How to get to Sesame Street

This weekend I saw a noteworthy documentary – The World According to Sesame Street. For something I spent a lot of time watching when I was young (Bert and Ernie were my favorites), it’s not a show I’ve spent much time thinking about as an adult. This documentary gives a new perspective on what Sesame Street is - beyond being educational television for children; it can also be an ambassador of certain values – tolerance, equality, and general friendliness – to the rest of the world.

The documentary’s primary focus is the year-long effort to create Sesame Street in Bangladesh, or Sisimpur (QuickTime clip) as they call it. You watch as they create Sisimpur, from thinking about what their ‘street’ will look like, to creating puppets, and dealing with the politics necessary to get it on the air. This process of creating Sesame Street in other countries also serves as a lens for the challenges children face around the world – as they create Sesame Street in Kosovo, they struggle with how to build understanding between Serbians and Albanians, even as violence between the ethnic groups continues. In South Africa, they create Kami, a puppet with HIV, in order to educate children about AIDS.

This film raises, but doesn’t necessarily answer, some interesting questions – is faith in a television show misplaced? Is big bird a global archetype or a form of cultural imperialism? And what will be the ultimate impact of these international Sesame Streets? Throughout the film, you see plenty of earnest, and at times inspiring, people who truly believe in the ability of Sesame Street to provide quality education to children in a wide range of cultures and living conditions.

Tune in to PBS on October 24^th to catch this film, if for no other reason than to hear Ernie sing rubber ducky in multiple languages (who knew he was multilingual?!). Check out the other Sesame Streets in the world in here.