Rastamouse Controversy; article and notes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8320549/Rastamouse-provokes-complaints-of-racism-and-teaching-bad-language.html

The article above is taken from the Telegraph online about the Rastamouse controversy in 2011. The controversy was due to the supposed racist undertones of the children's television program.

-The beginning of the article is positive explaining the level popularity of the program. With the use of lexis like entertaining, a pre-modifying adverb, love and respect, which are used to describe the the character of Rastamouse giving the connotations of a all round positive program which sets up the opposing article subject.

-The second paragraph displays a change in tone, what's interesting is the use of the abstract verb 'provoked' used in the sentence 'Rastamouse has provoke more than a hundred complaints. The use of this word suggest that the program was almost asking for, 'provoking' the audience to react.

-In the article the author has also included a few of the complaints from the parents that were posted on parenting forums. The complaints have been used as evidence regarding the subject and along with the inclusion of the usernames, it almost seems that the author is trying to pin some sort of blame on those that complained.

-Towards the middle of the article the focus is turned to other complaint that was that the program encourages children to use slang. The author has chosen a few of the Jamaican creole words and sayings used by the characters in Rastamouse. The author however uses the specific proper noun patois, this word draws negative connotations as it's rarely used today and is consider as politically incorrect.

-At the end of the article there is an inclusion of quotes from the creator of Rastamouse explaining the intention of the children's program and addressing the issue of the racism which many complained about. "The Rastamouse books are written in Afro-Caribbean Patois rhyme and this authentic voice has been transferred to the TV series to retain its heart, integrity and distinctive quality." The use of the adjectives towards the end of the quote express directly the clear intention of the speaker but it also creates the semantic field of trust and truth which is important in opposing the issue of racism.