The Muppets & Diversity in Culture

Cultural diversity has been a focus of American society since its beginning, and we have been constantly surrounded by messages that either encourage or discourage the acceptance, assimilation, and depiction of the beliefs and customs of others. Television and movies consistently provide us with inspiration or suggestion of how we should act, or at least how we wish we could act as a society. One set of entertainers gave us an entire community filled with strange and quirky characters, telling us stories to make us laugh and giving us an example of how diversity can enrich our lives: The Muppets. These characters mirrored the strengths and weaknesses of our own personalities, and their creators showed us how to celebrate and embrace our differences. By presenting an intricately detailed imaginary world where everyone has a place of value and joy no matter how unusual, the Muppets shared a vision of how society could proceed in benevolent peace. While the Muppets’ efforts to engage their audience persist, I believe their diminished popularity runs concurrent to the negative divisiveness displayed by parts of society now.

Muppet creator Jim Henson was a man of lofty ideals and ridiculous humor. He was described as quiet and unassuming, but he was also known as a commanding leader with a mischievous streak. His goals combined art with the wish to improve the world with every project he dreamed up. In It’s Not Easy Being Green (2005), Cheryl Henson stated that her father Jim was “interested in the real world and wanted to do his part to make it better. …He never lost his faith that each act of kindness, each bit of understanding, and each smile can make a difference.” He had a genuine sense of wonder that extended far beyond his childhood years, and it continued to inspire him to create intricate worlds of imagination filled with richly written multi-dimensional characters. He envisioned communities of vastly contrasting creatures becoming friends and living in harmony regardless of the chaos surrounding them. The themes of unity, friendship, and empathy resonated in all of his creations, and his lifelong efforts to better the world came in the forms of art and entertainment.

Sesame Street was the television show that launched the Muppets into icon status. For many children born in the 1960s and 1970s, the Muppets of Sesame Street were some of their first teachers and friends. Each character was carefully considered not only by the puppet builders but also by the creative consultants of the Children’s Television Workshop, which was the production company that created the show for the purpose of offering educational television. Kermit the Frog’s personality contained the same quiet kindness and gentle leadership as his performer, Jim Henson. Grover represented the eternal 6-year-old in furry blue monster format, and he was often learning new things alongside the audience with his bumbling charm and silliness. Cookie Monster embodied the primal human desire for all things delicious in excess, and viewers could easily relate to his zeal. These characters became “real” to viewers due to the performers’ talents in creating nuances in movement and design that went beyond simply flapping a puppet’s mouth. The onscreen interactions of the Muppets with children became a powerful way for lessons to be delivered to the audience. Children watching at home would follow along with the children on the show as their fuzzy companions taught them about letters and numbers. What many viewers may not have realized was that there were lessons that went beyond reading and math. Children were learning how to socialize, how to communicate, and how to identify similarities and differences in their surroundings. Teaching social skills such as cooperation, sharing, and empathy required a different approach than standard school subjects, and the Muppets’ ability to capture the attention and trust of the viewers facilitated the shift. The mere fact that Muppets came in every color of the rainbow and every size and shape imaginable further accentuated the differences in the characters, making the unification of the group much more eye-catching and obvious. These ideas would overlap into other Muppet projects as the 1970s continued.

While the success of Sesame Street was in its first bloom, Jim Henson received a chance to fulfill his dream of producing a variety show of his own. Back in the 1960s, Jim gained regional renown in Washington, D.C. with Sam and Friends, and he continued into the national spotlight with Muppet appearances on the Today Show and The Jimmy Dean Show. In these variety shows, Jim proved that puppet shows weren’t only for children, and he hoped to get a variety show of his own one day. He found such an opportunity with the premiere of The Muppet Show in 1976, aided by British television producer Lew Grade and offered in syndication to stations in the United States. Jim turned the variety show concept upside down by centering the show on the Muppets and welcoming a human guest star for each episode. He also took the viewers everywhere in the Muppet Theater, from the stage to the dressing rooms, and from the orchestra pit to the theater box seats complete with everyone’s favorite hecklers, Statler and Waldorf. This show carried a wilder wit and sass that was much closer to all the puppeteers’ personal styles of humor, and the performances flourished within this new framework that didn’t need to include educational elements. Kermit was the ever-familiar face of leadership in this new crowd, and piano playing Rowlf the Dog returned to the screen years after his first big break with Jimmy Dean. The new characters fell even farther to the fringes of wackiness than those in Sesame Street, and viewers said hello to the vain and jealous Miss Piggy, the weird and destructive Gonzo, and the groovy and flashy Electric Mayhem rock band. The photo above shows the use of myriad colors in representing the diversity of this fictional universe. These even stranger characters were still strongly united as a family of choice, and their popularity exploded to the point where a new idea arose. Brian Jay Jones (2013) noted, “To Jim, the next step was obvious. He had conquered television; now he was going to make a movie.” The Muppet Movie, released in 1979, grossed 65 million dollars, received recognition from the Library of Congress as a film of cultural significance, and earned a spot in the National Film Registry’s list of preserved motion pictures. The story line follows Kermit the Frog on his trek from the swamp to the big city to find fame and fortune, collecting the Muppet menagerie during his cross-country adventures. The movie spotlights the value of friendship and believing in oneself and others, which have been constant themes within Muppet projects over the years. It encourages viewers to find their own paths to happiness, and to never give up, even when faced with difficult circumstances. It focuses on the power of the self, a concept which gained prominence in the “me decade” of the 1970s, and Henson and company continued to promote these kinds of ideas with great success through the 1980s. This gave Jim even more opportunity to create new projects close to his heart.

