[[So. This is an essay I had to write for college, but the whole essay and play we read by Cusi Cram and Samuel French really hit home for me so I’m just gonna post the whole thing on here. The essay is based on the play “Dusty and the Big Bad World” and i think everyone needs to read it. Especially people who had a little aardvark character help them learn a ton of things about life as a kid. I’m not the best writer in the world, as a warning, but here you go.]]
Let me tell you one thing - this play took my childhood and smacked me in the face with nostalgia. Arthur was my favorite show as a child, and it’s no wonder that it’s one of the longest running animated shows in America. It’s still relevant today. Arthur and its spinoff show, Hey Buster, (which is what Dusty and the Big Bad World is about) tackle real life problems that every child can connect to, including cancer, allergies, losing a pet, and substitute teachers. This play was very successful in showing the diversity Hey Buster tried to pull of in one of their episodes. I remember watching the specific episode as a child, I suppose it aired for a short time then was banned later on - but I remember seeing it in the fourth grade in the kitchen with my mother, my best friend, and my sister. My mom laughed and said “oh my god!” But she didn’t turn it off or anything. We were mostly just laughing. Not at them, but in shock, I guess. Buster said something to the effect of “two moms? That’s a lot of moms!” And after that, the whole episode was about making maple syrup. Little did I know that in college I’d be reminded of this tiny speck of my childhood which is extremely significant to me right now, as a queer person myself.
With that, I’d like to say that it is so important that we teach children about sexuality! Sure, don’t go into anything explicit or graphic (I don’t see why we would have to, as children’s television doesn’t show anything like that in regards to heterosexuality,) but let it be inroduced to them the same way heterosexuality is! It’s natural and is just a simple part of life, so much simpler than others make it out to be. Show children that a family is a family, no matter what it consists of. I remember my seventh grade teacher saying she wouldn’t show her children Spongebob Squarepants because Spongebob and Patrick were gay, apparently. I never even got that vibe. But even if they were, why not? Let them hug and hold hands and go on a date. They aren’t murdering Mr. Krabs or promoting hatred by doing that. No harm done. Or another incident with children’s television I stumbled upon. The hit animated show Adventure Time’s two female leads, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vanpire Queen, were intended to be a couple. One episode where they were going to begin to introduce this was aired, and in a recapping of the episode done by some workers on the show said that “Marceline might like Princess Bubblegum a little more than a friend.” This of course, caused an uproar of moms, forcing the recapping video to be taken off of YouTube, the workers who planned it out to be fired, and for Marceline and Princess Bubblegum not to appear in another episode together for the next two seasons. The episode that aired stayed on thankfully, and currently the show continues to hint at their possible relationship with very small interactions and gestures between them. I have to applaud the writers of all these shows for their amazing bravery and their stand for equality and the well being of all children. I hope, as a future animator myself, I will be able to create a show with LGBTQIA characters - not just for comedic purposes, but as real, authentic characters children will know and love.
Dusty and the Big Bad World reminded me of the importance of all of this. As for the conclusion of the play, it is realistic, so I liked it. People in power win. Karen, Jessica, Nathan, Lizzie, her brother and two dads didn’t stand a chance. But my heart went out to them all, especially Karen and Jessica, who I related to the most. I understood Jessica’s monologue about Flavia because I am currently going through something similar myself, as a queer person - and Karen constantly being stuck in the middle, trying to see the right side of every situation, I understood that too. “What I didn’t realize is that there is nothing that you do with a great love that does not at some point punch you in the stomach.” That line by Jessica in act two particulary stuck out to me, as well as this line by Karen: “I need to believe there is a reason horrible things happen to great people and the wrong people win and that somehow something lovely and good can emerge out of the ashes.” The play ended on a very realistic note - not only about controversies, but about life in general. I am learning that in some point of your life you learn sadness from disappointment, and honestly, that sadness never goes away. And that’s when you’re an adult. It’s a matter of carrying the sadness with you and learning how to live with it. But as an animator myself, I want this sadness not to enter a child’s heart so soon, just like Nathan said. I want children to know that there are people out there, devoting an entire career to letting them know that someone understands.
