Noddy: a revolutionary education.

In the book "Noddy: Bumpy Dog's bad day" (Harper Collins, London, 2001), the author - presumably no longer the late racist Enid Blyton, but some rather subversive minion hammering away at a keyboard somewhere deep within the bowels of Whitehall or Mayfair or somewhere - spins out the latest tale; the latest guide for living and a design for life for your children. But this is no bog-standard piece of social engineering and mind-control. For herein lies a lesson for us all, children big & little, on the mechanics of thought control in democratic societies (as Chomsky & Herman have put it), and the manipulation of official enemies as they quickly come and go, most often scarcely with notice or a bye-your-leave (whatever that means).

The book begins with the usual shenanigans of Toytown’s long-term official enemies and Folk-Devils - the goblins Sly and Gobbo - as they react with some alarm to a new wanted poster campaign against them in the town, conducted by the state legal authority there Mr. Plod the policeman. Determined to hit back against this ruthless new search-and-destroy policy, they come up with the novel DIY move of fly-posting pictures of another entity, the long-term Toytown and Noddy ally, Bumpy dog. The photo is duly expropriated from the shopping basket of an unwitting Tessie Bear, and the deed is done. The effect is both immediate and startling, particularly in the ease with which the town’s inhabitants swiftly move from an old official enemy to a new one without query. No questions are asked of the crimes of Bumpy dog, a dear and trusted friend not five or ten minutes previously; indeed it is enough, merely that the authority in the town has declared him to be a bad dog. Mr. Plod’s extra-legal foreign policy is beyond all reproach.

“…look!” squeaked Clockwork Mouse. “There he is!”
Tessie and Bumpy dog looked round in fright as everyone raced towards them shouting, “It’s Bumpy dog! After him!”
Bumpy whimpered and hid between Tessie’s legs.
“We’ll have to escape out of Toy Town,” gasped Tessie.

As the story nears its denouement, Bumpy dog only escapes his fate by sheer chance, when a freak rainstorm happens to wash away the covering posters to reveal once more the faces of Sly and Gobbo beneath. Toy Town returns to its previous political state with the goblins back to number one in the pariah charts, and yet still neither Mr. Plod nor Clockwork Mouse - nor even Bert Monkey for that matter - question the legitimacy of the regime, or their blind subservience to its crass institutions of manipulation.

There is a lesson for us all here; and for the kids, a far more accessible one than that contained within the dense pages of ‘Manufacturing Consent: the political economy of the mass media’ (Chomsky & Herman, Vintage, Toronto 1988). Enlightening though it doubtless is, consider the following passage if you will:

“Elite disagreements over tactics in dealing with Nicaragua is reflected in public debate, but the mass media, in conformity with elite priorities, have coalesced in processing news in a way that fails to place US policy into meaningful context, systematically suppresses evidence of US violence and aggression, and puts the Sandinistas in an extremely bad light. In contrast, El Salvador and Guatemala, with far worse records, are presented as struggling toward democracy under “moderate” leaders, thus meriting sympathetic approval. These practices have not only distorted public perceptions of Central American realities, they have also seriously misrepresented US policy objectives, an essential feature of propaganda.”

And compare this with:

“So Bumpy dog isn’t wanted after all” said Tessie joyfully.
“Oh yes he is,” chuckled Noddy. So are you, Tessie. You are both wanted at my house for a delicious tea!”

Noddy is a true revolutionary: only he and Tessie Bear dare to question the political orthodoxy of Mr. Plod’s personal fiefdom that is Toy Town, he’s nice to his friends, runs a free community taxi service, and he likes tea and cake. In short, he’s our kind of guy.