Is That You, Mistah Rogers?

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/24973901@N04/6764245699

Last week Salome sent me link fodder for our I Have To Tell You Something podcast. There were three auto-tune remixes of old PBS shows and as such, I imagined we would talk about auto-ruining the music (and video) industry, or maybe how stories are (not) better remixed in video than in games, or at a stretch - how curious is it that PBS is remixing old television shows on YouTube using auto-tune?

Not so much.

We didn't get one gasp beyond my expressed horror of one particular video: Mister Rogers Remixed | Garden of Your Mind. I called it disturbing and creepy, but I am sure there are far better words to adequately describe the mind-bending, unadulterated terror sparked by this particular remix.

Have a look and judge for yourself.

Admit it; it's wicked creepy. I mean - way beyond the crypt - creepy. Not just because it's Mr. Rogers, but because it ruthlessly embeds itself into your psyche like a ceti eel. With all due respect to creative remixer MelodySheep, this thing is keeping me up at night.

Maybe you found it to be awesome. We disagree; I get that. What I didn't expect to discover is that some people have a Harlequin-like affection for Mr. Rogers.

'I tell you', he cried, 'this man has enlarged my mind.'
                                                                           - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

In this episode of I Have To Tell You Something we discover Salome's kryptonite buried deep beneath the neighborhood trolley tracks. Once that crystalline wonder was tapped, could I just let it go? Certainly not - we just slipped deeper into the jungle.

Come with us, but proceed with caution.

Direct link for those adventurous ones

To clear up whatever misconceptions Ms. Strangelove may have left you with, I am not a Mr. Rogers antagonist (despite my Mr. Green Jeans confusion) but I am not exactly a doe-eyed agnostic either. He's just not a celebrated personal childhood hero despite his puppets, folk lore and folkisms.

My point is - even heroes can be remixed into a creepy mess. Believe me not, do you?

You too can get your very own ceti ell - subscribe here!

Share Some Grace: