Bluey is easily the most popular children’s show in America. It is beloved by children and adults alike, and has frequently been praised as being a lovely depiction of family and parenthood. It features a mom (Chilli Heeler) and a dad (Bandit Heeler) who are heavily involved in the lives of their two daughters (6-year-old Bluey and 4-year-old Bingo). There are some wonderful episodes with heartwarming themes, such as “Bike”, “Baby Race”, and “Octopus”. The cultural impact of Bluey is undeniable: children eagerly watch each episode over and over again, young adults who grew up in broken homes watch Bluey as they try to process the missing elements of their childhood, and parents often describe Bandit and Chilli as being so perfect that they feel inadequate by comparison.
Bluey’s Reputation for Wholesomeness is Extremely Deceptive
My wife and I heard so much positive word-of-mouth about Bluey that we purchased Seasons 1 and 2 of the show on DVD. We were completely shocked by what we saw. The Heeler children regularly hit their parents, intentionally cause them humiliation and suffering in a wide variety of sadistic ways, and are never punished for their terrible behavior. At the dinner table, they pray to “Mother Earth” using a real-world prayer Bingo learned in Kindergarten. They are encouraged to steal their neighbor’s toys and assault other adults. Bandit is treated with contempt by his wife and children alike.
Frankly, we’re very confused (and more than a little disturbed) by the intense popularity of this show. We’re certainly not the first people to express concerns. There have been several minor controversies surrounding Bluey, but these have mostly attacked the show for unjustified reasons that we don’t agree with. In a few cases, individual parents have raised legitimate concerns about the material in the show, but the Bluey fandom is aggressively defensive, and it is exceedingly difficult for sensible critique to be heard above all the noise. In this article we’ve documented the many reasons we believe Bluey is inappropriate for children.
The TL;DR Version
The show’s inappropriate messaging falls into four broad categories:
- Frequent violence against adults. Bluey and Bingo frequently strike, bite, knock over, and otherwise abuse their parents and other adults. Sometimes this violence is part of a game the children are playing, but it regularly goes well beyond the bounds of acceptable play. On many occasions, the girls attack people who aren’t even aware that they are playing a game. This sends a terrible message to young viewers, leading them to believe that they can misbehave in whatever way they want, as long as they can excuse their actions as being part of a “game”.
- Complete disrespect for others. Neither of the Heeler children show any respect for their parents or their parent’s time. Many episodes show them taking perverse joy out of causing pain and suffering for their parents. They actively seek to disrupt their parents’ ability to do their jobs, including stealing phones and office equipment, and delaying them from leaving for work. They overturn clean laundry baskets, damage potted plants, and – with full knowledge of Bandit – steal from the neighbors. Despite Bandit and Chilli’s supposed status as paragons of good parenting, they never discipline their children. Bluey and Bingo are permitted to cause whatever harm they wish, without any fear of punishment.
- Promotion of controversial ideas. One episode begins with the girls chanting a prayer at the dinner table, in which they praise “Mother Earth” for their food. Another episode promotes the religious doctrine of reincarnation, in roughly the Hindu understanding. The show consistently depicts Bluey and her friends as members of the modern ideology of “spiritual but not religious”. Whereas it has often been suggested that Bluey is free of modern propaganda, it clearly proselytizes in favor of the “spiritual but not religious” belief system. Moreover, there is overwhelming evidence that Bluey attends a Waldorf school that is inspired by a new-age form of spiritualism known as Anthroposophy, and all of the spiritual ideas (and much of the parenting philosophy) are consistent with this belief system.
- Emasculation of male role models. Bandit and the other fathers are treated with utter contempt by their wives and children. Despite the fact that Bandit is heavily involved in their children’s lives, Chilli belittles his contributions and treats him in ways that are borderline emotionally abusive. She often encourages the girls to coerce him into engaging in humiliating actions in public settings, and Bandit consistently expresses shame and humiliation as a result. During one such moment, Chilli pulls out a phone and gleefully records his public humiliation. Neither Bandit nor any of the other fathers are permitted to retain a shred of dignity.
We’ll cover each of these categories in depth, with numerous examples to prove each point.
