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Dora

I think most of you already know that there are kids constantly running around my house, so I have a halfway decent idea of what toddlers and young kids are interested in these days.  Cartoons are always popular, it's just a matter of which cartoon is popular at the moment.  Lately, that's been Dora the Explorer.  Boys, girls, barely walking, preschool age, it doesn't matter; they all seem to derive some enjoyment from Dora.

Now, if you didn't bother to click on the link, Dora is brown.  She speaks Spanish, and the show randomly throws in words in Spanish that little kids can learn.  Since I live in a state where Spanish is fairly common, most parents approve of their kids learning at least a few words.  It's a little surprising to me how popular the show is, but the kids that come here are from all kinds of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and they all seem to like the show.

Now, from a revenue-generating stand point, everyone wants to cash in on this idea.  People often say that there are no original ideas left in Hollywood, and apparently the same is true for children's programming.  Someone came up with a good idea, so the network tries to copy the idea to produce another winner.  Of course, you can't just flat out copy Dora (even little kids would notice), so instead, you get:
  • Go Diego Go.  Someone must have figured that if one brown kid teaching random Spanish words was good, then TWO of them was better.  I also suspect they were trying to corner more of the "males under 4" market, because Diego is all about trekking through jungles and what not to rescue animals.  None of this pansy "exploring" for him, it's all about defending the weak for him.
  • Ni Hao, Kai Lan.  Well, now that you've got the brown people covered, it's time to move on to the next minority: Asian people.  She has a animal side kick, just like Dora.  I've actually never watched much of this one, but I think they throw in random words/phrases in Mandarin, as well.

    (side story: Kai Lan actually sounds a lot like the name of a Chinese vegetable.  Because of this, things having to do with this show have been nicknamed "broccoli" at my house.  So when one of the kids asked for "Kai Lan music," we joked about "broccoli music.")
  • Maraka the Explorer.  Let's just say that this one isn't quite aimed at kids.
Given the pattern, I wouldn't be surprised if the next version that came out was about an Asian boy that traveled the world correcting the wrongs he came across.  Maybe he'd be some sort of environmentalist, teaching everyone the joys of recycling.

Really, it's just a matter of time before the networks come up with various different versions.  Sadly, I think that means that this lady wasn't actually racist, but slightly ahead of her time.
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