A piece from the New York Times took a shot at the children's shows 'Bluey' and 'Chip Chilla' this week. What is the writer's big beef with the family of Australian blue heelers? Daddy dog, Bandit, is just way too 'present' in his kids' lives - regularly playing goofy games with his daughters, to their delight.
Bandit is a 'fantasy', says Amanda Hess of the New York Times.
There are two kids shows that stand out to the @nytimes as problematic: Bentkey’s Chip Chilla and Bluey. And what’s so problematic? “Weirdly present” fathers.
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) December 19, 2023
Both fathers are derided as a “fantasy” for being so active and engaged with their children but, according to NYT, Chip… pic.twitter.com/Y5E87h5x65
I don’t know how he keeps house, works as an archaeologist and serves as a full-time prop artist to his daughters, but he does it all while only feigning complaint. He is not only a good father — he is a fantasy, one crafted to appeal to adults as much as to children.
A talking blue dog with an Australian accent and his working wife, Chilli, raising their daughters in their middle-class human house was just fine for Hess. It's the dad stuff that suddenly vaulted the show into unrealistic territory.
No, really.
This is one of the truly saddest examples of the destruction of normal
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) December 20, 2023
Lack of a father in a home is the top predictor of childhood failure
And these ghouls attack the intact family
Frankly, the dad's willingness to be silly with his daughters - letting them dress him, pause him with a remote, and make goofy jokes - is one aspect of the show that is closest to real life.
It's just what dads do.
Sure, they don't often get to spend all day at home with the kids like Bluey's dad, but guess what? We hate to break it to Ms. Hess, but female big-city real estate executives don't generally travel to their hometown named 'Jingle Bell Falls' for Christmas, kindle a romance with the town carpenter, and get engaged on Christmas Day.
It's a TV show, lady.
It is a bit aspirational, but a some of Chum Chum is based on our own attitudes as fathers to pass on the joy of learning about these subjects to our kids. Every father should be a teacher.
— Frank J. Fleming (@IMAO_) December 19, 2023
Hess also went after Chum Chum the father in Chip Chilla, a similar children's show from The Daily Wire's own Bentkey conservative entertainment outlet.
With 'Chip Chilla,' conservative parents can fulfill a fantasy of their own, combating the perceived indoctrination of public school by screening home-school-themed content afterward, featuring lessons about dead white people and classic texts.
Yowzers, this NYT author really needs a play date with Bandit.
Not here for the Bluey dad hate! There are so few positive male role models in kids' content; it seems a shame to complain that they should've been moms instead. https://t.co/CRa0DX2x14
— Madeline Fry Schultz (@madelineefry) December 19, 2023
Dads can't win with some of these folks on the Left. The general message is that dads don't pull their weight, good ones are hard to find, they're not involved in their children's lives, and, even worse, shouldn't be imposing their toxic masculinity on kids.
A show comes along highlighting the positive things a dad does for his kids, and that's not good enough either.
In case you hadn't noticed, progressives love being miserable.
New York Times Warns That Involved, Loving Cartoon Dads Could Lead To Involved, Loving Real Dads https://t.co/9vjxdtLznO pic.twitter.com/WMRdncpiVx
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) December 21, 2023
The real fantasy at play here is that leftists want involved, loving dads. They always seem to be shifting the goalposts on what dads should be because that's not what they actually want. Involved parents are influential parents, and those get in the way of left-wing media and academia indoctrinating your children.
A little boy dancing in a tutu for his two dads is what they want - not a dad doing typical dad things.
I've been increasingly impressed with Bluey and this is partly why. Good dads are no fantasy. They mean the world to their kids, who inevitably turn out to be great people. The NYT cannot bear the idea of independent, strong, good people; good dads are a threat to this agenda.
— Sour Patch Lyds 🐊 (@sourpatchlyds) December 19, 2023
Nailed it.
The author went on to lament the 'authoritarian fathers' of the Disney movies she grew up with … like The Lion King. No, seriously, she actually wrote that.
We're not sure Amanda Hess has been paying attention at all for the past decade or so. Fathers are typically portrayed as buffoons, in need of constant saving from their wives, slowly being forced to recognize their overbearing influence that's crushing their child's dreams, and generally wrong about almost everything.
In other words, there are a lot more children's show dads being written by Amanda Hesses than there are Bandits.
Just to drill home how ill-equipped she seems to be writing on this topic, check out this doozy of a correction:
A correction was made on Dec. 20, 2023: An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to 'The Lion King' as having featured the untimely death of Mufasa’s wife. She is alive in the movie.
She thought Sarabi died in The Lion King. We can't even. The lioness was, in fact, one of the heroes of the movie.
Imagine being accused of being an attentive father as if it was a bad thing.
— Kris Van Houten (@krivaten) December 19, 2023
We could continue, but instead, we'll just share some tweets of 'fantasy' dads behaving like Bluey.
dads are important and fun 😂 pic.twitter.com/DrcPHvbiK2
— Rock (@TheCensoredRock) December 22, 2023
Dads: Be weird. Be present. Be weirdly present.
Good morning to all the dads who wake up early to play trains ❤️ pic.twitter.com/U1xzUPSp3U
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) December 21, 2023
Don't get us wrong, moms are just as important, but it's undeniable that a child's face lights up when playing with Dad.
Dads are important pic.twitter.com/7Inl7MlNon
— more_meat_loaf (@more_meat_loaf) December 17, 2023
This is the way. LOL.
To call this guy awesome? Is an understatement, to mock him is suicidal lol pic.twitter.com/3zloFCAMKu
— StacesCases 🇨🇦 (@CasesStaces) December 18, 2023
There is very little a dad won't do when his daughter needs him.
This is how you do it
— Save Your Sons (@SaveYourSons) December 20, 2023
Dads: what’s your night routine with your kids? pic.twitter.com/s2mwmk2U9Z
The leftists at the NYT definitely don't want sons learning these values.
Fun dads are just grown-up kids.pic.twitter.com/CCnjdqgOCt
— Figen (@TheFigen_) December 17, 2023
That's it. That's the tweet.
Dear Ms. Hess: Your article belongs in the dunny. (That one was for all you Bluey fans.)
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