What precise power do Dora the Explorer and Elmo have that infects our youth like an infant form of crack cocaine?  My 18-month-old can’t even say her sister’s name but she knows how to stand in front of the TV and with perfect pronunciation, shout “Elmo, elmo, elmo” on endless repeat as she furiously points at the blank screen.  It’s like she’s warning me that at any moment, Elmo is going to explode into flames.  And only I can stop it.  I won’t of course.

 

My kid is so obsessed with this fictional character that I worry about what’s going to happen when she actually becomes infatuated with a real human being.   She can literally spot a Dora the Explorer pencil from across a crowded Target with more estatic energy than a clueless teenager emits when staring down an undead serial killer.  In fact, I actually think a serial killer would have less of an impact, because the kids will probably be pre-occupied looking at all the Elmo backpacks (there’s like 10 different kinds…really). 

 

 

1.  Orange Crush

2.  Find Yourself A Safe Place

3.  I Buried the Devil

4.  Come Share the View

5.  Lullaby

6.  Banging Heads

7.  An Eye For An Eye

8.  The Picture

9.  Road To Nowhere

10.  Open Up

11.  A Thousand Pieces

12.  Some Kind of Spark

13.  Bonny

 

Buy The new Expanded Edition of the Editors’ In This Light and On This Evening.