When you're a kid, fear comes in the form of scary images: a shadow on the wall, a monster in the closet, a branch scraping against the window. They plant seeds in the mind, and the imagination does the rest.
As an adult, the fear takes a different tactic. Instead of putting pictures in your head, potential scenarios go through it instead. These scenarios could happen at any moment, can't be easily predicted, and they don't care who you are. People fear not being able to pay their bills, their loved ones being hurt, suddenly hitting rock bottom, and a whole bunch of other things. That's why there are certain types of scenes in movies or tv shows that hit close to home no matter how old you are.
Since its very beginning fifty years ago, Sesame Street has been no stranger to taking adult topics and turning them bit-sized so that kids can understand them. There have been episodes about divorce, racism, autism, sickness, natural disasters, and even death. But the one I'm going to be talking about today deals with bullying, and it's called The Good Birds Club.
While reading his mail, Big Bird gets an invitation to join a new club on the street called the Good Birds Club. Naturally, he's very excited to join and make new friends. But when he arrives, the leader of the club starts picking on him, telling him that he can't join because his feet are too big and teasing him about it. Disheartened, Big Bird goes to find Elmo and Abby Cadabby who get equally upset when Big Bird shares with them what happened. Since Abby is a fairy, Big Bird tries to get her to change his feet with her wand so the Good Birds will accept him. Reluctantly, she agrees.
Big Bird returns to the club for a second attempt, but the club leader continues to ridicule him. Now, his large size keeps him from joining the club. So Big Bird returns to Abby again and get her to make him smaller. But again, the club rejects him. This time, his color is wrong, so Big Bird ends up turning himself blue. With each change made to his body, Big Bird gets progressively more depressed. So Abby and Elmo follow him to the club and realize that the bird are just bullying him.
There's a short exchange here that I really like. Abby suggests getting a grown-up to help solve the problem, but Elmo doesn't want to be a tattle-tale. Abby insists they're not tattling, because they want to help Big Bird not get him in trouble. Oftentimes, people try and invoke a higher power in strained situations just to see the other person squirm under pressure rather than actually fix the situation. In stressful times where actions can carry far further than anyone would normally realize, it's important to think about why you're doing something along with the what. Otherwise, you might make the situation worse.
So they find Gordon's nephew Chris and explain everything to him. Chris then rushes over to the Good Birds Club and calls out the birds for being so mean. He helps Big Bird realize that he doesn't need to be part of the club to be a good bird and tells him that Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, and Chris should start their own club instead. So, they do. And as it turned out, the other good birds, besides the leader, didn't like insulting him either. So they ask to join as well, leaving the leader behind and all alone. The leader scoffs and flies away. And the episode ends with the characters enjoying their new club.
I realized while writing this that all you have to do is add a few guns, death, and a high school setting and you have the plot of Heathers. But I digress.
Human beings are social creatures. We all want to fit in. For kids, it's the special table. For teens, it's the "in" crowd. And for adults, it's either work friends, hobby friends, or social media friends. Everyone wants to feel like they belong, some even desperately. And as someone who struggles socially, I can relate to this episode in particular. I was the weird guy who never fit in, so I found peace with my fellow weirdos. But it's not always that simple. And some jerks like to take advantage of that to string other along for entertainment value.
Instead of trying to change yourself to fit others, find a place where you're welcome as you are.
Now this is a great topic that you could broaden it to bring in a spiritual theme. Who didn't fit in in the Bible? Who sought to fit in through measures that were not pleasing to the Father. Seems to me that all of the OT describing Israel is about that. How did God handle the "misfits"..or did He? What does He want us to learn? He wants us to learn that we are who we are because He made us this way. Perhaps we don't fit in because we are following the wrong leader! Follow the right leader and you will fit in. Try to incorporate "what does God want me to learn" from these type of experiences an…