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Is Katy Perry Too Sexy For "Sesame Street"?

Stephanie McNeal |
September 27, 2010 | 10:41 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

 

One of the hottest stories floating around right now is the Katy Perry "Sesame Street" controversy.

In case you have not yet heard of this debacle, here is the gist: Perry, a pop singer known for her sexy, tongue in cheek songs, revealing outfits and quirky style, was a guest on an episode of the children’s show, "Sesame Street".

The clip of Perry, which popped up on YouTube before its air date, featured Perry, in a “dress-up” wedding dress and veil with Elmo. Perry tells Elmo she would like to play dress up with him, but Elmo is hesitant.

She then launches into a parody of her hit single, "Hot and Cold". The original song is about the drama with a boyfriend that is into her one minute, and running for the hills the next. In this version, the song is about Perry’s frustration that Elmo won’t play with her. The song serves as a catchy way for kids to remember opposites (hot and cold, up and down, etc.). It turns out in the end, Elmo just wants to play tag. 

Immediately after the clip was released, parents flipped out. Perry was criticized for being too sexy for "Sesame Street" and that her dress was too revealing (yes, many, many jokes were made about her cup size and "Sesame Street's" tendency to emphasize letters in their shows).

Apparently, Perry's top was going to single handily poison the minds of these sweet, innocent, children. 

According to TMZ some of the complaints included:

-"You can practically see her t*ts. That's some wonderful children's programming."

-"they're gonna have to rename it cleavage avenue.”

And my personal favorite:

-“my kid wants milk now.”

Another complaint floating around is that Perry herself should not have been featured on the show at all. With songs such as “I Kissed a Girl” and “Ur So Gay,” she is hardly an acceptable role model for young children, they argued. By exposing kids to her at such a young age, are we telling them that they should be her fans? What if they start listening to her music and it sends the wrong message to them?

The producers of "Sesame Street" have now decided to not air the song “due to the feedback they have received”.

This announcement came at the perfect time for Perry, as she was the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" this week. She parodied the scandal in a skit, where she played a teenage library volunteer who was receiving parental complaints because she "developed over the summer."

Let me include a disclaimer that I am 21 years old. I am not a parent, and in many ways can probably can not relate to one. But even so, I can’t help but wonder: what is the big deal?

Could Perry have worn a less revealing outfit? Probably. But as Huffington Post blogger Scott Mendelson pointed out, revealing outfits on kids shows are nothing new. Think about Wonder Woman, Catwoman, even Sailor Moon; they all were pretty scantily clad and we all grew up fine.

For those who feel that Perry’s music should not have been featured on the show in the first place, parodying popular songs with questionable morals is nothing new. Check out this clip of "Sesame Street" doing the same thing with Madonna’s “Material Girl", changing it to "Cereal Girl". Granted Madonna herself did not appear, but the same argument could be made.

If kids had been allowed to watch Perry’s appearance, they would have been entertained, and maybe learned a little more about opposites. The whole thing has been blown out of proportion, and is just plain silly.

Reach reporter Stephanie McNeal here. Follow her on Twitter here.

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