The venom in Elmo’s voice when he says “ Hello, _Rocco._ “ is beautiful and honestly relatable.

I remember watching the Elmo movie. Zoe is literally the cause for all of the conflict, she literally almost got Elmo and his favorite blanket killed

I'm with Elmo on this. I was a 90s teen and can honestly say that pet rocks were the dumbest invention ever. Rocco and Zoey can go kick rocks! Love ya, Elmo!

When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Elmo is quite literally being bullied by Zoe to do what she wants to do, but never what he wants to do. Elmo's world is likely a cooping mechanism for him, especially after dealing with Rocco. And when you look at the adults it's clear they favor Zoe over Elmo. It could be because Zoe acts more like a three year old then Elmo, who clearly acts much older, almost like he had grown up faster than Zoe.

Dang Elmo laughed at Zoe once for having a rock for a friend, and she gets the whole neighborhood to gaslight him for all eternity about the sentience of a literal rock and the humans just let her

It’d be hilarious if one of these days, Rocco just turned to Zoey and said: “You know, I’m tired of being silent. I do not like how you’re treating Elmo.”

Sadly, I have a feeling that Elmo would grow up to be shy, self conscious, and probably closed off from people if this continues. He is getting bullied for simply stating facts and is getting shamed for it. Meanwhile, Zoe will probably become entitled and used to getting her way threw manipulation or complaining because of this treatment. If Rocco ever comes back, I want Elmo to just punt that thing into a sea or something and the adults address the problem with Zoe's behavior.

This is part of the reason why I could relate to Elmo so much, when I was younger I was bullied a lot, and taken advantage of, and I frequently got in trouble for things I didn’t do because classmates, who didn’t like me would lie and say that I did something when it was really someone else and I have privileges taken away, which led to angry outburst, which led to the perpetrator getting rewarded because I “lost my temper.” It also turned out that the teachers were aware that I was not the one who was doing those things but because I frequently talk back and accuse them of seeing what was going on and not doing anything, they actually did that. And this was why I was able to relate to Elmo so well.

Now I understand why there is an "Elmo's World". His world might be a defense mechanism from the emotional abuses from his environment. #justiceforelmo

Zoe's actions with Rocco could easily be a stand-in for gaslighting behavior.

Matpat just summarized the two ends of the pendulem between parenting in the 1900 and modern parenting beautifully.

I work at a preschool, primarily with 2 year old kids. When I saw that scene, I was genuinely concerned for what was being taught. I have a little girl whose main personality trait is "spoiled rotten." We've been working very hard to teach her that sometimes the answer is "no" and we need to respect our friends. I hope she doesn't see this episode.

"....What else does Toothpicky have to say?" "That I deserve a raise." "Your toothpick friend is stupid, Dan." best skit on FT

Another situation you didn't mention: Elmo came up with a joke. When he told Zoey, she loved it and went around telling EVERYONE the joke, without giving Elmo credit. Each time Elmo tried to tell someone his joke, they would already be laughing and calling it "Zoey's joke". That girl is evil lol

Wow, at first I thought this video was gonna be about Elmo being racist of rocks , but it’s actually just about toddlers being manipulative while grown ups encourage them. Great video !

At first I was laughing because all I knew was the introduction of Rocco. But, sadly you're right. It feels like they're teaching Zoey if she talks through Rocco, she can get away with anything! As long as Rocco says it, it's okay. Very bad lesson to teach kids that if they're talking for their imaginary friend, they can get away they want.

They REALLY need the “adults” to address Zoe’s behaviour cuz for all the kids who might relate ti Elmo, it’s just reinforcing that they have to go with the flow and not establish boundaries. Not to mention it teaches kids that being like Zoey WORKS. and it shouldn’t

I believe this is the most accurate interpretation for the rock. Zoe is a child just like Elmo, so yes she's using her non-living rock to get things he wants, but that gets reinforced by the the adults. They so badly want to appease her imagination, Elmo gets the short end constantly thus grows angry even though he's technically in the right. Elmo is more patient so he's less likely to throw a fit over Zoe, but that's still unfair to him when more attention is just given to the kid who will throw the fit.

16:47 their jaws dropping is so unintentionally funny to me😭

I LOVED Snuffelupugus as a kid. Had no idea there was so much history to the character 😅

Okay, Zoe having A Rock for an Imaginary Friend is one thing, but hosting an entire wedding for Rocco that likely costs hundreds of dollars is just insane.

Zoe's shown to act similarly even without Rocco present, too. (Speaking over Elmo, refusing to acknowledge his wants/needs, etc) I remember watching the Elmo in Grouchland movie as a kid and hating Zoe for how poorly she treated Elmo

Also if you look at the Elmo movie grouch land, she loses Elmo’s favorite blanket. He explicitly tells her how important it is and she reassured him but them miraculously loses it after bullying him to get it.

10:19 I laughed way too hard at “He’d rather jump”, it caught me so off guard because I took the meaning in a very different and dark way

Elmo deserves better. He isn't even allowed to be angry without people making fun of him.