1. Violence Against Adults
Bluey is Encouraged to Engage in Theft and Assault
The episode “Rug Island” is representative of many of the recurring problems throughout the series, and it’s worthwhile to look at it in some depth. In this episode, the children play a game in which they pretend to be living on an isolated tropical island. When Bandit arrives to play with them, Bingo screams “It’s a grown-up!” and Bluey shouts “Let’s eat it!”, before aggressively attacking and biting her father repeatedly. It’s hard to believe she didn’t leave a few nasty marks. She also hits him with a stick and treats him with scorn throughout much of the episode.
Later on, the neighbors (Lucky and his dad) accidentally throw a ball into the Heeler’s yard, and Lucky’s dad enters the yard to retrieve it. Bandit wants to return the ball – which is obviously the right thing to do – but his daughters want to use the ball as part of their game of pretend. Bandit gives in to his children, and shouts “Get the grown-up!”, while his children knock Lucky’s dad over and attack him. He runs away, confusedly saying “I was just trying to get my ball back!” Bandit’s children then have a ceremony in which they proclaim Bandit to be an honorary child. They continue playing with the stolen ball for the rest of the day, and are never depicted as returning it.
The entire episode is a disturbing violation of basic parental responsibility. Instead of guiding his children and helping them establish a strong moral compass, Bandit acquiesces to their every whim, even going so far as to encourage them in acts of theft and assault. Rather than helping them grow into well-adjusted adults, he supports the idea that it is better for grown-ups to behave like children. This is one of the fundamental bad ideas of modern parenting, and it suffuses nearly every episode of the show.
Parents should absolutely play with their children in accessible ways. They should welcome opportunities to be silly and light-hearted. They should let their kids crawl on them, and run outside with them, and joke with them, and play pretend with them. They should be forgiving of their children’s imperfections, and not overly uptight about minor offenses. But they must also model responsible, age-appropriate behavior, and establish basic boundaries between right and wrong. The modern idea that parents should be little more than over-sized playmates only leads to confusion and pain. Bandit’s parenting style falls firmly into the modern paradigm.
Other Examples of Violence Towards Parents
“Rug Island” is far from being the only episode in which Bluey behaves with violence towards her parents. Some more examples are provided below.
In the episode “Grannies”, Chilli attempts to pick Bingo up, and Bingo painfully snips her with a plastic grabber. Chilli allows Bingo to have her way, with no punishment. Later in the episode, Bluey and Bingo play in a ride-on car, and run over their father. He is thrown into the air and onto his back, scattering the clean laundry he was carrying onto the lawn. He groans in pain, unable to get up, while his children continue on, totally unconcerned.
In “Hospital” Bluey and Bingo play a game in which they cause Bandit significant amounts of pain, often hitting or jabbing him.
In “Butterflies”, the girls jump out of hiding onto an unsuspecting Bandit, causing him to fall over and scatter a basket of clean laundry onto the lawn. The girls are not punished.
In “Shaun”, Bandit pretends to be an Emu, and attacks and knocks over Lucky’s dad (who was not aware of the game), for the pleasure of his children. At the end of the episode, the girls attack their father in a similar way.
In “Dad Baby”, Bingo bites Lucky’s dad and kicks her father.
In “Asparagus”, Chilli and Bingo pretend to be lions, sneak up to Lucky’s dad (who was not aware they were playing a game), and assault him. They knock him over, bite his legs, and drag him away. He shouts “Ms. Heeler, I don’t know about this!”
In “Hairdressers”, Bingo is struggling to “find her voice”; she is slow to speak and lets Bluey decide what they will do. The girls pretend to be hairdressers who are doing Bandit’s hair, but declare that he has “nits” in his hair. To get the nits out, they force him to take a cold shower and hit him with various objects (including a fly swatter and a wooden bird sculpture). At one point, Bingo runs off to get a cricket bat. Eventually she works up the strength to explain what she really wants to do: “I want to tie Dad upside down from the tree and throw water balloons at him and then cover him in nit powder, which is flour, and then rake him with a rake!” This is exactly what they do, with full approval from Chilli.
