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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   19764 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026

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What even is the moral of Goldilocks, other than that burglary is bad?

Moderation is best. Be neither too hot nor lukewarm; walk the middle path.

I actually have a book that's the sequel where the bear family shows up at Goldilocks' suburban house while the parents are out. They trash the whole place while she's frantically running around trying to fix all the messes. Then the parents come home from grocery shopping and there's her long explanation of what happened, starting with 'I know I'm not supposed to let strangers in but technically I knew them I've been to their house...'
Fun variation, maybe something to do with [large, furry] brown home invaders. They're not like us, tell you what.

I actually have it in a collection of preschool books. Small kids love hearing the three voices ("Papa Bear said in his great BIG voice...") It teaches concepts of hot, cold, lukewarm. Big, small, medium. If there is a moral it might just be: looks can be deceiving. A nice cottage may look inviting, but maybe a family of bears lives there! Remember kids, don't take candy from strangers.

"Don't wander around in the forest" and "don't take other people's shit" seem sufficiently didactic for a old children's story. (The first in particular is a very popular theme)

Sometimes things aren't the right fit for everyone?

More pointedly, I think the image of "trying Papa's things and Mama's things and then realizing that the Little One's things are just right" is supposed to lead children away from messing around with their parents' things when they're home alone. Which is less of a moral lesson and more of a practical, avoiding-accidents-in-the-home sort of lesson. The story doesn't actually illustrate that lesson, so much as wrap the image in a fun little story that'll stick in kids' minds.

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