It seems apt that on the tenth anniversary of one of the BBC’s most successful children’s programmes, Teletubbies should be at the centre of a controversy… in Poland.
Poor Tinky Winky… Ewa Sowinska, a Polish spokesperson for children’s rights has tasked psychologists to evaluate the content of the still hugely popular Beeb show to assess whether or not it encourages a homosexual lifestyle.
Um… what?
Sowinska has been quoted in the press, specifically on the subject of Tinky Winky, saying:
“I noticed he was carrying a woman’s handbag. At first, I didn’t realise he was a boy.”
Yes. You heard right. Confusion is reigning over the sexualty of a seven-foot-tall, fat purple alien creature with a triangle on his head and a TV screen on his sizeable paunch, all because he carries a handbag. Personally, I just thought he was stylishly accessorised with a particularly jaunty man bag.
I can’t help wondering what the psychologists carrying out the task make of their current project. I take it they’ll be talking to Polish children on the subject, and one can only hope they’ll be rewarded with bewildered stares from the little ones. Either that or they’ll have Tinky Winky himself on the couch to get to the deep-seeded route of all his problems.
We really do live in a world gone mad, don’t we? And if Sowinska’s people do find that (by whatever nebulous means) Teletubbies promotes a homosexual lifestyle, she can recommend that the show be taken of the air. Sigh.
I think the point is being missed somewhat. The Polish psychologists should be looking into other psychological aspects of the Teletubbues. For example, have children who watched the programme grown up to develop unhealthy addictions to custard and toast with smiley faces burnt into them?
Research like this is essential I feel, to combat dangerous tendencies in our children. I want answers as to why, after watching The Magic Roundabout and The Wombles as a kid, I have a secret sugar mine hidden beneath my house and wake up with dangerous compulsions to collect litter on Wimbledon Common.
UPDATE: As I was writing this piece, news has broken that the story may have been a storm in a bowl of tubby custard. Ewa Sowinska’s office are not now launching an investigation into the Teletubbies, saying they are:
“fictional characters; they have nothing to do with reality.”
Well I’m glad we got that cleared up…
