***Music, Books and Psycho Space Robots is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Kevin Kenealy, staff writer and Nightmare Fuel Provider. The views expressed therein are his, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

She was told by Sesame Street yes and then was told no. Her dress was too hot and Sesame Street apparently changes their mind, but Katy Perry doesn’t change her clothes.

Image from bloginity.org.

This past week, it was announced that a skit featuring Katy Perry and Elmo would be cut from the show’s season premiere. Perry was told she is too sexy for the show. The event has generated controversy from those who believe it right of Sesame Street, and those who believe the world is getting too politically correct and that there was nothing wrong with the skit. Watch the video on YouTube.

In all the comments I’ve looked at, however, no one has addressed what exactly the point was of having Katy Perry on the show to begin with. A spokesman for Sesame Street said that the show has always been written for the child and for the adult. Fine. What children watch Sesame Street? Those in their preschool years, right? What preschool kid is really going to care that Katy Perry is on the show? Also, what adult over the age of 30 would even listen to Katy Perry?

Even if said preschooler or said adult likes Katy Perry, does her song “Hot n’ Cold” have any educational value? The clip that was supposed to run on Sesame Street shows Katy chasing Elmo with her song “Hot n’ Cold” playing (albeit with slightly altered lyrics). Seems like a promotion for Katy more than anything, even if she truly didn’t see it that way.

Image from fanpop.com

When it comes down to it, I think it’s just as important to judge the educational quality of putting Katy Perry on the show as it is to judge her sexiness or her attire. If she were to wear the same low-cut heart shaped dress, but were to be talking about shapes or colors with Elmo, that would be different. As another commenter pointed out online, Disney portrays their women characters in a not-so-conservative light dress wise. The Little Mermaid, Princess Jasmine and Tinkerbell are just a few examples of how kids are exposed to women at an early age in not the most appropriate attire.

The most educational point of the 2:32 reel was when Katy sings: “You’re up then you’re down,” and Elmo is up on the screen and then he’s down on the screen. Then Katy sings: “You’re hot then you’re cold” and Elmo and Katy run from the desert to the arctic. While this may teach kids spatial relationships with where is up and where is down or opposites with the desert and the arctic, the song moves too fast and is too poppy for any preschooler to really comprehend that.

This is why we leave Sesame Street to the professionals. Like The Count, who goes over his numbers very slowly, “Count, count with me hahaha!” so kids can have time to comprehend what’s actually going on. I think when pop singers are brought on, the show has to be careful that if they sing, their song gives the lesson some kind of educational value.