By Ahmed Latif
My favourite show growing up was undoubtedly Arthur. Like me, Arthur wore glasses at a young age and had prominent ears and a name that starts with A. I related to that lazy do-gooder who just loves to read. My reimagined Arthur would be very similar but less about tiny life lessons and more about some real big life lessons. I want Arthur to be less of a participant and more of an activist.
My favourite show growing up was undoubtedly Arthur. Like me, Arthur wore glasses at a young age and had prominent ears and a name that starts with A. I related to that lazy do-gooder who just loves to read. My reimagined Arthur would be very similar but less about tiny life lessons and more about some real big life lessons. I want Arthur to be less of a participant and more of an activist.
I am not talking about the Social Justice Warrior trend or slacktivism, where you tweet support and consider yourself a hero. I am talking about the age old feeling that riles up in your gut and it tells you that we as a society must do better and it starts with you trying to make things a little better then hopefully a lot better. I want to Arthur to talk about civil rights activism more than asking girls to the dance and best friends to sleepovers. I want Arthur to speak loudly for progress and positive change and I want Arthur to listen proudly to the voices of those who are struggling to get by, to minorities, and hurting communities. I want an Arthur who is an instigator of change and a real bonafide community activist.
The reason I want this is not entirely communal or societal. I am hoping that Arthur the activist to empower kids, who like me, wanted to help and change things for the better from an early age. Arthur should welcome the oft ignored child that’s deemed a troublemaker. I am hoping Arthur the activist will encourage more leaders and less followers, which he kind of was if I am being honest. I always hated that about him. He wasn’t drawn as a sheep so why should he act like one? I guess I want to relate to Arthur on more than an cosmetic level, more than our names start with A. I want to relate to Arthur because we both care about the community and want to improve society and the world. And certainly we both are not going to wait to do it, because anything worthwhile needs to start today, not tomorrow.
The reason I want this is not entirely communal or societal. I am hoping that Arthur the activist to empower kids, who like me, wanted to help and change things for the better from an early age. Arthur should welcome the oft ignored child that’s deemed a troublemaker. I am hoping Arthur the activist will encourage more leaders and less followers, which he kind of was if I am being honest. I always hated that about him. He wasn’t drawn as a sheep so why should he act like one? I guess I want to relate to Arthur on more than an cosmetic level, more than our names start with A. I want to relate to Arthur because we both care about the community and want to improve society and the world. And certainly we both are not going to wait to do it, because anything worthwhile needs to start today, not tomorrow.
