In case you have not heard, Elmo is in trouble. The furry, friendly, red puppet of Sesame Street fame has attracted the ire of New York Knicks (basketball) fans with a post. The Knicks are in a best-of-seven final series with the San Antonio Spurs. New York City is afire with fan fever.

“Elmo hopes both teams have fun!”

Well, those words seemingly aren’t good enough on the streets of New York City. Impartiality doesn’t cut it. And what’s fun got to do with it?!

Elmo’s detractors have labelled him a “traitor” and “fence-sitter.”

And it’s not just the slightly deranged sports’ fans that are raising their one-eyed heads. The official New York City Police Department account posted, “Just like in Times Square, we think this Elmo is an imposter.” (Comparing him to the Elmo impersonators who greet tourists in Times Square). Also, the city's transportation department threatened to take down the official Sesame Street sign installed in Upper Manhattan.

All of which to Kiwi sensibilities might seem like another, albeit relatively harmless (compared with starting a war), manifestation of CAS - Crazy Americans Syndrome.

Yet who can forget the ugliness of sideline abuse, and even fights, that are not uncommon at sports fields around New Zealand. Just a week or so back, children’s rugby league games across Waikato were cancelled one Sunday in response to adults fighting on the sidelines and in car parks. And it’s not just Rugby League or children’s games where there is a problem.

Partiality has a social and political potency. ‘My’ team, ‘my’ party’, ‘my’ people, and soon, has an ability to offer a sense of solidarity and tribe. But, and it’s a big but, its reliant on there being an opposition, namely the ‘other’ team, the ‘other’ party, and the ‘other’ tribe. And we live in a world where the ‘other’ is labelled as threat and enemy.

All of which is kind of okay, in a sporting way, if it’s a seen as a bit of make-believe. A constructed fantasy (albeit around which there are some rules of conduct) we put on for the game and then take off again. A bit of escapism to take our minds away from our worries, work, or no work.

But in these days, particularly in some places, in some countries, particularly where polarization is increasingly seen as normative, there is a blurring between fantasy and reality, so that even a puppet who since 1980 has been known for promoting kindness and unity is seen as a traitor and imposter.

Which raises the question whether the promotion of kindness and unity is in itself now perceived to be a threat?

There is an old parable, from some fifty years ago, about Jesus going to a football match between a Catholic and a Protestant team. Somewhat like Elmo, this Jesus got in trouble for cheering for one team and then the other, and saying he was there to just enjoy the game. The parable concludes with Jesus’ detractors calling him a ‘heretic’.

Has much changed for the good in the last fifty years?

Glynn