If you’ve seen even a single episode of Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer, you know exactly how it works. For one reason or another, Dora – an energetic Latina adventuress – needs to reach a certain destination. She inevitably finds that the path to that destination contains two obstacles. Your kids “help” her through these obstacles by participating in recognition games, bilingual speech exercises and physical activities.
All in all, Dora the Explorer is thoughtfully-created children’s television and the reasons for its success are as limitless as the idiosyncratic crap that Dora’s talking backpack pukes out day after day.
Also, Dora the Explorer is a Communist.
Dora the Explorer promotes contempt for the immigration laws of the United States, predicts a wholesale takeover of the North American continent by Marxist forces from Latin America, and tops it all off with some good old-fashioned simulated sex acts. And these elements are hardly even subliminal. All you have to do to catch on to Dora’s agenda is sit in front of the TV and pay close attention-which is exactly what your kids are doing, incidentally.
By now you’re probably shaking your fist at the computer screen shouting words like “preposterous!” and “outrageous!” (As an aside, I like to imagine that you’re shouting these words with a British accent.) You can put your fist down. You’re right. My slanders against Dora’s good name are outrageous and baseless… most of the time. I’ll gladly concede that these heavy social and political themes are nowhere to be found in most of Dora’s adventures. The vast majority of Dora the Explorer episodes are uplifting, educational, and demonstrative of Nickelodeon’s uncanny ability to develop programming that truly engages preschool-age children.
But that only makes it all the more disturbing when ominous threats and adult themes suddenly pop up in the time slot between Olivia and The Backyardigans.
Let’s get down to specifics-Tuesday, March 12th, 2002. Dora the Explorer episode 203 (titled “The Magic Stick”) airs for the first time. And it looks more like a porno for Colombian guerrillas than an uplifting adventure for suburbanite preschoolers.
The previously-mentioned formula by which Dora the Explorer episodes are constructed is rarely, if ever, broken. And indeed, episode 203 (season 2, episode 3) stays loyal to the infallible “obstacle, obstacle, goal” plot vehicle that your preschooler knows and loves. The difference with “The Magic Stick” episode isn’t in the setup or execution of Dora’s journey, but in the individual elements that are plugged into the “obstacle, obstacle, goal” template, and what those elements represent. On a fundamental level, it’s just a handful of subtle, unobtrusive differences that makes “The Magic Stick” distinguishable from any other episode of Dora the Explorer.
But subtlety flies out the window once we experience the shift in tone caused by the combination of those plot elements that. Episode 203’s weirdness just builds and builds until we’ve been reduced from viewers to victims-helpless, shocked victims-of an unapologetic vision of the unconditional end of white America.
This apocalyptic prophecy concludes the same way every other episode of Dora the Explorer does-with your kids dancing in front of the television singing, “We did it!” along with their champion and role model, Dora the Explorer… Dora the undocumented immigrant… Dora the Marxist revolutionary… Dora, Destroyer of Worlds.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The conclusion is by far the most indirect and metaphorical scene in “The Magic Stick”. The violent climax at Highest Hill owes all of its poignancy to the events that precede it.
The formative scenes of “The Magic Stick” introduce clear social and political subtexts. As the plot moves forward, those subtexts lay a concrete foundation on which the episode’s abstract conclusion can be built.
Without that foundation, the end of episode 203 is just a cartoon about a little girl on a hill with a stick. But once the viewer has been given a sociopolitical filter to look through, that same scene plays more like a wave of Latin American revolutionaries sweeping across the United States, stomping through the decrepit institutions of American imperialism and building up their Socialist utopia in its place.
Getting there is half the fun.
“The Magic Stick” starts out something like this: Dora the Explorer stumbles conveniently into another adventure and finds herself faced with the daunting task of bringing a certain stick to a certain hill (seriously.) As always, Dora kicks things off by commanding your children to help her use this talking map thing she carries around with her. (I think it’s supposed to be a developmentally disabled Tom-Tom or something.) The map, as always, points out an obstacle, then another obstacle, and then the goal (in this case, “Highest Hill”, where the magic powers of “The Magic Stick” are needed to solve some ambiguous problem.)
Here’s where it gets juicy.
