Phew! Keeping a blog is harder than I thought! You have no idea what kind of pressure I’m under to keep this thing fresh and updated! Lol, anyway, I do have a few ideas in the making. But in the meantime, I will take a trip down memory lane with one of my old college papers. The topic? A much remembered and beloved ’70s cartoon show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
Even as I child, I knew Fat Albert was special; I had never seen a cartoon show which focused on African American children. Also astonishing was its willingness to focus on heavy issues, such as drugs, prejudice and even pornography!
As praised and well-remembered as Fat Albert is, I personally doubt many parents and experts would approve of such a project today. There seems to be a growing opinion in society that we should avoid “confusing” or “upsetting” children too much. You hear over and over again “It’s too scary for kids” or “Kids won’t understand.” Instead of challenging children to learn and to grow, we are protecting them and keeping them hidden. The result? I believe children are growing up not aware of very basic cultural references or concepts. They are also growing up unable to deal with problems on their own. And what’s worse, they simply don’t care. In attempting to protect children, we are failing to prepare them for life.
But that is for another entry, below is my term paper, analyzing Fat Albert and its connection to the fascinating topic of Child Psychology.
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids premiered in 1972 and ran for 12 years (incredible run for any show!). Legendary comedian Bill Cosby based the cartoon on his own childhood in North Philadelphia. The program was aimed at elementary and middle school aged kids. Each week, Fat Albert and his friends helped someone in need, always learning something new in the process. Cosby is featured prominently in Fat Albert’s opening theme; Fat Albert himself even mentions his creator by name, “I’m gonna sing a song for you, and Bill’s gonna show you a thing or two.” Cosby talks directly to the audience in each episode, summarizing today’s lesson and interjecting interesting facts and humorous observations.
Being the first cartoon show to ever feature an all African American cast, Fat Albert was definitely an unusual show for its time. In the previous decade, animators like Peanuts’ Charles Schultz wanted to begin including African American characters but doubted their ability to do it sensitively (Thibodeau, 1989). Even now, African Americans don’t tend to dominate children’s television, more often relegated to the best friend role, or “token black guy” of a larger group.
But in the Fat Albert universe, very little is ever made of the fact Albert and his friends are black; it is perfectly normal and does not need to be mentioned. They also defy the image of violent, inner city youth. Though they do talk tough, they are responsible, caring and loyal children.
In an episode entitled, “Fish Out of Water,” the gang goes to summer camp. Upon arriving, they boys are wary of fellow campers who are Caucasian, Hispanic and Asian. It seems odd the Cosby kids would be so prejudice, considering they are normally quite friendly and open-minded. However, the implication is not that the Cosby kids are prejudice out of a sense of meanness or cruelty. But rather because they have next to no experience dealing with different cultures.
Upon seeing the different campers, Albert’s reaction is not “Oh no, white kids!” or something similar. Rather, he queries, “What kind of dudes is they?” He is simply reacting to an unfamiliar concept. This makes sense considering the lack of diversity in their inner city neighborhood. In Fat Albert’s early episodes, all neighbors, teachers, storekeepers and doctors are African American. Studies indicate that when parents make the effort to expose their children to different cultures, they are more comfortable with the idea of diversity (O’Conner, Brooks-Gunn & Graber, 2000). Cosby does stress that the boys’ parents were eager to get their kids out of the city for the first time.
By the end of the episode, the gang learns people are people despite their differences. The gang’s circle of friends further opened up later in the series after the boys moved to an integrated school. It became more common to see the kids playing ball with a white friend or two, and Fat Albert’s guidance was now open to all races. Writer Larry DiTillio says great attention and care was given to “racial mixtures to make sure that we weren’t saying that all the white kids are bad and all the black kids are good, or even the other way around.” With Fat Albert, Cosby tried to play down differences, calm children’s natural fear of the unknown and teach them to embrace all kinds of people.
Whatever its level of effectiveness, programs like Fat Albert definitely made the effort to demonstrate the positives of diversity. They encourage children to judge a person by their actions, not their appearances. But can you always judge a person by their outward behavior? Even more basic than the concept of race, is the “good guy”, “bad guy” label. It is fairly easy to tell the hero from the villain in a typical children’s show. The villain disagrees and hates the hero and tries to defeat him or her in some way. The hero is the brave, kind figure who saves the day.
If the hero and villain were children, they might fall into two distinct peer acceptance groups (Berk, 2003). Popular-prosocials (Hero) generally do well in school, make the extra effort to be friendly and helpful to peers, and are generally well liked by others. Rejected-aggressive children (Villain) like to start fights and have trouble controlling emotions; mostly they are feared and resented by their peers (Berk, 2003).
On some shows there is a character that does not quite fit either category. He or she is usually a friend of the heroic main character who simply likes to cause trouble. At first glance, this friend’s actions seem to fit those of the villain. Yet surprisingly, he or she continues to be a member of the gang. Researchers call this type the Controversial Child (Newcomb, Bukowski & Pattee, 1993). Like the Rejected-aggressive, he or she displays more aggression than most children and causes trouble in school. One would think peers would reject such a person. However, the Controversial child also possesses positive social skills and is able to maintain strong friendships. The Controversial child is an example of how things are not always black and white.
