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Excited to have this out in @CultureCrime! I argue #PAWPatrol reproduces problematic narratives about crime and punishment as well as upholds major tenets of neoliberalism, including faith in private enterprise, distrust in government, and responsibilization. pic.twitter.com/IsJXBtYPBe — Liam Kennedy (@KennedyLiamc) February 3, 2020

“No job is too big, no pup is too small,” an often quoted motto in the show, perpetuates an “individualistic message”, Kennedy told CBC Radio.

“To me that’s an individualist message. Pull up your boot straps, you can do it if you just try hard enough,” Kennedy said. “That kind of message ignores structural barriers in our society and not everyone can do it,” he said.

The depiction of the state is also problematic.

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Mayor Humdinger and Mayor Goodway — kind of the representatives of the state or the government — are portrayed negatively,” Kennedy said.

The politicians of the town are displayed as “corrupt” and “unethical” Kennedy said.

“I would argue that the Paw Patrol, as a private corporation, is used to help provide basic social services in the Adventure Bay community,” Kennedy explained, adding the problem with this is that it teaches children “that we can’t depend on the state to provide these services.”

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The result is messaging directed towards children that makes them “less likely to critique the capitalist system that causes environmental harm in the first place and reproduces inequality,” Kennedy said.

The professor said some people will “roll their eyes” when reading the paper.

“I think it’s a serious message but I also want to have fun in my job, so this was fun,” he said.

Twitter users replying to the professor’s tweet appeared to largely make jokes about the paper.