Being Elmo

I have a deep and abiding love for Sesame Street and really all the Muppet creations and projects. Almost all of the TV I watched as a kid featured muppets. We were only allowed to watch one show per day growing up, and I almost always chose Sesame Street. The muppet movies were amazing because they were the only "grown up" movies that had the kind of silliness I treasured as a kid and was terrified I would lose when I became an adult (I still have most of it, phew!).

I was never a huge fan of Elmo though. I think he came along just when I was getting a little old for Sesame Street, and his baby-talk irked rather than entranced me. Plus, I somehow blamed him for the disappearance of my favorite muppet, Grover, who appeared less and less often after Elmo joined the cast. And then of course the bizarre popularity of all the Elmo toys just hit me the wrong way. It's hard to wholeheartedly love something that parents will trample one another to purchase.

But I just watched a short film entitled Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey on Netflix Instant. It's the story of Kevin Clash, the inventor and voice of Elmo. It is awesome. And I may have cried through about 80% of it, not because it is sad, but just because there is something "so dear to my heart" (as my lil sis would say) about the muppets.

I encourage you to watch it, and to watch it as a family. It is a hugely inspiring story for kids to watch, and just a really cool example of someone with talent, passion, and childlike wonder achieving his dream and then spreading joy to others.