Still Life With Hot Duece On Silver Platter

Basically, the point of Oscar the Grouch is so that kids know it’s okay to have fucking emotions and moods that aren’t all cheery. That’s the fucking point. And that’s even more important to the kids who are living in harsh realities. Realities where their families are falling apart or they’re not getting food every day or they’re getting abused. Telling them it’s okay to express that they are NOT HAPPY because they are HURTING is so fucking important I cannot even say it. 

Big Bird is nice, but goddamn, when you’re a kid who’s hungry and you just got beat by your caretaker and all you wanna do is hole up somewhere and tell everyone else to go away because you don’t even have words for how bad things feel? Big Bird is not your dude. Cheery happy, “well, let’s play a happy game!” Big Bird ain’t cutting it for you. Oscar the Grouch is your dude. Oscar the Grouch is the dude who tells you it’s okay to put the lid on your garbage can and be alone and be upset.

Big Bird tries to talk you out of being upset (and maybe sometimes that’s okay). But Oscar the Grouch teaches you that, no, it’s okay to be upset and you have every right to stay upset and grouchy and unhappy until you’re at a point where that can change. Oscar the Grouch teaches you that you have a right to your emotions, whatever they are.

On a more advanced level, the point of Oscar is to start teaching kids that it’s okay to have boundaries, it’s okay to want to just go into your trash can (home/safe place) and not be bothered, it’s okay to defend those boundaries and say “go away!” when you want people to go the fuck away and that you can still have a place on Sesame Street. That not everyone has to be shiny, happy Big Bird. 

The fact that people tell you things you like are stupid doesn’t make it’s true. He loves trash. He loves it because it’s trash. That’s important too.

As is the fact that *even though everyone thinks his interests are stupid*, people don’t take his trash away and they don’t drag him out of his can.

Also he has *fantastic* body language. Boundary laden but also very emotional. And just the way he likes stuff and expresses interest…

THE DENIZENS OF SESAME STREET FREQUENTLY INDULGE OSCAR IN HIS WEIRD LIKES, AND END UP HAVING FUN DOING SO.

At least back in the 80′s, Oscar had a whole troupe of grouch scouts who enjoyed looking for nifty trash, a group of kids and even Telly Monster. Susan and Gordon end up at a Grouch club with Oscar after their original dinner and dance plans fall apart, and end up having a great night dancing the award-winning Trash Can Tango.

And there’s Oscar’s beloved pet Slimey the worm, possibly the only being Oscar openly admits he likes. Not everyone goes the puppy or kitten route, and thus the idea of unconventional and less-than-cuddly yet no less beloved pets is brought to kids (on top of Slimey’s own adventures).

Oscar teaches that it’s okay to be weird, okay to be different, and that maybe if you don’t reject the weird and different at first glance, you may very well find something (or someone) interesting and fun. And that even when someone can be prickly and dour at times, you can still be their friend. He also subtly teaches a bit of Henson’s love of subversion, of quiet rebellion, of questioning and skepticism and snark.

And Oscar comes back out, and lets Gordon introduce them, and tells the kid he likes them.

Also I’m starting to think that Oscar was the inspiration for Ron Swanson.