Credit: LudoIf you’ve been near a screen in the past few years, you undoubtedly know the name “Bluey.” If you’ve stuck around to hear about Bluey, Bingo, Bandit, and Chilli, you also know about Muffin and how much of a handful she can be.
As much as fans have fallen in love with the Heeler family, one character seems to bring out the worst in the fandom. Muffin might not be as cuddly and sweet as her cousins, but is she really responsible for so much backlash?
Although Muffy might be the most realistic character in the entire cavalcade of cartoon dogs, her parents might actually be a problematic pair. One of the new Bluey minisodes shone a rather unflattering light on the situation, and the fandom soon responded.
Bluey and Toxic YouTube Culture
This week, Disney+ subscribers watched seven new minisodes as part of Bluey’s 20-episode-long miniseries, one of which satirized kids’ toy reviews and social media culture on YouTube. However, some fans viewed it as a hypocritical move as it depicted Muffin’s parents using her for views on the platform.
Inside the Magic covered this scenario and shared the following:
“Muffin Unboxing” is a blatant and obvious parody of kid-centric and toy-centric influencer content, and Muffy is delightfully unhinged as she (and her parents) tear into a toy dump truck. However, Aussie Girl Margie points out that seeing young characters portrayed in a fictional social media realm might come off as a touch hypocritical, given how protective Ludo is of its child actors.“
Naturally, we weren’t the only ones who picked up on this potentially questionable content. Along with Aussie Girl Margie (a Bluey influencer), members of the r/Bluey subreddit believe the episode featured poor depictions of both pups and parents alike.
The Fans Speak Out
While most toy reviews on YouTube are undoubtedly cringey, many viewers took issue with how Stripe and Trixie handled Muffin’s unboxing video. A recent post on r/Bluey had fans up in arms over how it depicted the characters as toxic parents.
In the comments, u/ET90TE sums up essentially what most viewers took issue with by stating their points.
“1. Stripe is trying to pawn his own kid by asking for free stuff and publishing her on the internet. Don’t normalize kids on the internet.”
“2. Gives Muffin an outlet to think her behavior is ok because ‘people will watch and think it’s funny’
“3. My kid had no idea what was happening because we don’t and will never watch anything like that. Thanks for exposing my kid to the crap of the internet.”
On the subject of Stripe and Trixie, the same user later adds,
“From what we know, I don’t think they’re bad. I think they make some questionable choices-like this episode, or the fighting in the sign or giving her seemingly whatever toy she wants. But, like everyone they’re learning, and I like their redeeming stories in ‘Library’ and ‘Faceytalk.’ I think they just have communication issues.”
u/Phase3isProfit also makes a valid statement when they address the reality of parenting young children like Muffin and her sister, Socks. The user shares,
“An interesting point on this is that we can broadly agree that Muffin is a nightmare and Socks is a delight, but they have the same parents. There are definitely areas they could have done better, but it does show it’s not always down to the parenting as you can do the same thing with two different kids and get different outcomes.”
And then u/propschick05 points out the true heart of the matter in the second half of their post,
“I can see why people might not like it for their kids, but damn, I can relate to almost every single funny beat in that video. I think, more than anything, it’s the unboxing premise that probably has people outraged. We don’t allow them in our house, but I’ll allow the Muffin one…”
Bluey Gets Real
In this writer’s opinion, the main reason this episode might be rubbing viewers the wrong way is because it takes a more realistic approach to parenting. As much as parents try to hold themselves to the golden standard of Bandit and Chilli, many undoubtedly find themselves relating more to Stripe and Trixie.
Moreover, Muffin might not be everyone’s favorite character, but she’s the only member of the pups that remotely resembles how an actual kid her age behaves. She screams, throws tantrums, wrecks things, and has a bit of a mean streak the way any toddler might.
Bluey is no stranger to tackling real and complex subjects, but things get a little dicey when the mirror is held up to the parents in the room. Then again, that might be part of why the show has had such a worldwide success.
Did the show go too far? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!