Disturbing Social Commentary Pt. 2

I missed the response to my original post under this title. As a result, by the time I caught it, any discussion would have been lost under the weight of my own wordy-ness. Here was my good friend, Becka Carroll, suggesting that my opinions of the episode of Sesame Street that I critiqued were in fact a mis-representation.

Okay... big problem. The problem with the illegal immigrants is not Goldilocks coming in and stealing food. The issue of illegal immigrants is closer to this: Baby bear doesn't want to clean his room, so he let's Goldilocks sneak in to clean it. Momma bear doesn't like standing over the stove stirring the porridge, so she lets Goldilocks work in her kitchen. Papa bear really hates fixing broken chairs and mowing the lawn so he pays Goldilocks pitiful wages to do that stuff for him. And then they get upset when she sits on the chair she fixed, eats some of the porridge she prepared, and sleeps in the bed she made.

THAT is how the story would go.

The gauntlet having been thrown, I rise in a belated fashion to try and answer it.

This imagined scenario only works if first we know the backstory: Goldilocks' parents used to own the Bear's home, but had to move and sold to the Bears a long time ago. Unfortunately, Goldilocks isn't happy in her own home, and returns to her old home uninvited. She moves into her former home and the Bear are properly bewildered. "We bought a home, not a home and Goldilocks" one can easily imagine them saying to themselves. Well, they figure that since they have a new resident they might as well give her chores--she's eating things and breaking things routinely, this seems only fair. Of course, Goldilocks claims she came because she wants the opportunity to appreciate the nice family life that the Bears clearly have...but almost from the very start her presence had little enough to do with appreciating the family and more to do with giving Goldilocks the family's food, bed's chairs, etc. So the Bears try to institute rules for this unasked for addition to their family.

Goldilocks doesn't obey the rules though, and frequently gets into trouble. She sends the things she makes at the Bear's home back to her parent's house, instead of using them with the Bears. If Papa or Mama get upset with her for something serious, she just runs home and her parents tell the Bears that they are behaving like animals, trying to discipline someone else's daughter. In fact, Goldilock's parents tell the Bear children that if they ever get into trouble to come with Goldilocks back to her home, and that they'll keep them safe until Papa and Mama promise not to punish them. The hypocrisy from Goldilocks' own family doesn't end there...Jack and Jill frequently try to do the same thing to them that Goldilocks does to the Bears, but Goldilock's parents won't hear of it--their door is locked. Unfortunately, this policy of helping the Bear children avoid punishment doesn't mean that Goldilocks and Baby Bear are on good terms. Goldilocks frequently costs Baby Bear things he is clearly entitled too because Papa and Mama Bear, unable to come up with a better solution, figure it is their responsibility to provide for Goldilocks from their own resources.

Meanwhile, Goldilocks actually thinks she's being abused. She calls the Bears' bad names, gets into fights with Baby Bear and Curly Bear whenever she wants something she thinks she should have. Occasionally she does nice things for the Bears, but one has to wonder...does any of this matter, because she imposed herself on a home that's not her own? Why haven't Goldilocks' parents taken responsibility for her? Why should the Bears?

Who knew the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears was so complicated?