2. Disrespect for Others
Bluey’s Games are About Causing Suffering
In the episode “Work”, Bluey demands to play a game in which she is a boss and Bingo and Bandit work for her, although they both indicate that they would rather be doing something different. Bluey behaves in an extremely abusive way towards Bandit, constantly berating him and assigning increasingly unpleasant tasks to him. At one point, she instructs him to clean the windows, saying “Clean them with your bottom.” She rides him while he wipes down the windows with his rear end, in full view of a female neighbor. Bandit and Bingo are both clearly miserable.
This would have been a fantastic opportunity for a good parent to explain that bosses need to listen to their employees, and help Bluey to behave better. Instead, Bandit continues to let his daughter mistreat him, until she fires him and literally pushes him out of the house. She is not scolded or disciplined in any way.
Later on, Bingo and Bluey play a game they had been wanting to play earlier (with Bandit pretending to be a ballerina), and they have a great time. Bluey watches with appreciation, and it is implied that she is pleased with this outcome. Nonetheless, she never apologizes to Bandit or Bingo, and it is unclear whether she actually understands that her prior behavior was wrong. A young child could quite easily interpret the message as “Go ahead and mistreat people as much as you want. Everyone will be happy in the end, no matter what, and you won’t face any negative consequences for your actions.” Frankly, it’s not clear that isn’t the message.
In the episode “Backpackers”, Bluey, Bingo, and their friends pretend to be backpacks, while their parents carry them on a vacation. The look on Bandit and Chilli’s faces when they realize this is the game their children want to play is pitiful. The children proceed to take wicked pleasure in making the “vacation” as miserable as possible for their parents, continuously inventing elaborate ways to cause trouble. Bluey and Bingo give their father a “stomach ache” by hitting him in the stomach numerous times throughout the episode. The parents never tell the kids “Don’t hit dad. If you want him to pretend to have a stomach ache, just ask.” They never guide the children into playing more nicely. They simply go along with whatever sadistic game the kids invent.
Many other episodes continue the theme of deliberate parental humiliation. For example, “Dance Mode” depicts Bingo and Bluey manipulating their parents into engaging in embarrassing dances in public. In “The Magic Xylophone”, the girls put their father in deliberately uncomfortable and publicly embarrassing situations. In “Pirates”, Bandit expresses embarrassment about acting silly in front of other adults, but is pressured into doing so by his wife and children.
There is no Discipline in the Heeler Household
In case it isn’t obvious at this point, the Heeler family doesn’t believe in discipline. Bluey and Bingo are never put in a timeout, or grounded, or temporarily separated from a toy that they are misusing, or sent to bed early, or punished in any other meaningful way. It’s rare for them to be scolded or even told “no”. There are other popular children’s shows that avoid depicting punishment (Peppa, for example), but those shows typically don’t depict children behaving in the abhorrent ways that Bluey does.
Ironically, in the episode “Library”, Bluey’s cousin Muffin engages in many of these same behaviors – dominating play, disrespecting everyone, being disruptive, etc. – and it is implied that this is a result of bad parenting.
The Heeler Children Aggressively Disrupt Their Father’s Work
It’s obvious that Bingo and Bluey have no respect whatsoever for the fact that their parents have responsibilities to their workplaces. “Fairies” begins with Bingo interrupting her father on a work call. He tells her to wait for him to finish, and she wanders off dejected. Bandit goes to look for her as soon as the call ends, but by the time he finds her, she has already made a complete mess of the house and placed his phone outside in a “Fairy Circle”.
Through an elaborate series of events, Bingo indicates that as punishment for not playing with her when she wanted him, Bandit must wear roller skates on his hands and do a humiliating dance in front of all their neighbors. Rather than disciplining Bingo for this outrageous behavior, Bandit apologizes profusely: “[I]f I have ever hurt your feelings, I’m really sorry, mate. Must feel really bad when your dad does that. Just know that I love you kid, and I’d do anything for you.” In any other context, the speech would be heartwarming. Under the circumstances, it sends entirely the wrong message. Bandit didn’t do anything wrong, and Bingo needs to learn to respect the fact that adults can’t be available to play at every moment of the day. Bandit complies with his daughter’s demands, while the whole neighborhood watches.