Fat Albert’s mission in life is to help people and solve problems; he best fits the Prosocial type. For the most part, he is assisted and supported by his 7 best friends. In nearly every episode though, there is one exception–Rudy. Rudy is the member of the gang who ignores Fat Albert’s advice, makes bad decisions and generally makes life difficult for the group. Some specific examples include being the first to smoke cigarettes and marijuana (“Smoke Gets In Your Hair”, “Pot of Gold”), refusing to take CPR classes (“Heart Attack–Save a Life!”), dropping out of school (“Readin’, Ritin, and Rudy”), and introducing the gang to porn (“Soft Core.”)
Even worse, Rudy does not keep such behavior to himself. He seems resentful and jealous of Albert’s leadership, and encourages the rest of the gang to “stand up to old Fat Albert!” (“Poll Time”). All this begs the question: what good does Rudy do for Albert and the gang? He certainly comes across more like a villain than a friend. However, there is hope! Despite his bad behavior, Rudy can also be supportive and loyal to Albert. His own leadership skills and self-confidence allows him to come up with good ideas. Moreover, he always feels guilty for his mistakes.
Larry DiTillio explains the show’s desire to portray their characters in a complex, realistic manner, “We tried to say the kids are the kids and this kid may be doing something bad but he’s not per se a bad kid….Rudy tended to be a mischief-maker, so he’d tend in some scripts to become villainous and we didn’t want that.”
There are also some indications Rudy’s bad behavior stems from insecurity. Fellow Cosby kid Russell often tries to deflate Rudy’s large ego, resulting in Rudy getting quite steamed. Being from a slightly wealthier family than the others (“Creativity”), Rudy enjoys showing off his new possessions. Children’s bad behavior often stems from misguided attempts to gain respect and be accepted by the group (Horne, Bartolomucci & Newman-Carlson, 2003).
Controversial characters are my favorite for their complexity, rare in children’s entertainment. Implying to children that there are “good” kids and “bad” kids in the world does help them develop their powers of judgment and forgiveness. Controversial characters teach the same lesson characters of different races do. People should be given a chance before you judge them. They are “bad” for a reason and may benefit from a little kindness and understanding.
Perhaps Rudy’s Controversial character status is most clearly expressed in the Fat Albert Easter special. Ever the trouble maker, Rudy decides to play a practical joke and accidentally seriously hurts Mudfoot, an old man and friend of the boys. Now Fat Albert has to help both of his friends get better. Part of this is understandable; Mudfoot is injured in the hospital and needs medical care and friendly support. But why would Rudy need help? He was not physically hurt and he is in fact the reason this mess happened in the first place!
Research shows aggressive children can overcome their negative tendencies if they learn to experience empathy–understand the pain they inflict on others (Horne, Bartolomucci & Newman-Carlson, 2003). Rudy feels just awful about what he did to Mudfoot. In order to help Mudfoot pay his medical bills, Rudy takes a risky job working in a scrap iron yard. Albert tries to reason with him, “You’re not going to help anybody if you get hurt…this is a dangerous place to work.” Rudy sadly responds, “I don’t care about me.”
The problem here is Rudy’s confusion over guilty versus shame. Studies show these two feelings seem similar but are in fact very different (Ferguson, Stegge, Miller & Olsen, 1999). Guilt is associated with empathy and concern that someone was hurt. With shame, people concentrate more on how terrible they are for doing something wrong. They retreat from others and sometimes engage in destructive behavior (Ferguson, Stegge, Miller & Olsen, 1999). In the end, Mudfoot gets better but just as important, Rudy learns to forgive himself. This special teaches the difference between guilt and shame and also parallels the religious Easter story of renewal.
Looking back, one gets the impression the people behind Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids genuinely cared about their young viewers. Their goal was not just to entertain, but to assist children in their journey through life.
Berk, Laura E. (2003). Child Development, 6th Edition. (New York: Allyn & Bacon, Publishers.)
Cosby, William H. (1972-1984). Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids–The Original Animated Series, Vol. 1. and Fat Albert’s Greatest Hits–The Ultimate Collection. Entertainment Rights PLC.
Ferguson, Tamara J.; Stegge, Hedy; Miller, Erin R.; Olsen, Michael E. (1999). Guilt, Shame and Symptoms in Children. Developmental Psychology, 35, (2), 347-357.
Hicks, Wayne, L. Hey! Hey! Hey! Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. http://www.tvparty.com/satfat3.html
Horne, Arthur M.; Bartolomucci, Christi L.; Newman-Carlson, Dawn. (2003). Bully Busters–A Teacher’s Manual for Helping Bullies, Victims, and Bystanders Grades K-5. (Champaign: Research Press, Publishers.)
Newcomb, Andrew F.; Bukowski William M.; Pattee, Linda. (1993). Children’s Peer Relations: A Meta-Analytic Review of Popular, Rejected, Neglected, Controversial, and Average Sociometric Status. Psychological Bulletin, 00331909, 113, (1).
O’Connor, Lisa; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Graber, Julia. (2000). Black and White Girls’ Racial Preferences in Media and Peer Choices and the Role of Socialization for Black Girls. Journal of Family Psychology, 14 (3), 510-521.
Thibodeau, Ruth. (1989). FROM RACISM TO TOKENISM. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53, (4), 483.