According to the obnoxious asexual map entity, our ambitious amiga Dora will have to first cross a river and then climb a wall to reach her destination. Please, if you feel the need, take a moment to read that last sentence again… or to pick your jaw up off the floor… or to scrape the pieces of your exploded brain off your computer screen.
That’s right… episode 203 has Dora “exploring” her way across a symbolic representation of the United States/Mexico border.
For all you anti-immigration types out there, I’d like to offer a friendly reminder that your kids see Dora the Explorer and all of her adventures as shining examples of all that is good, right, and brave. At this early point in episode 203, your kids have already learned that a Mexican girl crossing a river and scaling over a wall to reach her goal at all costs is not a crime, but a righteous and heroic act-a pure triumph of the human spirit. (I actually tend to agree with your kids on this, but that becomes irrelevant in light of things to come. The immigration debate is hardly the most troublesome vertebrae in this story’s sociopolitical backbone.)
Anyone skeptical of the river/wall symbolism should consider that the allegory is far too obvious to be a coincidence. It’s such a direct representation that it can’t even be called allegory-maybe “animated reenactment” would be a better term. Even if the pair of obstacles had been jotted down by a hurried writer who hadn’t stopped to consider the implications of a Mexican girl crossing a river and scaling a wall on an American TV show, somebody down the line at Nickelodeon would have noticed it and immediately sent it back for revision.
And consider how incredibly simple such a revision would be when the writers are using Dora’s “obstacle, obstacle, goal” formula. Rivers, walls, stairs, bridges, forests, mountains, troublesome animals-they’re all completely interchangeable. All they would need to do is replace the river with stock obstacle x and the wall with stock obstacle y and all political or social undertones would instantly vanish. And yet such a switch-out of the obstacles was not made.
You’d think that television networks targeted at preschoolers (i.e., overseen by protective and reactionary parents) would be extra-diligent about making sure their programming contains absolutely zero potential for creating offense or controversy. One clumsily-written line of dialog resulting in an accidental sexual innuendo could put American parents and advocacy groups into a mass frenzy, ready to drive the offending show off the airwaves forever like a mob of villagers armed with torches and pitchforks.
So-assuming Nickelodeon really is that diligent about keeping controversy out of their Nick Jr. lineup-how did this Dora episode ever make it to air? “The Magic Stick” had to be a deliberate and carefully-orchestrated production, requiring cooperation on multiple levels at Nickelodeon.
But why would they take such a risk? Maybe arrogance-did they think they were delivering the message subliminally? More likely, they realized that they didn’t need to be subtle or cautious. They realized that America trusted Dora and her Nick Jr. compatriots to electronically babysit their children-trusted them to the point that they had stopped paying attention. So while mommy is in the bathroom chowing down on benzodiazepines, little Jenny is in front of the television becoming a FARC sympathizer.
We could guess all day as to why Nickelodeon did what they did. Instead, let’s go back to the storyline and address the more important question: what does it all mean?
On the surface, this simple “across the river + over the wall = victory” plot looks, more than anything, like a juvenile attempt at a racist joke. Obviously this can’t be the case-Dora’s creators would never marginalize Dora as a border-hopping stereotype for the sake of a cheap “adult” laugh (especially given the riskiness of putting this episode on the air.)
For Nickelodeon’s message to become clear, we must continue to follow Dora on her path to “Highest Hill”. The first event on Dora’s adventure is an unexpected run-in with an old friend, a big red chicken named… the Big Red Chicken. Dora has to help the Big Red Chicken before she can continue, because, after all, the Big Red Chicken is her friend. And if Dora the Explorer is anything, she’s loyal to her friends.
That’s right, Dora’s friend is red… big and red. They may as well have just gone all the way and plastered a bright yellow hammer and sickle on the Big Red Chicken’s chest; the fowl is an obvious symbol of Socialism/Communism.
Since Dora is all about breaking down the “fourth wall” to promote interaction between TV characters and human viewers, let’s do a little exercise in imagination. If it existed in real life-right before our eyes-how would we react to the Big Red Chicken? Keep in mind we’re talking about a bright red chicken twice the size of a human child. First, it might scare us: it’s an unknown, an unexpected, and something way bigger than we believe it should be.
