Bob the Builder

Summary

Bob, a self-employed builder and handyman, leads a team of animated construction vehicles.  Whatever building, fixing, painting or construction work is needed in the town, Bob and the gang are more than capable of getting the job done.  The popular children's television programme has even led to not one but two number one pop songs.

 

Background

Actor Neil Morrissey, who provides the voice of popular children's television character Bob, has commented that whenever he is out shopping and hears a parent point him out as Bob the Builder, he inevitably finds himself face to face with a disappointed child.  'I've seen Bob', he can imagine the children thinking, 'and you're not him!' Morrissey's experience is emblematic of the enigma that is Bob the Builder - arguably the most widely known handyman in the country (with apologies to Tommy from Ground Force) and yet one of the least understood figures of modern times.

Since Bob began his reign as the king of children's television in 1999, many people have remained unaware of the deep philosophical roots that underpin the programme, and of the radical political narrative that pulses through the very lifeblood of the show.

Essentially modernist in it's philosophical outlook ("Can we fix it?  Yes we can!"), Bob the Builder was originally written with the intention of introducing children to the world of philosophical thought.  The character of Bob is a thinly veiled parody of Bertrand Russell, and Bob's desire to impose order on his town by tackling all of its construction needs is an obvious extension of Russell's firmly held belief in the power of rational thought to impose order and understanding on society.

It should be pointed out that there is an element of tension between Bob's humanistic roots and the animism inherent within his mechanical workmates.  This can perhaps be seen as an attempt to reconcile the rational humanism of Russell and his peers with a more post-modern appreciation of world-view plurality.  Alternatively, the animated machines could be seen as an extreme illustration of functionalism within the theory of mind.

Russell's notoriously liberal approach to sexual morality is mirrored in the battle for Bob's affections that takes place between Wendy and, among others, Mrs Potts and Mavis from the Post Office.  The sexuality of the show is, of course, underplayed for the sake of the watching children, but adult viewers of the series have long been aware of the slow-burning sexual chemistry at the heart of the show. Even the casting of Morrissey, best known for his sex-obsessed lad-about-town role in Men Behaving Badly, as Bob's voice serves to reinforce the image of Bob as a free spirit, sowing his seed wherever his fancy takes him.  Bob's version of Mambo Number 5 may feature a list of DIY tasks such as 'digging up the roads' and 'moving heavy loads', but the listener is surely intended to remember that the original version by Lou Bega presents us with an almost endless list of ladies that the singer has in mind for his social recreation.

The role of Wendy has also prompted great discussion as to whether Bob the Builder represents a repressive example of patriarchal society, or a feminist paradise.  Although Wendy frequently joins in with Bob and the machines to get the job done, Bob is rarely seen turning his hand to cooking, cleaning and the like.  Many regular viewers of the show (predominately the adult female ones) have long hoped that the relationship between Bob and Wendy will eventually result in children, so that Bob can be shown taking his fair share of childcare responsibility.  

Bob's relationship with his workforce of machines has also prompted much discussion as to the socio-political leanings of the programme.  Is Bob representative of the entrepreneurial ideal of capitalism, as he monopolises the construction needs of his community?  Or perhaps his willingness to share the work and rewards with his happy band of misfit machines points towards a more egalitarian view of a society structured for the sake of the many rather than the privileged few.  Every episode of the programme passes comment on the society that Bob finds himself a part of, and his attempts to improve the way things are.  Bob has a wide social vision, but whether he works to reinforce and prop up a crumbling world order, or to usher in a glorious new age remains unclear.

That Bob the Builder is highly politicised is not open to doubt.  The fact that it remains unclear whether the programme leans to the left, the right, or even rejects the old political compass altogether, makes it a controversial and potentially dangerous social experiment.  How will the children of Bob's generation express their politicisation as they grow to adulthood?  The hearts and minds of the future are being shaped by an enigmatic figure in a hard hat.  You have been warned.

 

IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION

1. An alternative reading of Bob the Builder sees parallels with the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.  Which aspects of the programme do you think are most compatible with such a view, and which the most problematic?

2. Peruse 1 Corinthians 3: 10-15.  What parallels are there between the building described in this passage and that of Bob and his gang?

3. Read Matthew 7:24-27.  Is Bob a wise or a foolish builder?  Which are you more like?

4. Is the anthropomorphic nature of the machines significant?  To what extent do you think this is a comment on the tendency of technology to take on a life of it's own in industrialised society, proving harder and harder for humans to safely control.

5. Literally, in the very title of the programme, Bob is defined by his actions - he is Bob, the Builder.  To what extent does his sense of self-worth derive from what he does?  How would you explain the doctrine of salvation by grace to somebody who took a similar view to Bob?

6. Fix it - can we?

7. Obsession with means to end pragmatics defines Bob's existential role within the social equilibrium of the show.  Discuss.

8. "Only a child could fail to recognise the socio-political implications of Bob.  Only an adult could fail to be moved by them." (Oli Rofpal).  Do you agree with this assessment of the programme?

9. Look at the date that this study guide was posted on the Damaris website.

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