Salute to Dr. Seuss
Jan. 27th, 2009 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidLast night I went to the 18th Annual Salute to Dr. Seuss at MIT, led by
Professor Henry Jenkins, of the Comparative Media Studies department
(who noted that he started this event when he arrived at MIT, seeing
that the ideals in Seuss' work are similar to those of MIT, but this
might be the last year unless someone else takes up the baton, since
he is moving to USC).
He started by reading Yertle the
Turtle, then discussing it in the context of post-WWII
culture, noting that during WWII Geisel worked in a propaganda unit
along with a number of other people who would later write kid books
(such as Ferdinand the Bull). He was known not for kid books,
but for other sorts of writing entirely.
The next book read was Horton Hears a
Who! ("a person's a person, no matter how small"), which is
dedicated to a Japanese friend of Seuss'. The book is about democracy,
and can be thought of in terms of state-building as well. It's a
change for propaganda-meister Geisel, who traveled to Japan after the
war.
This was followed by a screening of one of his propaganda shorts,
called "The Cold Front," about a shivering serviceman (rather like
Elmer Fudd) imagining the life of leisure those at home are enjoying,
until a service-fairy third class (could I make this up?) lets him see
what those at home are doing to help the war effort, with grandpa
hoisted in his rocker to weld navy ships, mom (helped by the cat and
the horse) turning the whole lawn into an overproductive victory
garden, and so on.
In contrast, Gerald
McBoing-Boing is totally about the individual, about using one's
strengths, even if you're different. It also has some wonderful sound
effects, especially at the radio show (which made me think how it
could be riffed off of by the Post Meridien Radio Players). This came
out about the same time as Ferdinand the Bull and Rudolph,
the Red-Nosed Reindeer, all emphasizing the worth of the
individual, also the democratization of family.
I'd never even heard of Scrambled
Eggs Super ("Scrambled eggs Super-Dee-Dooper-Dee-Booper,
Special deluxe a-la-Peter T. Hooper."), which is just a lot of fun.
The Cat
in the Hat was the only one read that I'm truly familiar with.
Even without the pictures, it's a lot of fun. This was the first book
Seuss wrote without made-up words, sticking strictly to an approved
list of words, designed to counteract the boring Dick, Jane, and Sally
readers that were commonly used. There are echoes of the Dick and Jane
books ("me and Sally," "up up up," etc.), but a world away, drawing
kids into adventures, asking their opinions. (I am so thankful I was
not subjected to Dick and Jane as readers!)
The last book he read was Mavin
K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!, which he chose in the wake
of the inauguration, with all the change happening in this country,
though he noted that it was originally published after Watergate).
The evening ended with a screening of The
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T ("The Wonder Musical of the Future!"),
which is a fantastical, musical (dansical, too), dream-world
live-action fantasy with some outrageous costumes (that I could see
being screened at Arisia some year). Totally worth seeing. (Some of
the song lyrics here.)
Professor Henry Jenkins, of the Comparative Media Studies department
(who noted that he started this event when he arrived at MIT, seeing
that the ideals in Seuss' work are similar to those of MIT, but this
might be the last year unless someone else takes up the baton, since
he is moving to USC).
He started by reading Yertle the
Turtle, then discussing it in the context of post-WWII
culture, noting that during WWII Geisel worked in a propaganda unit
along with a number of other people who would later write kid books
(such as Ferdinand the Bull). He was known not for kid books,
but for other sorts of writing entirely.
The next book read was Horton Hears a
Who! ("a person's a person, no matter how small"), which is
dedicated to a Japanese friend of Seuss'. The book is about democracy,
and can be thought of in terms of state-building as well. It's a
change for propaganda-meister Geisel, who traveled to Japan after the
war.
This was followed by a screening of one of his propaganda shorts,
called "The Cold Front," about a shivering serviceman (rather like
Elmer Fudd) imagining the life of leisure those at home are enjoying,
until a service-fairy third class (could I make this up?) lets him see
what those at home are doing to help the war effort, with grandpa
hoisted in his rocker to weld navy ships, mom (helped by the cat and
the horse) turning the whole lawn into an overproductive victory
garden, and so on.
In contrast, Gerald
McBoing-Boing is totally about the individual, about using one's
strengths, even if you're different. It also has some wonderful sound
effects, especially at the radio show (which made me think how it
could be riffed off of by the Post Meridien Radio Players). This came
out about the same time as Ferdinand the Bull and Rudolph,
the Red-Nosed Reindeer, all emphasizing the worth of the
individual, also the democratization of family.
I'd never even heard of Scrambled
Eggs Super ("Scrambled eggs Super-Dee-Dooper-Dee-Booper,
Special deluxe a-la-Peter T. Hooper."), which is just a lot of fun.
The Cat
in the Hat was the only one read that I'm truly familiar with.
Even without the pictures, it's a lot of fun. This was the first book
Seuss wrote without made-up words, sticking strictly to an approved
list of words, designed to counteract the boring Dick, Jane, and Sally
readers that were commonly used. There are echoes of the Dick and Jane
books ("me and Sally," "up up up," etc.), but a world away, drawing
kids into adventures, asking their opinions. (I am so thankful I was
not subjected to Dick and Jane as readers!)
The last book he read was Mavin
K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!, which he chose in the wake
of the inauguration, with all the change happening in this country,
though he noted that it was originally published after Watergate).
The evening ended with a screening of The
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T ("The Wonder Musical of the Future!"),
which is a fantastical, musical (dansical, too), dream-world
live-action fantasy with some outrageous costumes (that I could see
being screened at Arisia some year). Totally worth seeing. (Some of
the song lyrics here.)
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 01:47 am (UTC)Of course it's genius, because it's so horrifying. Kids love scary things.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 03:48 am (UTC)Seuss rocks
Date: 2009-01-28 04:31 am (UTC)Re: Seuss rocks
Date: 2009-01-28 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 04:36 am (UTC)Who! ("a person's a person, no matter how small"), which is
dedicated to a Japanese friend of Seuss'. The book is about democracy,
and can be thought of in terms of state-building as well.
I've recently read the book over and over (three kids having just gotten the Seussical CD), and can't escape the sense that it's anti-abortion propaganda. But democracy and state-building? I'm missing that one.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 01:05 pm (UTC)However, the professor of comparative lit giving the presentation gave the democracy and state-building idea, based on what was going on in the world at that time, changing Japan from a closed hierarchical system to a democracy. He pointed out that it's about not allowing mob rule, sticking up for the rights of individuals, not stomping all over them (with plenty of nods towards the recent administration).