Henry cites me as being down on current Sesame Street. (What, you thought it was getting to be a serious blog?) And granted, I have my reservations; whenever I catch a groovy old one with, say, Bob singing “Good Morning Starshine” (oh, yes) I get a bit misty about my childhood. And much as anyone, I regret Cookie Monster being pressed into the service of nutrition with cookies being “a sometime food,” unlike fruits and vegetables.
Still, watching with my kids, I now believe Cookie one of the great redeeming features of Sesame Street. Why? Two examples, which I paraphrase from memory:
[on the word "cowabunga"]
Prairie: That’s not even a word!
Cookie: Sure, it word. Oh, it esoteric, but it word.
[on how he feels on an unfortunate occasion I can't remember]
Cookie: Me not too sad. Maybe a bit lachrymose.
Below, watch him saying he doesn’t like the word “pusillanimous,” and talking about his ambition to be an ophthalmologist.
Okay, so I think it’s funny when an embodied three-year-old id waxes sesquipedalian. What makes you laugh?
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