{"id":19004,"date":"2011-08-03T13:28:15","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T18:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/?p=19004"},"modified":"2011-07-27T07:33:11","modified_gmt":"2011-07-27T12:33:11","slug":"thomas-the-tank-engine-deconstructed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/08\/03\/thomas-the-tank-engine-deconstructed\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas the Tank Engine (Deconstructed)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

At Slate<\/strong><\/a> a certain Jessica Roake has made the case that the Thomas the Tank Engine series is laced together with British imperialism.<\/p>\n

There is something rotten on the Island of Sodor, home to Thomas the Tank Engine. Viewers won\u2019t find guns, violence, or anything even approaching a double-entendre. There\u2019s none of the blatant racism of early Disney\u00a0Song of the South<\/em> or religion delivered through talking produce, as in\u00a0Veggie Tales<\/em>. Yet something about\u00a0Thomas and Friends<\/a><\/em>gives liberal parents the creeps\u2026.<\/p>\n

For example: In 2009, academic\u00a0Shauna<\/a> <\/a>Wilton<\/a> wrote that\u00a0Thomas<\/em>carried a \u201cconservative political ideology.\u201d Her report was derided as whimsy-hating \u201cpolitical<\/a> <\/a>correctness<\/a>\u201d by conservative media outlets. But wait:\u00a0Thomas<\/em> espouses top-down leadership, is male-dominated, punishes dissent, and is uninterested in the mushy sensitivity of its PBS counterparts. (Thomas and his \u201cfriends\u201d often \u201ctease\u201d like this: \u201d \u2018Wake up lazy bones! Do some hard work for a change!\u201d) Its innate conservatism is as obvious as the liberalism of cooperative, solar-panel-building\u00a0Bob<\/em><\/a> <\/em><\/a>the<\/em><\/a> <\/em><\/a>Builder<\/em><\/a> <\/em>and his band of hippie hammer-lovers. Given charges that Thomas is\u00a0anti<\/a>\u2013<\/a>Semitic<\/a>and that Sodor is a\u00a0fascist<\/a> <\/a>paradise<\/a>, Wilton\u2019s assessment is mild. Obviously, it\u2019s foolish to claim that Thomas is a fascist. He and his friends are clearly imperialists\u2026.<\/p>\n

Since the company HIT entertainment took over the Thomas franchise in 2003, it has revamped the show\u2019s original model-train style and done away with the incongruous narration of liberals George Carlin and Alec Baldwin. (Please imagine Alec Baldwin saying, \u201cYou\u2019re just a small green engine with ideas above your station!\u201d) The new Thomas is a CGI\u2019d, multiple voice actor extravaganza with nary an iconoclast narrator in sight, and the cast of trains has diversified a bit. There are more female and foreign engines, the narratives have softened, and Sir Topham Hatt occasionally smiles. But once you have engaged in Thomas cultural criticism, there\u2019s no going back. It\u2019s nearly impossible to listen to lines like \u201cbeing strong was only good if you were also really useful, and he\u00a0had<\/em> to be really useful\u201d without hearing something sinister. Cast off your shackles and rise up, little engines! Down with Topham Hatt! Sodor revolution now!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Slate a certain Jessica Roake has made the case that the Thomas the Tank Engine series is laced together with British imperialism. There is something rotten on the Island of Sodor, home to Thomas the Tank Engine. Viewers won\u2019t find guns, violence, or anything even approaching a double-entendre. There\u2019s none of the blatant racism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThomas the Tank Engine (Deconstructed)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Slate a certain Jessica Roake has made the case that the Thomas the Tank Engine series is laced together with British imperialism. 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