Even worse, Chilli pulls out a cell phone and records his humiliating act of penance. This is another recurring theme throughout the show: Chilli frequently treats Bandit like garbage. She regularly takes just as much pleasure out of watching his pain as the girls do. Any man who was demeaned by his wife in this way would quickly come to feel worthless. It really shouldn’t be any surprise that his daughters don’t respect him either.
Along similar lines, in “Trampoline”, Bluey manipulates her father into playing with her, even when he clearly needs to leave for work. Rather than immediately having a conversation with her about the importance of work, Bandit rewards her misbehavior for far longer than he should.
Other Examples of Disrespect
In the episode “Movies”, Bingo behaves in a wild and disruptive way at a movie theater. She makes loud noises, runs across the rows of seats, and eventually jumps in front of the movie screen. Bandit does not punish her in any way; in fact, the moral of the episode is that Bandit should have “let her be herself” and not tried to make her behave.
In “BBQ”, Bingo says “may I borrow this, dad?” and quickly grabs a hat directly out of his hands, before he has a chance to respond. He reacts with an upset “Hey!” but doesn’t punish her. Later in the episode, she rips parts off of various potted plants for a game of pretend, and throws a tennis ball at a hanging pot. She is never reprimanded for her behavior.
In “Kids”, Bluey demands that her father pretend to be her child during a trip to the grocery store. When she sees that her father has added healthful food to the cart, she orders him to put it back, and he complies. She puts him in timeout (something that should have happened to Bluey many times previously!), and forces him to sit in the toilet paper aisle. Bandit complains that “This is actually embarrassing”, as people awkwardly try to interact with him.
In “Takeaway”, Bandit takes the kids to a restaurant to pick up a food order. The girls want to play with an outdoor water spigot while they wait, but Bandit gives them a rare “no”. Bluey rudely shoos her father out of a chair so that she and Bingo can use it for play, and he is forced to sit on the street. Then, she “requests” the newspaper he is reading, taking it before he has an opportunity to respond. During their play, the girls throw garbage onto the street, accidentally drop food on the ground, spit food onto their father’s face, and make a huge mess that spans the entire front face of the restaurant. Any show that genuinely promoted good values would end with the children learning that it is important to be conscientious while playing, so as not to harm other people. Instead, the episode promotes the message that Bandit worries too much, and that everything would have been okay if he had let the girls play with the water spigot at the beginning. The episode ends with the girls playing under the spigot.
These are just a few examples; the show is absolutely filled with episodes where Bluey and Bingo behave disrespectfully and are not punished.
3. Promotion of Controversial Ideas
Bluey Features a Pagan Prayer
“Favourite Thing” begins with the Heeler family at the dinner table. Bingo and Bluey begin singing the following song:
For the golden corn and the apples on the trees For the golden butter and the honey from the bees For the fruits and nuts and berries that grow beside the way We praise our loving Mother Earth and thank her every day.
Bandit, looking highly uncomfortable, says “Well, that’s new.” Bingo responds “We learned it at Kindy.”
The Bluey fan wiki has this to say about the song:
The song the Heelers sing before eating their food is a Christian hymn called “For the Golden Corn,” which Waldorf schools have incorporated as part of their method. The lyrics were altered slightly, changing references to the Christian God to “Mother Earth.”
– Bluey Wiki
Indeed, my own investigations indicate that the song is used almost exclusively by Waldorf educators; an example can be seen here. Bluey’s school is depicted in the show as being quite unusual in many respects, yet all of its quirks are consistent with it being a Waldorf school. Everything from the building’s architecture, to the method of teaching, to the items in the school, all scream “Waldorf”.
Many homeschoolers have no doubt heard of the Waldorf approach to education, but may not know much about its underlying philosophy. The Waldorf method was founded by Emil Molt, who was a fervent follower of the new-age religion of Anthroposophy. Like many other new-age religions, its fundamental tenants include a belief in karma and reincarnation (vaguely similar to the concept as expressed in certain Eastern religions). It also attributes great spiritual significance to the concept of biological evolution. The teaching philosophy of Waldorf schools is directly based upon these new-age beliefs, and Bluey explores all of them to varying extents throughout the show.
