With all the stuff in the news lately about Kevin Clash, I've been thinking about one of the things I hate about our media: sensationalism. I bet there are a more than a few people out there who are saying, "who is Kevin Clash?" That is a problem. The fact is, this sex scandal should be about the guilt or innocence of a man named Kevin Clash, yet when I Googled it (Yes, I actually did a little research on this one! What can I say? I'm growing as a writer.) what I saw most--in headlines--was ELMO SEX SCANDAL.
Seriously, Elmo was involved in a sex scandal? I thought he was a puppet, so how could he be involved in a sex scandal? He isn't even alive, and his character is under the age of 5. How can a preschool-aged puppet be involved in a sex scandal? And who was it with? If it was Zoe, I would view it as a little bit inappropriate for their ages, but hey, who hasn't played a little doctor when they were kids? (Well, besides me of course.) Prairie Dawn is a little bit older, so maybe that would be scandalous on the playground, but certainly not a headline-grabbing scandal. How about Gordon? Maria? That new Chris guy seems really nice, but you never know.
Could the scandal have been a scripted plot on Sesame Street? If it was scripted, boy are the writers getting edgy on the Street! I thought the True Blood parody they did was on the edge (and quite funny), but a sex scandal? Wow! Or maybe it was a very special episode of Sesame Street, in the vein of the old after-school specials I would watch when I was a kid. Well, then again, they have had very special episodes of sitcoms dealing with stuff like this (The Different Strokes episode when they go to the bicycle shop comes to mind.), but I have to ask, what is next? Drugs on the Street? Maybe drug dealers come to Abby's Flying Fairy School and start getting the kids to try "Pixie Dust." Next thing you know Abby gets arrested for selling her body to get money for drugs. I can see the headlines now: ABBY CADABBY IN PROSTITUTION SCANDAL. I can even see her picture (mug shot) looking a lot like Lindsay Lohan (not Freaky Friday Lindsay, but mid train wreck Lindsay).
I am getting a bit ridiculous here, but that is how ridiulous the media gets. I am not diminishing what happened, if the allegations are true. It seems that Mr. Clash has really brought the character of Elmo to life and after I watched his 2011 documentary Being Elmo it seems he has done a lot of good with the character. That does not excuse his behavior, however. An adult should know better. Even if the younger person is willing--and let's face it, a lot of 15 and16 year-olds think they are old enough to make these decisions--it is always the responsibility of the "adult" to say no.
When a child is in their mid-teenage years, they are just starting to learn about their sexuality. They are starting to devlop (in more ways than one) the skills they will use to take advantage of the opposite sex for years to come. I'm just kidding, but these are very formative years, sexually. I spent most of these years of my life with my nose buried in books and watching movies, which explains why I love porn so much, again, just kidding (winks). But seriously, I think this developmental stage is why you find teachers having inappropriate relationships in schools. When a young woman (or young man) is becoming aware of the opposite sex and the hormones start stirring, I can see where a teacher could catch this person's attention. Here is an older, mature, intelligent, adult who you see everyday. When you approach them they give you their attention and don't treat you like a child. They encourage you and make you feel good about yourself. (Well, some teachers, not all.) It would be easy to see where teacher crushes develop. It is the teacher's job to recognize and discourage these feelings, but some adults, when they aren't in a happy relationship, or just lonely, may not use their best judgement, and develop feelings in return. Then you get the TEACHER-STUDENT SEX SCANDAL.
Whether or not Mr. Clash did something wrong or inappropriate remains to be seen, but why drag poor Elmo in this? He did nothing. I understand that Clash has been the puppeteer and voice of Elmo for a long time but they are still two seperate entities. Elmo will go on. Do you really think that the worldwide marketing jugernaut that Elmo is could be stopped? Did Kermit the Frog die (and a dozen other characters) when Jim Henson passed? Yet I have seen articles saying ridiculous stuff like this. WILL ELMO SURVIVE THIS SEX SCANDAL? It is just the media trying to sensationalize the news once again.
The same thing happened many years to a guy named Paul Reubens. If the media was responsible and the headlines merely said something like ACTOR PAUL REUBENS ARRESTED FOR MASTURBATING IN PUBLIC, maybe Mr. Reubens would have done some more projects as his most memorable character Pee Wee Herman. But when the media feeding frenzy plasters PEE WEE ARRESTED FOR MASTURBATING IN PUBLIC, it is hard to find work as a beloved childrens character. (The headlines probably said indescent exposure, or public lewdness, but it all means the same thing.) People went crazy at the time. I remember seeing TV shows trying to tell parents the best way of explaining the whole situation to their kids. I have a good way: Don't let them watch the news! People could not seperate the man from the character. Happily, I see Mr. Reubens appear in shows and movies from time to time and there was even a recent Pee Wee Herman special so the shitty media did not kill his career, but they did knock it down for a while.
I guess all that I am trying to say is that the media bombarding the newspapers, Internet and television with Elmo headlines instead of Kevin Clash headlines, is a pretty crappy way to increase viewerage. The day thousands of Tickle Me Elmo owners sue Elmo for tickling back in inappropriate ways, is the day you can put use the ELMO SEX SCANDAL headline. I really hope that Mr. Clash is innocent, but judgin the more people that come forward and the fact that it sounds like hush money started being thrown about, it seems unlikely. But if you're going to do something that monumentally stupid, you deserve everything you get. As I stated above, whether these were all consensual relationships or not, Mr. Clash was the adult and knew the consequences of the lines he was crossing.
Elmo and all of Sesame Street will survive this scandal. Soon this will all be just a paragraph in the Sesame Street and Elmo Wikipedia pages. I am sure the next puppeteer and voice talent will do a great job and will be loved as much as Mr. Clash. So everyone can relax, be calm and enjoy the one thing that always comes from scandals like this: Comedians (and some bloggers) have a giant pile of material that they will certainly be taking advantage of. Inappropriate jokes have been flying about. YouTube has had numerous videos uploaded making fun of the way the scandal has been portrayed by the media. Even bloggers are throwing in their two cents, I mean, come on, it's the ELMO SEX SCANDAL... who wouldn't be able to find a joke in that statement? (see above)
