It could be seen as incredibly cynical & “Scrooge-like” to find fault with RTE’s Late Late Toy Show, wouldn’t it? If I did a blog post giving out about it then I must have a problem with children being happy, right?
Well, I don’t accept that premise. And that’s kind of the overall theme of this blog.
The kids are great and make the show what it is, even if they are up way past their bedtime. Ryan Tubridy is an absolutely awful presenter but even he doesn’t bother me that much on the show.
I don’t see what’s wrong with pointing out what underpins the show…it is a vehicle for companies who are trying to cash in at this time of year and with the show airing before the end of November, it piles extra pressure on parents who are worried enough about affording Christmas as it is.
And the sight of Tubridy chucking toys out into the crowd actually made me a little sick to my stomach, making the studio audience, all there for the freebies as it was, greedily scramble to grab even more like ducks paddling after crusts of bread up in the park.
This year I did like the kid who did the storytelling who introduced me to the phrase ; “as welcome as a dhrop of holy wather in the devil’s whishkey!”
I am far from a scrooge but I just hope folks remember that the amount of enjoyment their kids get out of Christmas is anything but proportional to the amount of money they spend. If it stresses out Mommy & Daddy it will only have the opposite effect.
Thankfully we’re ok from a personal standpoint, but many are not. Donating to charity is a good way to assuage our conscience but de-pressurising the festive season is a much greater challenge. JLP
First Person Plural 