I read way too much into children’s TV shows, which seems like a wise use of a graduate degree in English. The gift of interpretation, let me tell you, is a double-edged sword. As much as it brings insight and understanding to a cryptic, symbol heavy movie or tries to make sense out of a modern novel, it can also, well, ruin things. Like books my wife is reading or children’s TV shows.
The show Thomas the Tank Engine is one of those shows. The entirety of the show is a bunch of lighthearted yet thoroughly depraved, jealous and childish trains trying to shine the brightest for their whimsical yet harsh task master, Sir Topham Hatt. The trains end up coming around to being nice to one another or forgiving one another, and then, if they’re lucky, Sir Topham Hatt tells them that they are “a really useful engine.”
In brief: the trains are young children and Sir Topham Hatt is a parental figure. Meaning, that the optimal way for children to behave is to be really useful.
One could just write this off as being a thoroughly British quirk, to be obsessed with usefulness and utilitarianism It’s certainly one of the underlying themes of other British children’s stories, like Peter Pan (can’t he grow up and get a job?) or Mary Poppins (bankers are useful!). Yet, Downton Abbey aside, being British doesn’t make it right.
What bothers me is that usefulness is not the “chief end of man” or a definition of Christian vocation that I want to teach my children. At the end of the day, I don’t want my child to tell me he or she has been really useful today. I want him or her to tell me “I’ve been loving” or “I’ve been just” or “I’ve been merciful.” Usefulness is not a metric used by God or found in the Christian faith. Instead, we are given the Golden Rule, the Great Commission, spiritual gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit as measuring sticks for our daily work.
The idea of what Christian vocation is has been usurped by the values of our culture’s economy: productivity and usefulness. Sir Topham Hatt’s refrain “a really useful engine” is a fancy way of saying, “time equals money.” As Christians, we measure time as a gift from God, not as a unit of money. We need better metrics to measure the success of our pastors and plumbers, roofers and researchers, ministers and masons than by how useful or productive they are with their time. Instead, we need to measure what informs the work that we do:
Are you a peaceful pastor? A joyful janitor? A gentle grocer? A kind kindergarten teacher? A self-controlled scientist?
That is what matters to God, not how much money you make or how useful you are in the eyes of the world.
This was a message I needed to hear today, so your English degree has not gone to waste.
Transitioning to being a stay at home mom has been difficult for me, even though I worked from home as a freelancer (and hence didn’t have much structure to my life) before our daughter was born.
Some days I struggle because I don’t feel like my time at home has been “useful.” I can’t point to any accomplishments from any given day, except, if I’m lucky, a load of laundry or two. Instead I see my unwritten thesis, my unwritten poems, my unblogged ideas cluttering up my limited brain space. When I am lamenting this sort of thing, my husband always reminds me, “You took care of a human being all day today–that IS accomplishing something!”
Other days, I have been able to see what you point out here–that as Christians we measure our time as a gift itself. And every goofy grin of my nine-month-old is a gift. I love it.
But it’s still good to be reminded that my chief end is not utility. So thanks.
And now I must go rock my daughter to sleep.
By the way, you are not the first parent I’ve heard who has complained about the message that Thomas the Tank Engine sends our kids. One of our friends actually doesn’t let her boys watch it because she thinks it makes them more petulant and crabby.
Elizabeth, I think it’s symptomatic to equate usefulness with money. If a homemaker doesn’t make money, then he/she is inherently not useful. I was reading a bit of Tim Keller’s Every Good Endeavor this morning and he makes a point about how Christians should weigh usefulness against delight. If we delight in our work, and delight in the kingdom-mindedness of our work, the value of any person’s work dramatically shifts.
My brother, I can handle when we discuss Biblical textual/historical criticism but don’t mess with those children’s stories – that’s some sacred stuff!
I hear what you’re saying, but one could say the train’s purpose is meant to be “useful.” I know the personification gets in the way of that, but being that Thomas and his friends are stuck on the track (as opposed to Mickey’s Clubhouse who can go anywhere, including space!), they have limited options.
The dominant teaching theme of Thomas is to stop being selfish and to listen/help others. However, your application point of being a peaceful pastor, joyful janitor is well taken. A welcomed word as always.
I think we have cultural dilemma. Personally, I think the Americanized and digitized versions of Thomas are more even-handed. The old British ones are particularly brutal. They teach this warped utilitarian world where everything is destroyed unless you are really useful. Those trains get in more accidents than NASCAR drivers. Which in reality, makes me think Sir Topham Hatt is the worst boss in the world. Can you imagine his annual report? Only 517 major accidents this year. The Station Master only had a train in his house during breakfast. It was promptly removed during dinnertime. Usefulness is up 72%, while quarry stone was wasted 57% of the time as it rained down on silly engines…
Sweet redesign, my friend!
I think the Thomas Series has been troubling for me. My son has rejected Thomas and Friends as “for babies and little kids”…but I can tell you many episodes by heart.
I always found in terms of a Theology of disability it smacked of utilitarian ideals. When something is broken down, old, or inept it can be discarded. Funny too b/c so many fans of Thomas are autistic children….and not that “useful” in a normal sense. If it instills hard work, which it can, then good….but I usually found the mantra unsettling.
It is a bit Ayn Randish, isn’t it?