# Am I the only one who finds the Teletubbies vaguely disturbing? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 30, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420 "2001-01-30T16:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/41 "2001-02-01T18:51:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lizard \* > \*\*Okay, I have no younger siblings or cousins. But I wanted to point out that _you did not know that,_ and therefore asssumed too much in your last post. \*\* Too much? No, I apparently got lucky and assumed the exactly right amount. 😉 > [@](#): > > \*And what I said about growing up without a TV is 100% true. \*\* Many generations of fine people have been raised without TVs. What I am saying is that even a responsible parent who is soloing at home during the day—the dad-working-mom-at-home, nuclear family recalled so lovingly by some people these days—will find a show that hypnotizes the kiddies, like TT does, invaluable if only so she can go to the bathroom in something approaching peace. Television, even that of the highest quality, should not be used as a daycare service, but prudent use can be good. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/42 "2001-02-03T04:55:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > I apparently got lucky and assumed the exactly right amount. I think you missed the point, Mr. **dropzone**. It was that you shouldn’t have assumed anything at _all_. But there’s really no point in arguing it further. \*\* > [@](#): > > Many generations of fine people have been raised without TVs. What I am saying is that even a responsible parent who is soloing at home during the day—the dad-working-mom-at-home, nuclear family recalled so lovingly by some people these days—will find a show that hypnotizes the kiddies, like TT does, invaluable if only so she can go to the bathroom in something approaching peace. Television, even that of the highest quality, should not be used as a daycare service, but prudent use can be good. \*\* Maybe so, but my conviction is that ultimately television does more harm than good, by stunting a child’s development in any number of ways. Sitting and absorbing television does not require thought, or analysis, or skills. Nor does it _develop_ physical or mental skills of any kind. Much children’s TV is cunningly (and some would say cynically) intended and designed to manipulate children in some way, usually to get them to buy or pressure their parents to buy some product. (And I’m well aware that I am now hijacking my own thread, but oh well) I think this manipulation is just plain wrong, even if it _is_ legal or “the American Way.” I for one find the thought of a machine “hypnotizing” any kids of mine-especially a machine whose output I have _no_ control over short of turning it off-very disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/43 "2001-02-03T15:11:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* > \*\*But hot damn, can they accessorize! \*\* Damn you Ender! How can you make me laugh so hard with so few words? ---
**Author:** ![Chronolicht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Chronolicht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronolicht)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/44 "2001-02-04T08:08:13Z")
A Teletubby killed my brother. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/45 "2001-02-05T08:55:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racerx \* > **But he does have 3 kids with another one on the way, a 12+hour a day job, and his wife works out of the home. They are just scraping by and have no idea where they are going to put the next child.** Okay, I hate to hijack, but I just have to ask a question about this. If what you stated above is true, then why is your brother having another kid? I’ve always wondered why some parents decide to have kids at times when they know they can’t afford it or have time for it. ---
**Author:** ![racerx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5e9695/32.png) [@racerx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racerx)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/46 "2001-02-05T17:53:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OneChance \* > \*\* > Okay, I hate to hijack, but I just have to ask a question about this. If what you stated above is true, then why is your brother having another kid? I’ve always wondered why some parents decide to have kids at times when they know they can’t afford it or have time for it. \*\* Yeah. The one on the way was an accident. Don’t know how she got preggers 'cause they took precautions. Ya know, those pills are only 99.98% effective, or something like that. Also, I never said that I agreed with his decisions, only that I am supportive of him. ---
**Author:** ![G.Nome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c89c15/32.png) [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/47 "2001-02-06T11:50:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\*I’ve long had a theory about the Teletubbies: > > 1.) They live in an idyllic garden space that is lovingly tended by someone else who is never seen. > > 2.) All their food is provided for them. Teletubbies do no work, but spend all their time playing. > > 3.) What little work we seen is done by macines or underground entities. > > Conclusion: Teletubbies are the Eloi from H.G. Wells’ novel “The Time Machine”\*\* Close, but no cigar. [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9911/S00092.htm](http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9911/S00092.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Syehoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Syehoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syehoc)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/48 "2001-02-06T12:48:06Z")
I don’t know. I’ve been channel surfing, run across the little fellas (or whatever they are) and found myself unable to click the up arrow again. I’ve seen them a couple of times and they allways seem to keep me watching…for a while anyway. I’m rediculously inexperienced with illegal drugs but I have a feeling that the world they live in isn’t that much different from that of a mind clouded by narchotics. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/49 "2001-02-06T14:39:16Z")
> [@](#): > > He wears a jaunty, cow-patterned hat so does R. Kelly Tellytubbies has some _strange_ drug coincedences, magic dust, a laughing baby in the sun, and a speaker system to tell them when they have to go to bed. Its really a conditioning tool, so in 20 years when a load of speakers pop up out of the ground in the midle of Times Square, urging people to kill the unbelievers, the training that teletubbies has been imprinting into the youth of today will take over. yes, I’m scared too. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420/50 "2001-02-06T19:11:00Z")
Oh **Twisty** , now there’s coffee all over my monitor!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-finds-the-teletubbies-vaguely-disturbing/52420.md?page=2)