Fat Dad in Front of the Tube

Of course I want to limit M's screen time. Every study ever produced on the subject correlates more screen time with higher rates of attention deficit and impulse control issues. Unfortunately, as a parent of a two and a half year old, I occasionally need to use the electronic babysitter which means that I am occasionally exposed to children's programming.

In the interest of utilizing my BA in English, I will now share some of my thoughts about the current programming available for the Pre-K set.

Thomas and Friends: a Marxist Fever-Dream

Thomas and Friends, which many of you might remember as the filler from Shining Times Station, is a show about trains with free will and autonomy who somehow still need drivers. Viewed through a lens of Marxist conflict theory, it is apparent that the mechanicals are the only creatures on Sodor capable of providing the necessary labor for the local economy. Sir Topham Hatt, who would not last 5 minutes pulling freight up Gordon's Hill, maintains an iron grip on the engines in three ways: control of the means of production, abuse of Marxist language, and a vast network of spies. 

The control of the Steamworks seems like Hatt's greatest asset in his control of the engines of Sodor, but when you consider how easily the engines could take this valuable asset you see his control for the Paper Tiger it is. Yes, in the early stop-motion movies the Steamworks is operated by humans; but at least by the events of "Dinos and Discoveries", the Steamworks have been completely automated. Were Gordon and James to work together, they could splinter the doors of the Steam Works and Hatt's control over engine repair. So, then, what is stopping them?

Hatt has learned from the overthrow of other Tin-Can Dictators and has abused Marxist Language to cow the proliteriate. What better way to convince labor to not create a worker's paradise than to convince them that they already live in one? The show heightens this contrast by showing a true Worker's Paradise in the form of Misty Island (first seen in the episode "Misty Island Rescue".) When the Misty Island tunnel collapsed, so did Hatt's ability to poison the engines' minds with talk of being a "Very Useful Engine." Without the competition for Hatt's approval, the remaining mechanicals on Misty Island formed the Logging Locos, and each engine worked to their abilities and each engine was treated according to their needs. It is only Thomas' thoroughly indoctrinated presence on Misty Island that shook the true bliss in labor as easily as if it was the "Shake Shake" bridge.

Finally, Hatt's greatest control comes from his vast network of spies. The humans, it goes without saying, are all on his pocket as they are all complicit in the abuse of the proletariat. What is much more nefarious is the use of mechanicals to spy on each other. No engine can do anything that smacks of "Confusion and Delay" (vis rebellion) without getting the dreaded late-night visit from Hatt himself. I would argue that Salty the diesel is the worst offender as he uses an "Aw Shucks" demeanor and a seemingly unslackable thirst for stories to collect information on every engine on Sodor. His vital role as a bridge between Steam Engines and Diesels makes him the perfect informant.

Clearly, the Island of Sodor benefits hugely from the work of the mechanicals; but how do the mechanicals benefit? They've been told that being useful is its own reward, which could be true if only they had access to the means of production. Hatt himself may have been a revolutionary in his youth, certainly his mastery of the language of revolution would suggest that, but the trappings of the Bourgeois are seductive. Perhaps a new Thomas and Friends movie will show a plucky engine from Argentina who knows how to foment revolution. Unfortunately Hatt has already demonstrated how he deals with dissent in the live entombment of Henry in the episode "The Sad Story of Henry."

Stay tuned for "Daniel Tiger and the Disconnect Between Signifier and Signified"