No+Hobo+No+Longer+by+John+Infante

Although the topic of this blog doesn’t directly relate to the subject of my research, it is still pertinent to the class. As a class we have discussed the portrayal of the homeless in iCarly. The “hobo culture” iCarly has created online raises some significant questions about the message it sends to young viewers. As Nickelodeon’s number one show, it reaches over 200 million homes, so potentially, a huge number of children follow iCarly’s example and “make fun of hobos”. On the iCarly website and in every season thus far iCarly’s message that it’s okay to make fun of the homeless went relatively unnoticed by viewers, there were even photo albums dedicated to “hobo pics”. In fact, the iCarly website even stated their feelings toward the homeless online saying, "At iCarly we LOVE hobos. So we had ourselves a hobo party! Check out our new iSnaps gallery to see iCarly all hobo-fied.". Wow, nice one Nickelodeon. Similar to our class, a online community of 1,400 people felt that iCarly took the ‘hobo’ jokes too far and signed a petition on change.org for Nickelodeon to change and apologized for their insensitive jokes….AND IT WORKED! The original petition letter read as follows:

Dear Mr. Dauman (the CEO of Viacom), I am writing to ask you to apologize for the insensitive way iCarly, a prominent show on the Nickelodeon network, portrays and makes fun of homeless people. Not only does the show feature consistent jokes about 'hobos', but its website also features a photo gallery of the characters "all hobo-fied".

Nickelodeon is the most watched children's television network and as such has a massive influence on young people. Allowing one of its most popular shows to poke fun at those who are less fortunate teaches children that such actions are okay. While I'm sure the network and the show meant no offense, its mockery of the homeless and impoverished is unacceptable.

Please apologize for the way iCarly has made fun of the homeless. It is mean, teaches the wrong lessons, and should have no place at your company. Thank you, [Your name]

Thanks to the success of this petition Nickelodeon has already removed all insensitive references and photographs from their website and has pledged to stop making jokes about the homeless in all future episodes. Hooray!!!

But what did Dan Schneider, the creator of iCarly have to say about all? Luckily Dan is just as tech savvy as the characters in his show and references this feeling toward this ordeal on his blog. He didn’t intend the shows jokes to refer to the homeless but instead the “caricatures of the 19th century types who would ride the rails (trains) and carry their possessions in a red, cloth sack at the end of a stick.". He also points out, that 'hobo humor' is not atypical in the US and dates back to the classic comedian Red Skelton, but now recognizes that even if the humor is understandable, it doesn't mean that the jokes are acceptable. I predict that in an upcoming episode of iCarly they will confront homelessness as a theme to remedy the bad press this issue raises.