I think that Sesame Street’s public relations team has handle the situation extremely well. Clash issued a statement of apology when leaving the set. You have to remind the public that Sesame Street is an educational program. One that has been helping young kids learning their ABC’s and 1-2-3s. People do not watch the show because they know that Kevin Clash is the voice of Elmo. They watch the show because it is kid friendly and appropriate. The likelihood of your child knowing that Elmo is actually a puppet let alone was operated by someone who had sex with minors is slim. Only if you or one of your adult friends or family lets it slip will your child ever associate their beloved furry friend as sinister and repugnant.
I also think that they need to find someone else to play Elmo. Why not? Younger children will probably not pick up on the subtle changes in Elmo’s voice. Parent’s will feel better knowing someone fresh is in the position and after time people will only remember the character. Eventually you have to move on. This is serious matter for Kevin Clash, but now that he is no longer part of the Sesame Street team his legal battles are his own. Not the Networks.
It would be sad to see the beloved character of Elmo disappear because of one man’s actions. I am not trying to say their shouldn’t be justice for the victims, but I also don’t think that Elmo should be taken from children.
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I agree with you in the sense that Sesame Street is solely an educational television show for the youth, and the show does not reflect Kevin Clash. Also, while changing the voice of Elmo is quite simple, I think it takes away from the iconic voice that he has created over the years for the character. It is the best decision that he steps down though.
I totally agree–Kids are not going to know that Elmo’s voice did terrible things, and they can probably very easily find a new Elmo voice that sounds the same. Hey, they did it for the lead singer of Journey!
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I love that you wrote this..”People do not watch the show because they know that Kevin Clash is the voice of Elmo. They watch the show because it is kid friendly and appropriate. The likelihood of your child knowing that Elmo is actually a puppet let alone was operated by someone who had sex with minors is slim. Only if you or one of your adult friends or family lets it slip will your child ever associate their beloved furry friend as sinister and repugnant.” It’s very true. Not many kids who watch Elmo also turn to the news or read online news articles. Unless they hear about the incident from an adult, they will never know the difference. Hopefully parents don’t take this out of hand and prevent their child from watching the show because it is educational and enjoyable for kids. Its not like Clash was a child molester. This is a case about him and a teen, not with little children the same age as those who watch the show.
So this case should not have a dramatic effect on parents. His legal battles with the teen, now man, are his issue to handle now. Since he stepped away, this should not effect the character that so many love.
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I agree with you that they should get rid of Elmo. Children aren’t going to associate Elmo’s voice with a real person that was accused of bad things, especially sex related. I like your comment about parent’s finding it refreshing to know that someone new would become the new voice of Elmo, I didn’t even think of it like that. I definitely think that knowing there is going to be a fresh start to the character (behind the scenes at least) would give people more peace of mind.
I agree the kids will not know anything of the incident and they will probably not find out anything till they get older. Sesame Street has done a great job for many years and people have to remember that their purpose is to produce educational television for children not oversee the lives of their employees. Its like Blue’s Clues and Barney things happen but the show will go one. I think Clash did great by stepping down without allowing the media run him in the mud.