Fraggle Rock was another Henson creation that captured the interest of fans, but it took a deeper turn into social commentary on the topics of spirituality, conflict, and discrimination. At the time, Jim was also working on Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, which were much darker projects than anything the Henson Company had done previously. While humor, frivolity, and fantasy were always within the productions, Jim was intent on telling more serious stories with valuable morals. Fraggle Rock was populated by three distinct cultures most obviously categorized by their size: the gigantic Gorgs, the 18-inch high Fraggles, and the 6-inch high Doozers. There was a clear division and hierarchy between these cultures that went beyond their sizes, and as their stories unfolded, viewers learned how each group had developed opinions about the others, whether right or wrong. Even with the misunderstandings and difficulties that inevitably created the conflicts required for a good story line, the show drew the sight lines between the cultures showing how they all worked together to survive whether they realized it or not. The Gorgs grew the radishes the Fraggles needed for food, and those same radishes were the ingredient Doozers required for their buildings. The Fraggles enjoyed eating those buildings, which then meant the Doozers had more space for constructing additional buildings. The Gorgs worked in their garden but thought of themselves as royalty, looking down on the Fraggles as pests. The Fraggles were carefree and well provided for, sometimes unintentionally, by the other cultures. The Doozers were hard workers who believed in the power of unifying for a single cause. One character, Uncle Traveling Matt, added yet another layer to this societal structure by visiting the real world, which he called “outer space” and observing the humans within it, calling us “the silly creatures”. With this plot device, the show could make bold social commentaries about the actions of humans within the world and shine a light on ways we might be getting things wrong. The show connected the actions of its characters with the actions of the human race in the real world. The Gorgs saw the Fraggles as their enemies because they stole their radishes, but the Fraggles saw the Gorgs as creatures to be dodged while they harvested the radishes. Doozers never seemed annoyed by the Fraggles eating their buildings because it gave them job security to meet the Fraggles’ demand with their supply. With every episode, Fraggle Rock pointed out how outlandish certain accepted tenets of society could be, and it showed how this particular society overcame them for a better life. In regard to this show, Christopher Finch (1993) wrote, “Jim did not delude himself into thinking he could create a television show that could actually prevent wars, but he did sincerely believe that he could produce a program that could help sow the seeds of pacifism in the minds of the world’s children.” For as globally adored and critically acclaimed as Fraggle Rock was, the American audience was much smaller due to its place on the premium pay cable channel HBO. Even with a limited audience, Fraggles became a familiar and beloved part of the Muppet family, and they continue to gather new fans long after their original run.

Although Muppets, Inc. stayed busy with a number of projects throughout the last two decades, their 2011 movie The Muppets was considered a comeback, a return to form and visibility within popular culture’s highest ranks. Boasting the second highest gross of any Muppet film when adjusted for inflation (Box Office Mojo 2016), it was certainly a hit, but something had changed about how audiences perceived the message. The story maintains a classic Muppet structure, with the main character and new Muppet Walter going on a life-altering search for happiness and fulfillment. Many adults who knew these characters as old childhood friends took their children to see this movie, and it delivered all of the color, diversity, hilarity, and sentiment for which the Muppets are celebrated. However, audiences seemed to gloss over the message of self-discovery and cooperation the movie was trying to deliver in favor of the slapstick humor. The Muppets had something important to say, but audiences weren’t listening or reacting to the message in the same way. Jim Henson intended the Muppets as an example of how people could interact positively with each other, but the message seems to be lost in our current society where differences are considered a negative and divisive thing instead of a reason to be unified or proud.

The Muppets are still some of the most recognizable characters in the world for all ages, and they continue to produce quality entertainment that could last through many more generations. The untimely death of Jim Henson may have been a difficult setback for the company he created, but in perfect Henson fashion, his children took up his quest to make the world a little better one story at a time. Audiences may not be listening as closely for the deeper meaning within the art of the Muppets, but the messages remain there in hopes that even one person will hear it and believe.

Works Cited

Henson, Jim, and Cheryl Henson. It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider. New York: Hyperion, 2005. Print.

Jones, Brian Jay. Jim Henson: The Biography. New York: Ballantine, 2013. Print.

Finch, Christopher. Jim Henson: The Works: The Art, The Magic, The Imagination. New York: Random House, 1993. Print.

"The Muppets." Movies at the Box Office. Box Office Mojo, n.d. Web. 30 June 2016.

"This Bucket List." This Bucket List. Wordpress, 3 July 2015. Web. 02 July 2016.