*I have always been a fan of muppets. Sesame Street, Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock. If there's a giant colorful puppet involved, I'm totally down. However, and let me just put this out there, I have never liked Elmo. He came on the Sesame Street scene in the 90's and was immediately elevated to SS "mascot" status. He took the Sesame Street glory from all the older, more established, dare I say more deserving muppets like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, and even Telly. And he did it in annoyingly cheerful third person banter. Rather than idolizing Grover, who has a superhero alter ego for crying out loud! Small children fell in love with a creature whose only claim to fame is that he likes be tickled and is the owner of a pet goldfish named Dorothy. I have found this to be a rather disturbing phenomenon.
I will admit that, as I've gotten older, my deep-seeded hatred for Elmo has diminished. I don't find him nearly as repulsive as I did in high school and college, but I still maintain that he might be a little bit evil. And I will always, ALWAYS have a special place in my heart for poor, sweet little Grover who can never catch a break. I mean, have you read "The Monster at the End of this Book?"
*This seems like kind of a silly topic to break my multi-week blogging silence, but I discovered this photo on flickr and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to share my long dormant feelings about the Grover vs. Elmo debacle.
