It appears that Elmo is past tickling and moving on to busting a cap in the head of toddlers who mess with him. A family has an interesting complaint against Fisher-Price: Elmo says he want to kill their son, James — as clearly shown on this video.
The Bowman family are Elmo saturated due to the love of their son, James, for the character from Sesame Street. So it was a no-brainer that he had to have the newest “Elmo Knows You Name “doll. He does indeed. The doll can clearly be heard in this video saying “Kill James.”
Fisher-Price has remained silent. A few possible responses are obvious, however.
First, the company could take the “offense is the best defense” strategy and say that they really did want to kill James. Under this approach, they could argue that James is a stalker (as demonstrated by his obsession with Elmo) and the doll was acting in self-defense.
Second, they could argue the “rogue employee defense” (after establishing that Elmo is an employee). Given Elmo’s odd behavior and maniacal laugh, he fits the model of an unbalanced employee who defies all training and supervision. This
“going postal” defense could rely on witnesses such as the Grouch and others to establish his history of problems.
Third, the company could argue a post-trauma reaction that was manifested in Elmo’s threats against James. Anyone who saw the Fire in Hooper’s store episode can attest to the fact that he was clearly traumatized and required intervention. Under this “post-traumatic defense,” the company could claim that it had no clear indications of instability and indeed has acted promptly after the fire to bring Elmo to the firehouse. In the episode, Elmo appears “reconciled” to his trauma — never indicating a ticking bomb within the tickling doll.
Finally, the company could just give them back their money and suggest Tickle Me Elmo as a better option for young James.
They better choose one of these options quickly before the number of the day is the 30 — for the percent charged by the contingency lawyers closing in on Sesame Street.
For the video, click here
From the outset, Elmo was always self-obsessed and rather nihilistic. Consider his “Elmo’s Song,” which is something right out of Sling Blade.
This is the song
La la la la
Elmo’s song.
La la la la,
La la la la,
Elmo’s song.
La la la
La la la la, la
La la la
La la la la, la
He loves to sing,
La la la la,
Elmo’s song.
La la la la,
La la la la,
Elmo’s song.
He wrote the music.
He wrote the words.
That’s Elmo’s song.