If you think fear of puppets is the result of being "weak-minded", read   
   applicable sections of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. There are   
   profound psycho-philosophical reasons for the fear. Puppets strikingly   
   manifest the uncanny. But I suppose all    
   of this would be over the head of anyone so vapid a to make such an asinine   
   comment.   
      
      
   On Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 7:23:51 PM UTC-8, James Takayama wrote:   
   > This is hillarious.  I can't tell whether it was supposed to be a joke or   
   > not, but it is funny to think that so many Americans would be weak minded   
   > enough to fear puppets in their 40's.   
   >    
   >    
   > "The Medullaless Bastard"  wrote in message   
   > news:a7qju3$rp5$1@news.netmar.com...   
   > >   
   > >   
   > >        BOWLING GREEN, KY--Though their frequency has decreased since   
   > > childhood, 37-year-old Robert Lyons still suffers from occasional   
   > nightmares   
   > > related to Lidsville, the early-'70s Sid and Marty Krofft-produced   
   > > Saturday-morning program featuring Charles Nelson Reilly cavorting with a   
   > > frightening assemblage of sentient headgear.   
   > >   
   > >       "It happened again last night," Lyons said. "I dreamed I was driving   
   > to   
   > > work, in my father's car for some reason, and the sky started getting   
   > darker   
   > > and darker. Then, from out of nowhere, the giant cowboy hat that talked   
   > like   
   > > John Wayne jumped in front of my windshield and started peering into the   
   > car   
   > > with a look of murderous hate."   
   > >   
   > >       "That was when I woke up with a jolt," Lyons continued. "I never got   
   > > back to sleep."   
   > >   
   > >       In the program, a boy named Mark becomes trapped in a nightmarish,   
   > > Technicolor parallel universe populated by anthropomorphic talking hats.   
   > The   
   > > central villain is Hoo-Doo, an evil magician played by Reilly in   
   > horrifying   
   > > makeup and facial prosthetics. Poor puppetry and cheap special effects   
   > > contributed to the show's queasy, disorienting feel, as did the presence   
   > of   
   > > dwarf actors inside the hat costumes.   
   > >   
   > >       Though still haunted by images from the program, Lyons has made   
   > great   
   > > progress since childhood.   
   > >   
   > >       "From about 1972 to 1978, I had Lidsville nightmares pretty much   
   > every   
   > > night," Lyons said. "In one of the more frequent ones, I'd go downstairs   
   > for   
   > > breakfast, but my mother wouldn't be in the kitchen. Instead, that   
   > > cone-shaped   
   > > party hat with the giggly voice would be there, as though she had replaced   
   > my   
   > > mother. I also had a lot of dreams where the football helmet locks me in a   
   > > cage   
   > > and pushes it into the ocean. And, needless to say, I often dreamed I was   
   > > falling into the giant hat in the opening credits."   
   > >   
   > >       Eventually, through therapy and medication, Lyons was able to   
   > largely   
   > > control the traumatizing effects of the program. But the nightmares return   
   > > from   
   > > time to time.   
   > >   
   > >       "I still have one or two a year," Lyons said. "A few months ago, I   
   > > dreamed that Hoo-Doo was chasing me around, trying to tie me down and give   
   > me   
   > > an enema. Still, I'm much better than before. Almost normal."   
   > >   
   > >       "You know," he added, "there were supposedly good hats and evil hats   
   > on   
   > > the show, but in my dreams they're all equally disturbing."   
   > >   
   > >       Plaguing Lyons perhaps worst of all is the character "Weenie Genie,"   
   > a   
   > > boy genie inexplicably played by middle-aged actress Billie Burke--the   
   > woman   
   > > who played Witchiepoo in the equally traumatic Krofft series H.R.   
   > > Puff n' stuff--wearing ghoulish makeup.   
   > >   
   > >       "I'd definitely say Weenie Genie is in my nightmares more than any   
   > of   
   > > the   
   > > others," Lyons said. "Weenie's supposed to be a boy, but he's played by   
   > > someone who's obviously a woman. I think seeing that as an 8-year-old boy   
   > > seriously damaged my still-developing sense of gender identity."   
   > >   
   > >       According to psychologist Dr. Deborah Kreutz, Lyons is far from   
   > alone   
   > > in   
   > > his fear of Lidsville.   
   > >   
   > >       "To this day, the scars of Lidsville run deep through American   
   > > society,"   
   > > Kreutz said. "Remember, approximately 40 million Americans were exposed to   
   > > this   
   > > show as children, so we're talking about a mass, televised trauma whose   
   > > psychological ramifications continue to weigh heavily on our collective   
   > > national psyche."   
   > >   
   > >       In 1999, a team of UCLA psychologists compiled a ranking of   
   > lingering   
   > > childhood traumas among Americans between the ages of 30 and 40. Lidsville   
   > > ranked second overall, just ahead of the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty   
   > > Bang   
   > > Bang and Sigmund & The Sea Monsters, another Krofft program. Ranked first   
   > > were   
   > > the Oompa-Loompas from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.   
   > >   
   > >   
   > >   
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)