When you're forced to read the same kids' story, a dozen times daily, day after day after day, the mind starts to wander. I find myself searching for subtexts and hidden backstories in the most innocuous of places. Case in point: Thomas and Friends.
Thomas the Tank Engine and his fellow locomotives on the Island of Sodor like to be known as the Really Useful Crew. The mantra of being "Really Useful" (and they do always capitalize the term) is frequently repeated in the books. Before engaging in an act of kindness, characters are exhorted to be "Really Useful". After Thomas or one of his colourful colleagues gets caught up in the usual hijinks and ensuing mayhem, they are rapidly brought down to Earth, being reminded to be "Really Useful". The one drilling this mantra into their heads (I'm not sure if the locomotives have heads... faces, but maybe not heads) by the master of the island's railway system, the Fat Controller (or Sir Topham Hatt in the American editions). Lesson learned.
While on the surface this all sounds like the leadership of a benevolent, community minded father figure, there's another, more sinister name for it. Brainwashing. Just look at the way the Fat Controller's has the ability to bend the engines to his will with those trigger words: "Really Useful". It smacks of a cult's indoctrination, or a timeshare sales pitch. Others have written about the corrupt dictatorial regime the Fat Controller runs on his little island. Now we know how he maintains such a tight grip without the exploited, unpaid engines rising up Planet of the Apes style (1972's Conquest, not the James Franco one) and splattering their oppressors at the next level crossing.
Thomas the Tank Engine and his fellow locomotives on the Island of Sodor like to be known as the Really Useful Crew. The mantra of being "Really Useful" (and they do always capitalize the term) is frequently repeated in the books. Before engaging in an act of kindness, characters are exhorted to be "Really Useful". After Thomas or one of his colourful colleagues gets caught up in the usual hijinks and ensuing mayhem, they are rapidly brought down to Earth, being reminded to be "Really Useful". The one drilling this mantra into their heads (I'm not sure if the locomotives have heads... faces, but maybe not heads) by the master of the island's railway system, the Fat Controller (or Sir Topham Hatt in the American editions). Lesson learned.
While on the surface this all sounds like the leadership of a benevolent, community minded father figure, there's another, more sinister name for it. Brainwashing. Just look at the way the Fat Controller's has the ability to bend the engines to his will with those trigger words: "Really Useful". It smacks of a cult's indoctrination, or a timeshare sales pitch. Others have written about the corrupt dictatorial regime the Fat Controller runs on his little island. Now we know how he maintains such a tight grip without the exploited, unpaid engines rising up Planet of the Apes style (1972's Conquest, not the James Franco one) and splattering their oppressors at the next level crossing.
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