Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Alan Gratz's avatar

This is hilarious. Thanks!

Expand full comment
tanita's avatar

Just reading this kid's characterization makes me twitch. People really seemed to lean IN on the unlikeable character in the 70's and early 80's, didn't they? I mean, we culturally embraced unpleasantness to such an extent that we got Garbage Pail Kids, Dynasty slap-fights, "greed is good" shoulder pads and narrow ties with a side of self-absorption, as we let people die of AIDS and shrugged that it was justified. Of course, historically children's lit is generally ten years behind the actual cultural zeitgeist of adulthood but they still managed this time to be pretty close, which I find fascinating.

Also, 10 years from now, I wonder if we'll look back and be able to see any hint of what the adults were thinking in children's literature. Do we see as many angry Kids? As many ugly themes? I think we see a desperate focus on being kind and clever and self sufficient. We know our poor kids have to figure ish out on their own...

Expand full comment
5 more comments...

No posts