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The Isle of Sodor is a Randian nightmare
Sep. 7th, 2015 10:49 amThomas the Tank Engine is everywhere for toddlers. ARR has Thomas diapers (because they were the ones on Subscribe and Save), Thomas toys from garage sales, a Thomas book from the book fair, etc. So I figured maybe we should actually watch a little Thomas and Friends.
For starters, the ultimate goal of Thomas and his friends is to be a Really Useful Engine. (Yes, it is capitalized.) Everyone kowtows to Sir Topham Hatt, the fat, wealthy owner of the railroad. Wince.
But it gets worse. Thomas and his friends are awful to each other. Everything they say to each other is teasing in a spiteful way. In the first episode, Thomas is snotty so one of the bigger engines tricks him into getting hitched to the back of the train and dragged faster than he can roll all day before finally being set loose miles from home to exhausted chug back to the station. In the next episode, another train hides under the bridge because he's vain and doesn't want to get his shiny paint wet in the rain. So they brick him up in there, Cask-of-Amontillado-style, and leave him there forever. This includes ignoring his pleas that he'll come out, and dwelling, gloatiningly, on how lonely he is now. No hint that anyone will ever forgive him or let him out. They have a picture of him sitting in the track, just his eyes peeking out mournfully over the wall, as other trains go back and forth on the next track over. And then black.
We did not watch a third episode.
For starters, the ultimate goal of Thomas and his friends is to be a Really Useful Engine. (Yes, it is capitalized.) Everyone kowtows to Sir Topham Hatt, the fat, wealthy owner of the railroad. Wince.
But it gets worse. Thomas and his friends are awful to each other. Everything they say to each other is teasing in a spiteful way. In the first episode, Thomas is snotty so one of the bigger engines tricks him into getting hitched to the back of the train and dragged faster than he can roll all day before finally being set loose miles from home to exhausted chug back to the station. In the next episode, another train hides under the bridge because he's vain and doesn't want to get his shiny paint wet in the rain. So they brick him up in there, Cask-of-Amontillado-style, and leave him there forever. This includes ignoring his pleas that he'll come out, and dwelling, gloatiningly, on how lonely he is now. No hint that anyone will ever forgive him or let him out. They have a picture of him sitting in the track, just his eyes peeking out mournfully over the wall, as other trains go back and forth on the next track over. And then black.
We did not watch a third episode.