Bluey Promotes Belief in Reincarnation
“The Dump” provides not-at-all subtle promotion for the idea of reincarnation. The episode begins with Bandit and the kids driving to the dump. During the ride, Bingo plays “rainbow car” – a game in which she tries to spot cars of every color of the rainbow – and Bluey asks “Where was I before I was born?” Clearly surprised by the question and lacking a good answer, Bandit deflects. At the dump, Bandit begins to throw out some of Bluey’s old drawings, and the children berate him. Bluey points to one of the pictures and says “That’s a picture of me.” Bingo adds “You’re throwing away Bluey. You’re a baddie.” Once again, the children are allowed to show utter contempt for their father.
Bandit immediately relents, but Bluey is still upset with him, saying “I don’t think you’re the best dad in the world.” Bandit admits that he isn’t, and Bluey says “So you don’t know where I was before I was born?” Bandit says that “You’d have to figure that out for yourself”, and “I’m sure you’ll work it out.” This exchange already puts the episode on shaky ground – the idea that parents can’t provide religious or spiritual insight to their children is very much a part of modern, subversive ideologies. Parents absolutely should have an answer for Bluey’s question; if they don’t, they need to put some serious effort into developing their own religious and philosophical views. Sending children into the world without any foundational beliefs is an increasingly common practice, but it is also deeply irresponsible.
The episode doesn’t end there, though. Bandit explains that he was dumping the drawings so that they could be recycled and used by other kids to draw pictures; then those drawings could be recycled and used by other kids to draw pictures, in a process that repeats “over and over” again. Pleased by this idea, Bluey permits her father to throw out the drawing of her. On the ride back, Bingo eagerly watches for the elusive final car in her rainbow (a pink car), while Bluey and Bandit have the following exchange:
Bluey: “Dad, you know my drawing?” Bandit: “Yeah.” Bluey: “Was that someone else’s drawing before it was mine?” Bandit: “Well, what do you think?” Bluey: [speaking with a very insightful tone] “Yeah, I think so.” Bandit: [pointing] “Bingo, pink car!”
The framing of the exchange makes it clear that this is meant to be the ultimate resolution of Bluey’s question from the beginning of the episode. Bluey has implicitly concluded that souls pass through a process of recycling (i.e., reincarnation), along the lines of what is taught by Hinduism, Anthroposophy, and certain other religions.
We aren’t the only people to make this connection; moreover, the lead art director has indicated that this episode had “themes of renewal and spirituality”.
Controversial Messaging is Common in Other Episodes
Numerous other episodes contain similar messaging.
In “Hide and Seek”, Bluey engages in an act of meditation that is heavily implied to have spiritual significance.
In “Market”, the moral of the episode comes from a woman who wears spirit crystals and dreamcatcher earrings. She believes that “what goes around comes around”, in apparent agreement with karmic ideas.
“Bluey and the Wise Old Wolfhound” is a clear retelling of the famous Buddhist story of Kisa Gotami. In fact, the Wikipedia article for Kisa Gotami mentions this episode.
In “Shadowlands”, Bluey and a couple of her friends pretend that areas covered in shadows are land, and everything else is water. One of her friends says “Why don’t we just make it so we can walk on water?” Bluey replies “No one can walk on water.” The creator of Bluey, Joe Brumm, has explained that he originally intended for Bluey’s other friend to say “Jesus can”, and for Bluey to respond “Who’s Jesus?” The joke was rejected from the final episode, but it demonstrates exactly how the show’s writers interpret Bluey: she often thinks about spiritual things and toys with various pagan and Eastern beliefs, but she has absolutely no idea about Christianity. She is the perfect poster child for the modern ideology of “spiritual but not religious”, and the show should be regarded as promoting this belief – and perhaps the more specific ideology of Anthroposophy.
It’s also worth pointing out that “Flatpack” is almost entirely about evolutionary ideas, and will be objectionable to some parents. Similarly, the “Archaeology” bonus bit reveals that Bandit is an archaeologist who studies the evolution of human-like dogs, and he discusses the topic throughout the segment’s duration.
