The Elephant in the Room
You know, I had to really think the other day about why I loved Babar as a pup. I had the opportunity to re-read it recently, and it was fairly disturbing. Let's go over it, shall we?
1) Babar's mother gets shot.
Okay, it's not unusual to have a one-parent family, even back in The Day when The Story of Babar was written. However, elephants are a pack-oriented species; where were all the other elephants when this happened? Poor little Babar runs away and ends up in what I assume is France, owing to the illustrations of the local clothing and architecture. The hunter who kills his mother gets no comeuppance, which we’ll address next.
2) The locals take no special notice that Babar is an elephant.
Okay, combined with Issue 1) above, this becomes especially problematic for me. A human hunter goes out and shoots Babar's mother. If we assume that in this Alternate Earth, elephants are regarded as fellow sentient beings, was this killing an assassination? Nobody seems to mind that all of a sudden there's this young elephant wandering around the city, shopping and driving. DMV Français is pretty damned lax, I have to say; it’s not as though elephants are known for their eyesight. How did Babar pass the eye exam? Oh, wait, they have good memory, so he probably did some research and memorized it. Okay, it all makes perfect sense now.
3) Babar says "I want some clothes".
This is as implausible as Martians wanting our women. Sexual deviants aside, we typically don't lust after species other than our own. Following, then, why does Babar want clothing? He's certainly never worn any, nor even seen them among the other elephants. Oh, let's also not forget the deus ex machina of the Old Lady (who apparently deserves no other name), who just hands over her purse for Babar to use to buy clothes. Later, we even find out that "She gives him whatever he wants." What in the name of the Twelve Bastards is going on here?
Here’s the thing: with so many liberties taken, why even keep this story in the Real World at all? Am I the only one who finds this odd? What? Of course I’m being ridiculous! I’m a giant white werewolf who only exists in people’s imaginations! My whole existence is ridiculous! I’ll obsess over whatever I want! I’m coming for you, Babar. I’ll expose your mysteries if it’s the last thing I do!
If I had a pair of eyes on the back of my head for each time
You forgot to take out all the things you forgot to talk about
When you took a bite out of my spine
I would have a lot of eyes on me by this time
Wouldn't I wouldn't that be just fine
-- "Letterbox", They Might Be Giants
