Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/899902
maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 30 This Week WHEN it comes to popular cul- ture, you need at least one of two factors to ensure a lasting legacy: a knack for innovation and reinvention, or the ability to create something that will stand the test of time. In fact, it is this that has ensured Shakespeare's plays and sonnets are still read 401 years after his death, and what has given Cher a Top 40 hit in the UK in each and every decade between 1965 and 2013. In other words, legends in popular culture are not born but made… so, when one looks at Sesame Street's credentials and sees that it was being aired in 140 countries by the time the show celebrated its 40th anni- versary; or that it's won a total of 167 Emmy Awards and eight Grammy Awards; or that the results from a 1996 survey re- vealed that 95 per cent of Amer- ican pre-schoolers had watched the show before turning three, we need to go beyond the num- bers to understand why it has become one of the most viewed, influential and loved children's TV programmes of all-time. Sesame Street first aired in the USA in November 1969, but its format was completely differ- ent to what children across the world see today. Originally, the show was split into three distinct segments: live-action, anima- tions and sketches featuring Jim Henson's muppets. The show's first revolutionary act, however, was in the use of methods nor- mally applied by marketing and advertising teams across the US to create short segments that made learning basic language and numerical skills fun and memorable. This made the show a favour- ite with parents, but test groups showed that children weren't particularly fond of the live- action scenes featuring real people, as the dialogue was too long and dragging. It was at this point that the creators let go of their idea that fantasy and real- ity shouldn't mix and made the show a place where real-life and fantasy merged to create the Sesame Street universe of today. By listening to children, Sesa- me Street had ensured it would continue inspiring the upcom- ing generations to learn in a new and dynamic way… but it wasn't only children who were watching. By May 1970, a State Commission in Mississippi de- cided to ban the educational programme in the state because of the multicultural cast which included black and Hispanic ac- tors. Undeterred, the creators saw this as an opportunity to expand on Sesame Street's role, and the characters and actors started tackling children's con- cerns, fears and interests on the show – all the while promoting cultural tolerance among people that come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As America was changing – and it's important to keep in mind that Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968 – Sesame Street was at the fore- front in promoting a modern, more tolerant mindset, while teaching children how to read and count. And it's for this reason that many government agencies and foundations have funded the programme over the years, ensuring a better-quality show. More importantly, however, Sesame Street has never for- gotten its viewers, and while the muppets are still there 48 years after the show was first aired, they have evolved with the times. The show has kept up with changing trends, has embraced celebrity endorse- ments and appearances (in- cluding those of Will.i.am and Ricky Gervais), and has stayed relevant thanks to the multitude of topics the cast discusses. Unsurprisingly, there have also been a few scandals – or, rather, would-be scandals – along the way, including a banned feature with Katy Perry for showing too much cleavage, and a rumour about muppets Bert and Ernie's relationship (are they just room-mates... or is there more to it?) Even so, Sesame Street has remained a constant in people's lives: first we watch it as children, then we show it to our children. And its status in popular culture has continued to grow, with Elmo and the Cookie Monster now Internet celebrities in their own right thanks to memes, gifs and YouTube. The universe of Sesame Street has also expanded beyond the telly, and today it is a franchise that includes everything from books to soft toys, and clothes to a world tour, the latter of which brings the magic of Ses- ame Street – with its hilarious one-liners and catchy educa- tional games – to life. And that is what audiences will get to see this Saturday at the Mediterra- nean Conference Centre in Val- letta for the first time thanks to Big Ticket Events. So, when you take your kids to discover the icons of our child- hood and our parents' child- hood, and to learn new words and have a tonne of fun, it's good to keep in mind that Ses- ame Street is a show that has always sought to make a differ- ence in the world. With Sesame Street Live hitting the stage of the MCC in Valletta next weekend, IGGY FENECH delves deep into the history of the 167 Emmy Award-winning show A popular street that changed the world For more information about, or for tickets to, Sesame Street Live, log on to www.ticketline.com.mt What would you say are some of the most significant factors and issues that play into how we are experiencing living spaces over the past ten, five or even two years? Of course, it depends on one's perspective. I mean, an interna- tional businessman, a local artist or a refugee will give you quite different responses to this question. For me, I think what we have seen over the course of the decade is that our cities have been massively commercialised and this has happened in the name of "creativity" and "innovation". Some ten, fifteen years ago, municipal governments all over the continent began to adopt so-called Creative City policies. Initially, this looked like politicians had seen the light and un- derstood the role of culture and the arts for our cities. Unfortunately, as has become painfully obvious today, the Creative City is merely a mar- keting operation that functionalised culture and the arts in gentrification and "upgrade" strategies. At the core of the Creative City paradigm is the notion of intercity competition, which means that the success or failure of a city depends on how attractive it is for investors and tourists. This has led to an in- credible homogenisation of our ur- ban environments because market value has become the overwriting factor for urban policy making. It has made our cities less creative and innovative as the habitat for cul- tural difference – what traditionally we refer to as public space – is quick- ly shrinking. This is what happens when culture and the arts have to dance to the tune of the market be- cause the market is by its very nature a force of homogenisation: it makes differences disappear by expressing diverse phenomena in the only lan- guage it understands, i.e., money. And because markets need to grow, applying their logic rigorously to the Sebastian Olma speaking during the launch of his latest book, In Defence of Serendipity, at the V2_Lab for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam