most likely be the last one for a long while. I thought that we might not find out the fate of Lynette’s family and the whole episode would be melodramatic and still leave us hanging. I was pleasantly surprised to see that question resolved almost immediately, as Tom and the kids were found alive at the beginning of the episode. And, as I predicted, Victor was the dead husband, and Ida the lost friend. So, some things were resolved, but we still have to wait to find out the rest of the Catherine’s-secret-about-her-daughter storyline.

The writer’s, smart people that they are (and would the stupid people who are feuding them please give them what they want so we will not be left in limbo), moved the story line along, while still tying up some issues. It was a very satisfying episode – I cried a few times (I hate crying) but I also laughed out loud several times. Lynette switching Ida’s ashes with dust from the vacuum and then running around the baseball field to scatter them was priceless. That is totally something I would do. (Note to self: when we go to scatter Dad’s ashes, don’t call and ask in advance).

Despite its outrageousness, “Desperate Housewives,” packs an emotional punch, not in the big moments, but in the quiet moments of desperation. When Lynette realizes that she missed the opportunity to get to know the amazing Ida, who sacrificed herself for the Scavo kids, or when Susan tells Bree that she needs her domestic skills to maintain sanity – these are the moments we identify with most. Which makes the show not just entertaining, but powerful.

The truth is, anyone who’s ever been a housewife has probably been desperate at some time. Most people, not just housewives, will have moments of desperation in their life. Financial troubles, health problems, job changes, marriage/divorce, kids – life and death. If you’ve never had a desperate moment you’re either very young or very, very “lucky.” Like Lynette, Susan, Gaby, and Bree, I’ve been through some desperate moments with my own friends. When my best friend’s husband was killed in 9/11, those desperate moments – desperate for information, desperate that someone would be pulled alive out of the rubble, desperate for this to not really be happening were horrific beyond belief.

My life did not turn out like I envisioned it – not by a long shot. I didn’t know my health would keep me from being the super-mom I planned to be. There are many things I planned to do with my kids that I can’t. But you know what? God sits a lot higher than we do, and can see not just down the road, but around the corner as well. For every almost every desperate situation I’ve personally faced, something good – something unexpected – has come out of it. And despite desperate situations, there have been many, many blessings. If my health hadn’t made me almost unemployable, I probably wouldn’t have become a writer.

As you begin this New Year, I hope and pray that your life will be blessed and that you won’t experience many desperate moments. And if you do, remember that God is with you, bringing good out of all things for those in Christ. Remember that our Father becomes “desperate” for you, to save you from all the twists and turns of the outrageous moments in life. The Lord knows your every desperation, gifts you with faith in Jesus, and provides for all you truly need for body and soul.

Kim Grams is a writer and pastor’s wife who lives in Scottsbluff, NE. A dancer and an avid reality TV viewer, she has also written So You Think You Can Dance? True Confessions of a Former Liturgical Dancer