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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| In Peppa’s world, some pigs are more equal than others | In Peppa’s world, some pigs are more equal than others |
| (5 months later) | |
| This is probably a result of watching too much Downton Abbey over the years, but every day, as I sit through back-to-back episodes of Peppa Pig with my kids, I increasingly find myself wondering: did Mummy Pig marry down? | This is probably a result of watching too much Downton Abbey over the years, but every day, as I sit through back-to-back episodes of Peppa Pig with my kids, I increasingly find myself wondering: did Mummy Pig marry down? |
| I ask because both she and her parents have notably posher accents than Daddy Pig. He is in the middle; Mummy Pig is slightly posher than him; and Grandpa and Granny Pig – particularly Granny, who is a kind of porcine Felicity Kendal – are super-posh. Peppa, meanwhile, mimics her mother’s more than her father’s voice. I see her years from now, sporting a blazer and straw boater, bellowing one of her signature boasts into the face of a school chum. | I ask because both she and her parents have notably posher accents than Daddy Pig. He is in the middle; Mummy Pig is slightly posher than him; and Grandpa and Granny Pig – particularly Granny, who is a kind of porcine Felicity Kendal – are super-posh. Peppa, meanwhile, mimics her mother’s more than her father’s voice. I see her years from now, sporting a blazer and straw boater, bellowing one of her signature boasts into the face of a school chum. |
| “The question is, what does Daddy Pig do for a living?” says my friend Oliver, when I turn this over to him. | “The question is, what does Daddy Pig do for a living?” says my friend Oliver, when I turn this over to him. |
| “Works in an office. He might be an accountant. There are spreadsheets.” | “Works in an office. He might be an accountant. There are spreadsheets.” |
| “Hmmm.” | “Hmmm.” |
| Peppa Pig is one of the few kids’ shows that bears repeat viewing. Unlike Barney the dinosaur – which within five minutes makes one question the wisdom of having had kids at all – or even Sesame Street, which can get pneumatic after the fifth consecutive viewing, it is beautifully made, with lots of sly nods to viewing parents. It is also genuinely funny. | Peppa Pig is one of the few kids’ shows that bears repeat viewing. Unlike Barney the dinosaur – which within five minutes makes one question the wisdom of having had kids at all – or even Sesame Street, which can get pneumatic after the fifth consecutive viewing, it is beautifully made, with lots of sly nods to viewing parents. It is also genuinely funny. |
| But over-exposure in adulthood to even good cartoons can bring on some unfortunate thought spirals. It doesn’t do to look too closely at the positioning of the Pig family’s eyes in relation to their noses, which suggests something off in the family tree. | But over-exposure in adulthood to even good cartoons can bring on some unfortunate thought spirals. It doesn’t do to look too closely at the positioning of the Pig family’s eyes in relation to their noses, which suggests something off in the family tree. |
| And what of the animal stereotyping among Peppa’s classmates? Freddy Fox’s dad is a sly old geezer who tries to shift three-for-two special offers out of the back of his van. Wendy Wolf’s dad, Mr Wolf, has a lascivious look about him. And then there’s Kylie Kangaroo. | And what of the animal stereotyping among Peppa’s classmates? Freddy Fox’s dad is a sly old geezer who tries to shift three-for-two special offers out of the back of his van. Wendy Wolf’s dad, Mr Wolf, has a lascivious look about him. And then there’s Kylie Kangaroo. |
| If it ever comes to an Animal Farm-type uprising, I have a feeling Daddy Pig is going to discover his inner Marxist. Meanwhile he plods along, offering tantalisingly slight insights into his zen inner life and surely building towards some kind of breakdown. | If it ever comes to an Animal Farm-type uprising, I have a feeling Daddy Pig is going to discover his inner Marxist. Meanwhile he plods along, offering tantalisingly slight insights into his zen inner life and surely building towards some kind of breakdown. |
| Appy days | Appy days |
| I had two new experiences this month: I used Airbnb for the first time, and had a brush with Tinder. The Airbnb experience, which involved booking a room for friends visiting New York, was fine except for the shady arrangement of having them fetch the key from the super and telling him they were “friends” of the owner. (Managers of my own building now regularly scan the site trying to bust residents for illegal subletting.) | I had two new experiences this month: I used Airbnb for the first time, and had a brush with Tinder. The Airbnb experience, which involved booking a room for friends visiting New York, was fine except for the shady arrangement of having them fetch the key from the super and telling him they were “friends” of the owner. (Managers of my own building now regularly scan the site trying to bust residents for illegal subletting.) |
| The Tinder thing was weirder. A friend asked if I could vouch for someone who came up as a match and who the site said I am friends with on Facebook. Off Facebook, however, I hardly know him. Nonetheless I have my opinions – primarily, that he has the oleaginous look of a villain from a Patricia Highsmith novel. This seemed unfair and unhelpful, but it’s all I had. The dating app might clarify how it expects one to rate a third-party connection for the purposes of a friend’s sexual interest. | The Tinder thing was weirder. A friend asked if I could vouch for someone who came up as a match and who the site said I am friends with on Facebook. Off Facebook, however, I hardly know him. Nonetheless I have my opinions – primarily, that he has the oleaginous look of a villain from a Patricia Highsmith novel. This seemed unfair and unhelpful, but it’s all I had. The dating app might clarify how it expects one to rate a third-party connection for the purposes of a friend’s sexual interest. |
| The whiff of cynicism | The whiff of cynicism |
| Other distasteful things this week: the widely seen phrase “Natalie Wood’s daughter creates a fragrance in her honour” – a gardenia scent called “Natalie” – deployed as part of the huge publicity rollout by Natasha Gregson Wagner, who is talking about her mother in detail for the first time. Wagner was 11 when Wood died after falling over the side of a boat in circumstances that are still the subject of conspiracy theories today. | Other distasteful things this week: the widely seen phrase “Natalie Wood’s daughter creates a fragrance in her honour” – a gardenia scent called “Natalie” – deployed as part of the huge publicity rollout by Natasha Gregson Wagner, who is talking about her mother in detail for the first time. Wagner was 11 when Wood died after falling over the side of a boat in circumstances that are still the subject of conspiracy theories today. |
| She won’t dignify them with comment, however she has been talking at length about the impact of her mother’s death as well as, of course, about her love of gardenias. Using one thing to sell another is not new, but perhaps because celebrity scent is such a cynical product, this campaign really doesn’t smell pretty. | She won’t dignify them with comment, however she has been talking at length about the impact of her mother’s death as well as, of course, about her love of gardenias. Using one thing to sell another is not new, but perhaps because celebrity scent is such a cynical product, this campaign really doesn’t smell pretty. |
| @emmabrockes | @emmabrockes |
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