And yet the majority of us wouldn’t actually be scared at all if the Big Red Chicken showed up in real life. This isn’t because we’re accustomed to mutant poultry, but because it would be too difficult for us to even accept its existence, despite that fact that we see it right there, staring us in the face. Our brains would be too stubborn. We have been taught that chickens are neither six-foot-tall nor fire-engine red. It would be easier for us to just pretend that the Big Red Chicken doesn’t exist than it would be to attempt a dialogue with it, learn about it, and make an intelligent decision about how to deal with its presence in our lives.
Everything we’ve just said about the hypothetical encounter with the Big Red Chicken could apply to another red entity-one that actually does exist in real life. I’m referring to the leftist movement in Latin America. It’s scary to us, it’s much bigger than we’ve been taught to believe, and it’s easier to just pretend that it doesn’t exist.
Understanding all of this, it may become disturbing to see that our loveable Dora the Explorer will cheerfully put even her most important personal goals on hold to stop and aid the Big Red Chicken. The ominous tone is compounded by the fact that Dora has to stop and consult the Big Red Chicken before she’s allowed to even begin pursuing her own goals.
Of course we can’t forget that as soon as Dora the Explorer wraps up her selfless contribution to the red cause, she’ll be right back on her quest to illegally enter the United States. Unlike the typical Cuban refugee who flees from Communism, Dora the Explorer symbolizes a new kind of alien-a kind of alien that makes a deliberate effort to carry Communism across the border with them.
Is this some sort of prediction or warning? Maybe it’s an instruction manual. Or maybe this is already happening. This new brand of Latino immigrant could already be phasing itself into American society. Communism is a difficult commodity to regulate. You won’t find it during a full cavity search. Dogs can’t sniff it out. Distribution requires no money to change hands, and supply has the potential to grow each time it encounters an impressionable or disenfranchised mind. The introduction of this commodity to an American market is what the Big Red Chicken is all about.
Then again, maybe the Big Red Chicken is just a benign cartoon character that happens to be a large, colorful bird. Via either skepticism or denial, some of you may be back in fist-shaking, British-accent, “preposterous!”-shouting mode by now. Unfortunately for you, the show’s creators provided us with infallible clues to use as confirmation of the Big Red Chicken’s agenda. The key to those clues is a simple, two-step translation of the Big Red Chicken’s name.
1. If you’ve seen this episode, you might have noticed that the Big Red Chicken is actually a he. And a male chicken isn’t a chicken at all-it’s a rooster.
2. Consider the other sinister allusions carried by the color red besides Communism. Red stands for the devil... for blood… for fire.
So let’s take our Big Red Chicken and call him a Fire Rooster. It’s a name he’ll have to share with a year in the Chinese cycle, and therein lay our clues. The last Year of the Fire Rooster ran from 1/31/1957 to 2/17/1958. This period was packed with historical events that can be interpreted as affirmations of our theories about “The Magic Stick”. Here are a few of the best examples:
1/31/1957 – The Year of the Fire Rooster begins with tragedy. Eight people are killed in the San Fernando Valley when an F-89 fighter jet collides with an airliner. The F-89 had been in the air as part of routine Cold War operations by the United States. Such operations kept the skies in that area crowded at the time. This is to say that the United States’ obsession with monitoring and suppressing leftist movements around the globe was indirectly responsible for the deaths of its own civilians. As a footnote, the San Fernando Valley was “discovered” by an expedition that began in Mexico, just like Dora’s adventure in “The Magic Stick.”
3/7/1957 – The Eisenhower Doctrine is approved by the United States Congress. The document outlines the United States’ response to “the menace of International Communism.” The United States promises military aid and cooperation “with any group or nation that desires such aid”, even to the point of offering “the employment of the armed forces of the United States.” It reads more like an advertisement for free, unconditional military intervention than a foreign policy plan. It’s as if the United States is soliciting an invitation or excuse to bring Russian-facing military forces into the Middle East.
3/10/1957 – Osama bin laden’s birthday-the most intense symbol of modern Anti-Americanism, and an enemy that America has not yet been able to destroy.
4/5/1957 – The first-ever government elections in the state of Kerala result in victory for the Communist Party of India-proof that when given a Democratic choice, some people will choose leftist alternatives (i.e., certain modern-day nations in Latin America.) This flies in the face of the American stance that Democracy and Communism are direct opposites.
6/27/1957 – Hurricane Audrey hits the United States, leaving 400 dead and all but wiping the town of Cameron, Louisiana off the face of the earth. This metaphorically defines the Communist invasion as an inevitable force that will rise up from Central America organically but swiftly. It is a force that cannot be stopped, contained or diverted by those in its path.
7/6/1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time. This is the prerequisite to perhaps the biggest “foreign invasion” in United States history. The Beatles challenged and ultimately transformed the fabric of American Society.
9/4/1957 – The executive powers in the state of Arkansas activate the National Guard to keep African-American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School. This is an unprecedented use of military in the battle between the American government and non-white people.
After Dora parts ways with her Big Red Comrade, the adventure becomes less interesting from an interpretive standpoint. The actual triumphs over the river and the wall are more typical of Dora’s adventures. Dora has to avoid snakes in the river crossing, and, if you want to make a stretch, you could take these as metaphors for the INS or The Minutemen. But it would be easier and just as appropriate to see them as actual snakes-plenty of dangerous snakes live around the Rio Grande.
But unless you’re scared of third-party politics or brown people, you still might not be concerned about this episode’s message. Again, I tend to agree. If anything, I think parents should be concerned about the phallic imagery and sexual content that come once Dora reaches her destination in episode 203.
To summarize the episode’s climax: Dora climbs on top of a curvy entity (Highest Hill.) Once mounted atop it, Dora the Explorer thrusts a rod into this femininely-shaped mound. This causes new life to spring forth from Highest Hill’s previously barren womb. Either Dora is engaging in a threesome, or she’s assuming the sexual identity of a male.
I know that Dora is into “exploration” and whatnot, but come on… this is a bit much, even for the network that brought us classy children’s programming like Wienerville and Spongebob Squarepants.
The difference between Dora the Explorer and Nickelodeon’s history of off-color cartoons is that none of those other shows were aired as part of the preschool-oriented Nick Jr. lineup. Furthermore, the mild indecencies in shows like Spongebob Squarepants are silly and blatant-not creepy and sublimated like seeing Dora the Explorer penetrate Highest Hill. Worse yet, Dora celebrates the dirty deed by dancing on top of Highest Hill singing, “we did it!” like a fratboy totally stoked after a successful application of GHB.
There is a definite sense of Manifest Destiny here. Dora the Explorer is Latina (which is to say that indigenous American exists in her bloodline.) When she gets to Highest Hill it is barren and wasted-a symbol for the destructive excessiveness of the American capitalist-industrial machine. But as soon as Dora the Explorer penetrates Highest Hill with the Magic Stick, new life springs forth, making it once again a beautiful place. But that life comes in the form of jungle foliage-plants indigenous to Latin America rather than North America. This makes it clear that Dora is not simply “rescuing” Highest Hill, but recreating it as an extension of Latin America.
If Highest Hill really represents the United States of America-not only the geographical region, but the intangible “American Dream” and everything that comes with it-then the message does not leave much room for misinterpretation.
Look back to the beginning of Dora the Explorer episode 203 one last time, and remember who actually provided Dora with the fated phallus that was used to impregnate the United States with the promise of a new era. The menacing face of Socialism would seem like an appropriate origin for the tool of the apocalypse, but the Big Red Chicken actually had no part in the transfer or utilization of the Magic Stick. Even though the embracing and proliferating of Socialism is an underlying theme here, a political ideology alone could never accomplish what is prophesied at the end of “The Magic Stick.”
Instead, the new America springs forth from the unremarkable Magic Stick of a tiny, humble tree frog-a symbol of Latin America’s unspoiled natural beauty; a small animal that lives an unobtrusive and unaggressive existence, but is capable of unleashing deadly poisons should anyone dare to call it an enemy. The tree frog is indigenous, average, and entirely unstoppable.
If you decide to take Dora’s message (or threat?) to heart, you still have some time to prepare for your role in the new, Latino-dominated America… the next Year of the Fire Rooster isn’t until 2017.
