Willow Branches in Autumn Winds

Caillou and Ethnicity

Several months ago, I discovered Caillou on Netflix. Once I did, it quickly supplanted Thomas the Tank Engine as Isaac’s favorite TV show. He was hooked on it right away.

My guess for this is because it was immediately so relatable to him. Caillou is a four-year-old little boy who lives at home with his Mommy and Daddy, little sister Rosie and cat Gilbert. He spends time with his Grandma and Grandpa. He has a vivid imagination, but doesn’t have any super powers or magical abilities. His adventures include things like visiting a construction site down the street, going to a park with his Grandpa, or visiting a new friend who lives in a high-rise apartment building in the city. This makes Caillou very different from many other popular kids’ programs like Thomas, Veggie Tales, Dora the Explorer, or Word World.

Caillou also happens to be bald, a point which led to an interesting discussion on Facebook this morning that I keep thinking about. A comment about the oddness of a four-year-old’s being bald led someone to share some research they had done on that point. They shared this quote, which was found on the website of the original publishers of the Caillou books (Chouette Publishing):

Caillou stands for all children. He doesn’t have curly blond hair, a carrot-top, brown hair, glasses, or ethnic features, because he represents all children. We wanted to make Caillou universal so every child could identify with him. And they do! Caillou’s baldness may make him different, but we hope it’s helping children understand that being different isn’t just okay, it’s normal.

Grrr. Now, I appreciate wanting to create a character with whom all kinds of children can identify. As I shared, Caillou is very relatable because his experiences are similar to what many real children might experience. But here’s the thing: Caillou does have ethnic features. Pale skin and round eyes are ethnic features. Claiming that Caillou doesn’t have ethnic features but then making him a white boy reveals the belief that white isn’t ethnic, it’s normal. This kind of thinking is dangerous.

I still love Caillou. I also completely believe Choette Publishing’s claim that all kinds of children identify with him. But I think that is just evidence of the fact that the children who watch the show have not yet been indoctrinated with our society’s messed up notions about race. They haven’t learned yet that people of different ethnicities are “supposed” to be different.