ME, A NORMAL CONTRIBUTOR TO FANDOM: So letâs talk about the pedagogical implications Thanosâs snap would have on the Sesame Street curriculum within the greater MCU.
I donât know how pedagogical it is, but I guess now Iâm thinking about Bert sitting alone in a room, missing Ernie.
That is absolutely the emotional core of what a post-Snap episode of Sesame Street would be about (I feel like Bernice would be missing too, and Bert would try to play chess with Rubber Duckie?), but for the episode to function there needs to be something theyâre teaching the audience besides ennui, and that is where Iâm really stuck.
Because the emotional core wouldnât stick if itâs not supported by the structure of the show! But it seems like the Snap destroys basically all structures in place. But that makes the structure of Sesame Street that much more necessary. And then I spiral like this for a while.
Disclaimer: I have not watched a full episode of Sesame Street in a long time
Big Bird has been waiting for the store to open for a very long time now. Heâs a patient bird, and he knows about waiting his turn, but his watch has the big hand on the three and the little hand on the nine and heâs pretty sure that Alan usually open the store when the little hand is on the seven.
Finally, when the little hand goes all the way to the four, the door opens.
âHi, Big Bird,â Chris says, his eyes red and puffy. âWe arenât going to open the store today.â
Big Bird doesnât understand; Hooperâs store opens every day. âWhy arenât you opening the store, Chris?â Big Bird asks. âI need beakpaste, Iâm all out.â
Chris just looks sad. âBig Bird, did you hear about The Snap?â
âNo,â Big Bird says, and the way Chris is talking is very scary. He feels like he might need to sit down. âI donât even know how to snap!â
Chris steps out form behind the door and gestures for them to sit on the stoop. When theyâre settled, Chris takes a deep breath before he speaks. âWell, a bad man named Thanos came to Earth. Do you know about Thanos?â
âYes,â Big Bird nods He heard some of the grownups saying that name. âHe fought with the Avengers.â
âThatâs right,â Chris says. âAnd the Avengers lost their fight. Sometimes, even when grownups try really hard, they canât do all the things they want to do, and sometimes that means that bad things happen.â
âDid a bad thing happen?â
âYes,â Chris says, taking Big Birdâs wing in his hand. âBecause of Thanos, a lot of people are missing. And Alan is one of them.â
Big Bird has to think about that for a moment. He went missing one time, when he was a blue bird in a circus, but his friends found him and brought him home. But something about Alanâs face tells Big Bird that this isnât the kind of missing where your friends can find you.
âIs Alan dead, Chris?â Big Bird asks. âI remember when Mr. Hooper died.â
âThe honest answer is that we donât know. He might be. Or he might just be missing.â
Big Bird tries to understand that. âMissing?â
âYeah,â Chris says. âHe might come back some day, and he might not. We just donât know.â
Big Bird wants to cry. He loves Alan, and he doesnât want any of his friends to be missing. âIs anyone else missing?â
âYes,â Chris says. âSome of your friends may be, or their parents, or yours cousins and uncles and aunts. A lot of people are. And itâs very scary.â
âWhat can we do?â
Chris is crying a little, a few small tears pooling at the side of his eyes, and Big Bird wants to do something, wants to say something, but he kinda feels like crying too, and doesnât know what will help. âI donât know,â Chris says. âI think the only thing we can do is be here for each other, and love each other, and take care of each other. When things are scary, and when bad things happen, the most important thing to do is look around at the people who are still here, and try to do your best for them.â
Big Bird nods. âHey Chris?â
âYeah, Big Bird?â
âDo you want a hug?â
Chris nods. âI would very much like a hug, thank you.â
Big Bird does the only thing he knows how to do; he opens his wings and wraps them around Chris, doing his best to be there for the people who are still with him.
