To be fair, that also describes many superhero stories, but at least superheroes tend to have strongly defined personalities, and conflicts within the team Paw Patrol depicts a world where your friends will never let you down, or hurt you in any way, whatsoever.
In the world of Paw Patrol, good characters are always nice and bad characters are always naughty, and the only source of conflict comes from interactions between the two. In fact, every single character in the titular team has the exact same personality the pups differ in appearance and theme, but I couldn’t name a single character trait that describes any of them, other than “helpful.” In contrast, Paw Patrol never shows Ryder and his team of pups disagreeing about anything, ever. Really, it’s a melodramatic soap opera starring sentient trains.Īnd to be honest, I really like that about Thomas, because it (presumably) teaches children that in the real world, people have a great deal of trouble getting along and reaching a common goal, because their personalities and values are constantly coming into conflict with one another, despite their best intentions. The most amusing thing about Thomas and Friends is the title, because the trains all kind of hate each other, and are constantly gossiping and arguing, their personal conflicts fueling the plot of most episodes. It’s the small-scale stuff that’s important, rather than the big picture.īut when it comes to character interactions, Paw Patrol presents a strange, distorted view of the world.
There’s already been great articles written about the dystopian undercurrent of Thomas and Friends.īut then, I lightened up, and came to the conclusion that while overthinking children’s media is fun, children are (most likely) absorbing the interactions between characters, rather than the insidious implications of the plot, or setting.
Rocky paw patrol series#
The series Thomas and Friends goes out of its way to push the notion that every individual should dedicate themselves to their labor, to obey the demands of their corporate overlords, to a rather unhealthy degree. Before my eldest became enamored with Paw Patrol, he was obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, and I used to find Thomas’ fixation on being a “really useful engine” somewhat sinister.
0 kommentar(er)
