So I found a TV show with Jigsaw puzzle theme
The Puzzle Place is a 1994-1998 PBS kid's show about diverse puppets learning lessons about sharing, caring, and institutionalized racism and sexism. It gave children with marginalized identities the chance to see themselves on screen.
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| Julie Woo: Chinese-American girl |
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| Kiki Flores: Mexican-American girl |
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| Ben Olafson: Boy of German and Norwegian descent |
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| Leon MacNeal: African-American boy |
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| Skye Nakaiye: Apache boy |
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| Jody Silver- Lithuanian Jewish girl |
And all the Chinese-American boys, Mexican-American boys, girls of German and Norwegian descent, Apache girls, and Lithuanian Jewish boys watching this program were devastated.
The voice actors are all the same ethnicities as their characters, which is cool.
This is Season 1, Episode 39- "Willing and Able"
Ben plays basketball while Skye cleans up the clutter on the floor so that his friend Kyle can get around.
Kyle is the disabled kid. I wonder what his ethnicity is.
Skye says that Kyle likes all kinds of music and Jodie takes about fourteen seconds to tell a joke about how they don't have "all kinds" of music, but they have "some" kinds. The music accentuates the punchline,
Even if this show helped kids with accepting diversity and learning about racism and sexism, it probably wasn't worth it for what it did to their sense of humor.
Everyone goes to clean up for Kyle. Meanwhile, Nuzzle the dog and Sizzle the cat wander around the basement. Nuzzle is upset because he fell off a tree.
The voice actors for Nuzzle and Sizzle are human, for some reason.
Kyle comes to the Puzzle Place and raises the question "What is the Puzzle Place?"
The problem with jumping into a series 39 episodes in is that I don't understand the world-building in the previous 38 episodes. The theme song gives some clues that contrast with PBS's other fantasy world: Sesame Street.
KIKI:
I know somewhere
(KIKI!)
Let me take you there
Versus
Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street?
The Puzzle Place takes the pressure off the kids and has the characters explicitly promise to take the kids to this realm. Until this verse;
BEN:
Come along with me to find it
(BEN!)
It's everywhere.
So The Puzzle Place is like a state of mind? Why do we have to find it if Kiki already offered to take us there?
The Puzzle Place, The Puzzle Place.
We're goin' to the Puzzle Place.'
And if you're a kid, you've got the key.
Hold on, all kids have the key to this Puzzle Place? Is it like a physical key? It's a physical place.
This is Kyle, a very white disabled character in this multi-ethnic show.
BEN
And you're in a wheelchair!
KYLE
Oh, you must be Ben. I'm Kyle and I use a wheelchair.
BEN
Oh, I'm sorry, Kyle.
Then they kick Kyle out of the Puzzle Place for his political correctness.
I'm horrified that they released this in 1995 without the appropriate 2018 politically correct terms.
Kyle says that he doesn't like to say he is "in a wheelchair" because if he was just "in a wheelchair" he couldn't shoot a basketball.
Which is like saying "I'm not in a car, I use a car. If I were just in a car, could I turn the steering wheel?"
Kyle explsains how great his wheelchair is and everyone looks at the camera. A video card flies forwards.
So, from what I understand, when the characters look at the camera, they look across dimensions to Earth.
This girl does a quick voiceover on how she uses her wheelchair. I'm just wondering how she communicates with the characters. Is the Puzzle Place a state of mind? Does each person have their own puzzle places? Do the puppets see the people as different from themselves? How do kids reach the Puzzle Place?
Anyway, the girl describes how she uses her wheelchair. When the clip ends, the puppets don't even mention it, although they appear to have been watching it.
This world is too confusing, especially for a kid's show.
Jodie asks Kyle for help with her free throw. She misses.
KYLE
Well, that's pretty good Jodie, but you're pushing it. Try, um, popping it a little, and giving it some spin with your fingers.Jodie makes the next basket.
Kyle does a layup. He seems incredible condescending and annoying to me.
KYLE
If you think that's great, you should see some of my friends!
So these puppets are friends with people on Earth?
Kyle does some sports commentary and I'm just more confused about how this world works. Is Kyle a visitor from Earth? Why does he look like a puppet?
Dance time!
Ben tells Kyle that he'll teach Kyle his dance moves once he gets out of the wheelchair. Kyle tells Ben that he will never be able to walk again.
Cut to Sizzle telling Nuzzle that dogs can't climb trees. Nuzzle challenges Sizzle to dig a hole and bury a bone.
And BOOM! Suddenly The Puzzle Place proves it's capable of parallel narratives. Creatures with different abilities do things differently.
Kyle asks Ben what is bothering him. Ben admits that he feels sorry for Kyle.
KYLE
People who use wheelchairs have lives that aren't so different from anybody else's.Anyone else have the feeling that the show uses the term "People who use wheelchairs" to avoid specifying Kyle's disability
KYLE
People who use wheelchairs take trains where they want to go. |
| (As long as they are accessible) |
KYLE
Shop in their favorite stores |
| (As long as they are accessible) |
KYLE
And work in all kinds of places and in many different kinds of jobs. |
| (Check out that unemployment rate!) |
Remember,
Kyle says that a lot of disabled kids get annoyed when well-meaning people say some offensive things because the term microaggressions didn't exist in 1994.
This girl's testimony is hilarious.
"Sometimes kids make fun of my because I'm-"
"What's this show's PC term? What's this show's PC term?"
"-I'm in a wheelchair"
Kyle explains the concept of lifts and ramps. We're over halfway through and the story has stopped for some educational nonsense. I'm wondering what the other puppets are doing with Kyle over.
KYLE
All that stuff is important, but mainly, Ben, just treat me the way you would treat someone who can walk.If I were a kid, I'd be incredibly confused with all these mixed messages.
Back to the parallel narrative. Sizzle is upset that she couldn't bury a bone. Nuzzle mentions that it is similar to how he couldn't couldn't climb a tree.
SIZZLE
So where does that leave us now?
NUZZLE
Up a tree without a bone?Except they aren't up a tree and they have a bone.
There were two simple parts to that joke and they messed both of them up.
I don't care if this show makes kids more tolerant or eradicates bullying alltogether, it's not worth it for the harm it will do to their sense of humor
Also, why are cats always female and dogs male?
Sizzle discovers that she can put a bone in a suitcase and it will be just like burying it.
Except it isn't. At all.
Nuzzle discovers that he can climb a ladder and it will be just like climbing a tree.
Except it isn't. At all.
Julie is going to play the obligatory end song.
We're all the same inside
and we all dance to our different beat.
By the way, they are all dancing to the same beat. Of the song. Because it would be incredibly obvious if they weren't.
The puppets welcome Kyle to the Puzzle Place.
Which brings up the world-building problems of this show.
What is the Puzzle Place?
Where did the puppets originally come from?
What is their connection to Earth?
What is the criteria for joining the Puzzle Place?
Regardless of the positive messages of The Puzzle Place, it will do serious harm to children's senses of humor and critical thinking skills.
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