Finally, Bluey’s teacher, Calypso, is presented as an almost mystical figure with seer-like insight. This can be seen in the episodes “Calypso”, “Mum and Dad”, and “Barky Boats”, while being made almost explicit in “Typewriter”. This episode presents a retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with Calypso serving the role of the wizard.
4. Emasculation of Male Role Models
The “Stumpfest” Episode Blatantly Emasculates Fathers
“Stumpfest” is another highly inappropriate episode. It begins with Bandit and his brother Stripe explaining that they are going to remove a couple of large tree stumps from the backyard. Lucky’s dad jumps over the fence and shouts “And the ladies watch us get all sweaty. Right ladies?” Chilli and Stripe’s wife, Trixie, are watching from the balcony. Chilli raises a glass and shouts “You got it, Lucky’s dad!” The exchange seems a touch racy for what is supposed to be a preschool show, especially when one considers the fact that Lucky’s dad is not married to either of the women who are watching.
Bluey, Bingo, and Muffin decide to set up a nail saloon on one of the stumps. Bandit clearly anticipates that this will cause trouble, and makes them promise to leave the stump after the men have finished removing the other one. Bluey promises, and Bandit reiterates the arrangement – obviously afraid that she will break the promise when the time comes. Of course, this is exactly what happens. Not only do the girls refuse to give up the stump (even denying having made the promise in the first place), the women take the side of the girls – despite the fact that Chilli was the one who wanted the stumps removed in the first place. Not wanting to upset Chilli and Trixie, Bandit offers to do whatever the girls want if they will just leave the stump. They demand that the men let them give them makeovers, including fingernails, toenails, and face makeup. Bandit, clearly uncomfortable with the idea, begs them to at least let them go without face makeup, but Bluey demands that at least Bandit must get face makeup. The men very reluctantly agree to the arrangement. Lucky’s dad requests “no unicorns”, but the girls put a unicorn headband on him. The women mock the men throughout the process, and Chilli is especially cruel to Bandit. Even after they finish, the girls still refuse to give up the stump, but Chilli intervenes and the men are finally allowed to work on the stump.
Bluey is still upset that she had to leave the stump, and demands to know why her mother made them stop playing on it. Chilli points to Stripe and Lucky’s dad, who are messing around while Bandit chops the stump, and responds that the stump removal was basically a form of play for the men; she had to move Bluey so that the men could continue to play. Although the show presents Chilli’s statement as a wise revelation, in reality it’s an astonishingly dismissive attitude directed against men who just sacrificed their time, dignity, and comfort for her sake. It’s also a painful contrast against the statement Lucky’s dad made at the beginning of the show; he, like the other men, ultimately just wanted the women to perceive him as being masculine. Most men do; it’s a basic male need – and a healthy one, at that. Chilli and Trixie abused this need in order to get what they wanted while leaving them emasculated. Chilli is never shown to thank Bandit for his work. She simply takes him for granted, seemingly thinking she has done them a service instead. “Stumpfest” certainly isn’t the only episode where we see this dynamic at play in their relationship, but it is easily the most odious.
Anyone who is troubled by the modern emasculation of men in popular entertainment franchises – such as Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Dr. Who, Rings of Power, etc. – should take careful note of this episode. It expresses all of the same ideas, but in a form that is aimed at young children, and is thus far more damaging.
Other Examples of How Bluey Handles Gender and Masculinity
In “The Claw”, Bandit tries to teach the girls a life lesson. Chilli actively undermines and mocks him the entire time. Eventually, the girls attack him and knock him over, while Chilli shouts “stick it to the man!”
In “Ticklecrabs”, Chilli refuses to help Bandit with the children, implying that he asks for help too often (this is completely inconsistent with what viewers can observe throughout the show). She allows the girls to manipulate him into playing an extremely unpleasant game, while he repeatedly requests her assistance. She finally helps him in the end, but not until he has suffered extensively.
In “Horsey Ride”, Chilli and Trixie leave to play hockey, while Bandit and Stripe take care of the kids. The girls force them to pretend to be horses, and eventually decide that the horses must get married in a pretend wedding ceremony. Although Stripe clearly doesn’t want to have anything to do with this plan, the girls manipulate them into going through with it.
