Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
So DR and Sex & Samfund worked together on this. It's basically about a man (John) going around with a penis that has the same powers as Mr. Fantastic, being able to elongate absurdly at will, and fly as if a helicopter. Diller and dillermand are silly words for penis in Danish, so his name is kind of John Schlongman or John Penisman. With the added punnery that -man in a surname is quite normal.
The penis seems to have a mind of its own and sometimes its powers get in the way of John's everyday life. The show is intended for 4-8 year olds and has been received well among children, but sparked a ton of controversy.
What is DR and Sex & Samfund
DR - Denmark's Radio: a media conglomerate that's independent but still in some respects "the government's TV" by subsidy and influence. Used to be the government's monopoly on Danish media. It's the primary force in Danish TV and radio, and has a lot of small branches.
Sex & Samfund - Sex and Society: a very influential NGO in Denmark that supports proper sex education, rights to one's own body and sexuality, and some humanitarian work. I can't stress enough how important and well-educated these guys are in regards to making sure there's a healthy development of sexuality in Denmark. They helped me a lot as I was growing up and provided a buttload of the material we used in school. Here is their English homepage - I have no idea why their English name is The Danish Family Planning Association. It sounds dogwhistly, but they truly aren't. They're very liberal.
The show
There's a pretty good YouTube video here that just recounts the individual episodes' content while showing example footage of what the show looks like while being quite neutral with judgment. It does do some mistakes in regards to the difference between Denmark and EU, but his summaries of the episodes are decent as an introduction to what the show is like on a concrete level.
The series can also be seen on DR's homepage for free, afaik. It works in Denmark at least. https://www.dr.dk/drtv/serie/john-dillermand_227277
The controversy, very shortly
To sum up the controversy from what I can tell - most people think it's reasonably harmless fun, and some believe that it gives kids (boys) a more relaxed relationship to their body. The controversy: From the left, there have been some accusations of it reinforcing rape culture and patriachy as the show's penis is truly intrusive to John's surroundings. From the right, people often have qualms about indecency. From both sides, there are concerns about pedophilia. All in all, some people want the show shut down, a minority from what I can tell, but still. The kids love it though, but that was to be expected.
So what do you think about this?
Do you think the show is appropriate and useful? If not, do you think in the abstract that such a show is possible for kids? What would you have done differently?
I'm not sure what my own thoughts are on this. Show seems relatively harmless on its surface: I don't have a mote of agreement with the idea that the show is indecent, or why it should matter in this particular form of indecency. I'm also a feminist that believes it is possible to handle a penis with absurdity in media without it being rape culture et al. At the very least, I think it's more complicated than so.
The show's internal logic is very remniscent of other kids' shows, the difference is that the tropish inanimate troublemaker is now a penis. Could have been a talking car or, if we want a bodily organ, a magical heart. My own real concern is whether this could affect whether kids know to appropriately respond when sexually assaulted. But with all of my doubts, Sex & Samfund was in on it, and they know their stuff. So while they may have done a blunder, I want to wait a bit and actually read some opinions from paedagogues and sexologists before knowing what to think.
The penis seems to have a mind of its own and sometimes its powers get in the way of John's everyday life. The show is intended for 4-8 year olds and has been received well among children, but sparked a ton of controversy.
What is DR and Sex & Samfund
DR - Denmark's Radio: a media conglomerate that's independent but still in some respects "the government's TV" by subsidy and influence. Used to be the government's monopoly on Danish media. It's the primary force in Danish TV and radio, and has a lot of small branches.
Sex & Samfund - Sex and Society: a very influential NGO in Denmark that supports proper sex education, rights to one's own body and sexuality, and some humanitarian work. I can't stress enough how important and well-educated these guys are in regards to making sure there's a healthy development of sexuality in Denmark. They helped me a lot as I was growing up and provided a buttload of the material we used in school. Here is their English homepage - I have no idea why their English name is The Danish Family Planning Association. It sounds dogwhistly, but they truly aren't. They're very liberal.
The show
There's a pretty good YouTube video here that just recounts the individual episodes' content while showing example footage of what the show looks like while being quite neutral with judgment. It does do some mistakes in regards to the difference between Denmark and EU, but his summaries of the episodes are decent as an introduction to what the show is like on a concrete level.
The series can also be seen on DR's homepage for free, afaik. It works in Denmark at least. https://www.dr.dk/drtv/serie/john-dillermand_227277
The controversy, very shortly
To sum up the controversy from what I can tell - most people think it's reasonably harmless fun, and some believe that it gives kids (boys) a more relaxed relationship to their body. The controversy: From the left, there have been some accusations of it reinforcing rape culture and patriachy as the show's penis is truly intrusive to John's surroundings. From the right, people often have qualms about indecency. From both sides, there are concerns about pedophilia. All in all, some people want the show shut down, a minority from what I can tell, but still. The kids love it though, but that was to be expected.
So what do you think about this?
Do you think the show is appropriate and useful? If not, do you think in the abstract that such a show is possible for kids? What would you have done differently?
I'm not sure what my own thoughts are on this. Show seems relatively harmless on its surface: I don't have a mote of agreement with the idea that the show is indecent, or why it should matter in this particular form of indecency. I'm also a feminist that believes it is possible to handle a penis with absurdity in media without it being rape culture et al. At the very least, I think it's more complicated than so.
The show's internal logic is very remniscent of other kids' shows, the difference is that the tropish inanimate troublemaker is now a penis. Could have been a talking car or, if we want a bodily organ, a magical heart. My own real concern is whether this could affect whether kids know to appropriately respond when sexually assaulted. But with all of my doubts, Sex & Samfund was in on it, and they know their stuff. So while they may have done a blunder, I want to wait a bit and actually read some opinions from paedagogues and sexologists before knowing what to think.
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Kinda. You can watch the YouTube video in the OP and look at what the show looks like, or you click the link to DR's website there to watch an episode. It's in Danish, but largely visually told, and the episodes are only 5 minutes long.
