The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”

Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by rjromero on Thursday September 28, 2017 @06:59PM (#15361488)

My mother didn’t let me watch anything but Thomas and Friends. She said after watching Rugrats or Spongebob i would turn into a disobedient brat, but after watching Thomas I was apparently well mannered and well behaved.

I ended up becoming a soft well mannered programmer. Fuck you Thomas!

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Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by littlegreenb18 on Thursday September 28, 2017 @11:27PM (#15362536)

You’re a really useful engineer

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Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by alexilliamson on Thursday September 28, 2017 @11:43PM (#15362588)

I thought I was the only one who wasn't allowed to watch rugrats! For the same reason!

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Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by peteretep on Friday September 29, 2017 @01:47AM (#15363018)

We should stop teaching little boys about dinosaurs too. Those T-Rexs are _terrible_ role models!

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Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by pygy_ on Friday September 29, 2017 @04:59AM (#15363775)

I don't show Thomas to my kids for that reason (and because of the show's racism)[1], but I can totally see where your mother came from.

I avoid showing Fireman Sam to my 4yo son because otherwise he channels Nicholas—the self-centered, boastful troublemaker—so much that he's not manageable.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15363728

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Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by falsedan on Friday September 29, 2017 @07:35AM (#15364382)

> Nicholas—the self-centered, boastful troublemaker

Norman Price? He always gets his comeuppance + a fire safety tip. Maybe have a chat after an episode to talk about what happened to Norman & what about his behaviour got him in trouble.

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Re:The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of “Thomas the Tank En... by pygy_ on Friday September 29, 2017 @07:56AM (#15364488)

Yes, he's Norman in English.

I used to watch episodes with my son (and comment immediately when Norman behaves like an idiot), but I can't watch every episode with him, and the fact that Norman gets comeuppance doesn't prevent my son from adopting his worse traits.

Also, IIRC even if the situation doesn't turn right for him, the chraracter rarely regrets anything beside getting caught.

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