Bluey also portrays young children struggling with similar questions pertaining to gender and relationships. The episode “Mums and Dads” shows a boy (Rusty) and a girl (Indy) pretending to be parents together. Both children express that they want to work outside the home, while the other child stays home and takes care of the child. They get into an argument about gender roles, and decide to separate and try playing parents with other kids instead. Throughout the episode, Indy is depicted as being desperate to hand off her pretend child to someone else, so that she can pretend to be a working mom.
Only Chilli has Time for Hobbies
One of the few moments when Chilli sincerely acknowledges the immense amount of work Bandit does is in the episode “Fruit Bat”. Bandit is passed out on the floor, and is playing touch football in his sleep. Bluey asks Chilli why he would have a dream about football, and Chilli explains that it is because he is so busy working and taking care of the children that he doesn’t have time to play with his friends. It’s a sweet moment of genuine appreciation, but it is also undermined by the fact that as she says this, Chilli is doing maintenance on her heavily used hocky stick. Many episodes show that Chilli has plenty of time to play sports with her friends, whereas Bandit is expected to work or take care of the children nonstop.
One of the most notable of these is “Yoga Ball”, which begins with Bandit explaining to the girls that he is working from home today and doesn’t have time to play with them. The girls then steal the yoga ball that Bandit uses as his office chair, and manipulate him into playing for a while. When Bandit declares “I’ve got to get to work”, Bluey responds with “not yet!” and the girls continue to play with the yoga ball. The girls continue to interrupt Bandit’s work and guilt him into playing more games with them.
If Bluey were actually a show with good moral values, “Yoga Ball” would end with the girls being confronted about their disrespectful and manipulative behavior and the apologizing to their father. Instead, Bingo goes to Chilli (who has been playing hockey outside this entire time), and says “Daddy’s playing too rough with me.” Chilli rolls her eyes and says “Yeah, he does play too rough sometimes, doesn’t he.” She takes the girls to confront Bandit (who is in his office working), while Bluey happily declares “You’re in trouble.” Chilli states that no one is in trouble, but makes Bandit stop working so that he can apologize to Bingo. The episode ends with Bluey again stealing Bandit’s yoga ball and putting it on the toilet.
Rebuttals to Common Arguments
Because the Bluey fandom is particularly defensive, I’ll go ahead and list some of the common excuses I’ve seen for the show’s more objectionable material, along with my responses.
- It’s just a kid’s show; you’re taking it too seriously. I take everything seriously if it has the potential to impact my children’s well-being. When kids like a show, they don’t just watch it once. They watch it over and over again. They memorize the lines. They contemplate them even when the show is not playing. Children’s shows require much more scrutiny than shows for adults, not less. Also, I’ll point out that the Bluey fandom is very much in favor of taking the show seriously, until the moment someone expresses a criticism.
- On one occasion, Bandit says “I’m not taking advice from a cartoon dog.”; this is a meta joke indicating that you aren’t supposed to use the show as a parenting guide. On a simple factual basis, this is a misrepresentation. Bandit makes the statement in “Flatpack” when he is refusing to follow an instruction manual. He struggles as a result; the joke is that he ran into trouble because he didn’t listen to the cartoon dog. More importantly, the statement is totally irrelevant to the question of how a child will be influenced by watching the show.
- Bluey depicts a stable family with a mother and father; it’s the healthiest representation of family available right now. It’s true that there are many other children’s shows that also have terrible moral values, but this does not at all excuse the inappropriate and propagandistic material in Bluey. There are many child-appropriate shows that will have a healthier impact on young minds. This includes old shows like Mr. Rogers, and newer shows like Numberblocks (and Alphablocks and Colourblocks), Clangers, Pokemon: Journeys, and many more.
As a general rule, we prefer to make posts about resources we like. Bluey is an exception; due to the intense cultural impact of the show, it seemed necessary to provide an in-depth description of the moral failings we perceive in it. For free educational resources and suggestions about good, age-appropriate shows for children, please keep checking Journey With a Destination regularly.