It always felt like the adults were going along with it because they knew Zoey would throw a fit. Elmo was so patient and kind that it was easier on the adults to make him compromise than to confront the much louder and more temperamental Zoey. As one of four kids, this happened constantly in my family. If one kid is gonna throw a fit, they'd bend over backwards to appease them, even at the expense of the other kids.

Elmo has always been my favorite character since I was a baby and I never liked Zoe or rocco because I loved Elmo so much. Never thought there was actual lore behind it.

11:15 Zoe is a covert narcissist. Emotionally manipulating Elmo and having the adults her narcissistic enablers. No wonder why Elmo is getting traumatized and triggered. 😢😢😥

If they ever _drop_ this plotline, it needs to climax with Elmo realizing that Zoey is being a toxic friend and he's better off _without her._

At this point, I want to see Elmo straight up throw Rocco over a cliff or something.

Just to be clear, Elmo and Zoe have not been 3 for 50 years. Zoe joined the show in season 25. Elmo's beginnings are harder to trace, because the unnamed puppet appeared as a sort of extra going back to 1980, and he went through many changes before finally becoming the Elmo we know. I am a member of the first generation of Sesame Street kids, and I never heard of Elmo or Zoe until my niece and nephew were watching it.

“Rocco says hello!” “Elmo didn’t hear anything!” I’m dying 😂

This is less of a theory and more of a precise unpackaging of a problematic lesson being taught to children and I think it's VERY important to do just that.

What makes it even worse for me is that it almost feels like Elmo is being punished for being upset. Kids (and anyone, honestly) are allowed to be upset when they feel they've been treated unfairly. Should they yell or raise their voice at someone else? Obviously not, but there's nothing wrong with being upset about it. But all these adults act disappointed in him. And they don't seem happy until he gives in and, depending on the issue, apologizes. That's a HORRIBLE message to send to kids. There are tons of kids that end up developing complexes, feeling that even the slightest bit of disappointment makes *them* bad for causing someone else to feel that way. That's *horrible* . No kid should be punished for being upset with the threat or follow through of disappointment. What's the lessen there? That they're only good when they can make everyone around them happy? Anyway, all that aside, it's interesting that the writers knew Elmo would hate the rock. I hope they have an episode in the future where they acknowledge Elmo's feelings about all this. It would be good and, likely, very validating for some kids.

"what else does toothpicky have to say?🤔" "That I Deserve a raise😡" 💀

Rocco is like the imaginary friends Manny (Greg Heffley’s evil little brother ) had in Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Third Wheel. The only rock that can move is Rocky.

Suddenly, I feel like Elmo's World was something Elmo invented for himself due to neglect from all the adults favoring Zoe's Rock over him.

Zoey is extremely good at gaslighting Elmo to the point that it makes him look like the bad guy. It is impressive watching the adults take Zoeys side because she knows that if she riles up Elmo enough, they will believe he is being the unreasonable one.

6:07 The way Elmo looks at the camera is interesting to me. because it's a bit funny but also because he knows he's in a show at (almost) all times.

To summarize: Elmo is being gaslighted by everyone

Lol I always thought it was obvious that Zoey was doing it to bother Elmo. She's had other times outside of Rocko where she's controlling and unapologetic. The one time I can remember, but not well, was Zoey essentially stealing Elmo's blanket or toy because she wanted it for a bit. Losing it, not bothering to help Elmo find it and then claiming to forgive Elmo for being stingy after he found his property that she lost while taking it without permission. And I'm pretty sure no one said a thing to her about it then either.

The fact that Zoe being a child uses Rocco to control Elmo kind of reminds me of a youngest member of the family using their preciousness to the parent to control their older sibling.

I felt pity for Elmo. No-one except me realises what he's gone through. Having the whole town of sesame street against him just for a rock.

I like how nonchalantly MatPat say episode numbers in the 4,000 range, like wow, how long has Sesame Street been on the air.

There’s also a huge parentification of Elmo, which is often seen in older siblings. They’re left in charge without being asked/agreeing to it, they have to “be the grown up” and be a role model for their younger siblings. Their feelings on a situation aren’t validated because they’re supposed to be more mature. Elmo is being parentified towards Rocco, and sadly it’s a really common thing amongst children.

When I was a little kid, I always thought Zoe was a horrible friend to Elmo. In the Elmo in Grouchland movie, she took his most prized possession, his blanket without permission. Everyone blamed Elmo for not being able to share.

“What does else does toothpicky have to say?” “That I deserve a raise” “Your toothpick friend is stupid Dan”

"No it cant eat like your mother" And i took that personally

I always felt like Zoey was the little sister that always got her way no matter what. Like if you went somewhere with your friends you had to take her no matter what.

I love how this goes from a slightly crazy conspiracy theory, to actually making sense, to a genuine theory about why the show was written this way.

13:28 Actually, I think that was the better thing because they both got to do what they want. Jumping while saying the alphabet. That absolutely diffuse the situation. And they both got to do the activity they want. But that seems to be the only times that they actually freaking do anything.

At 6:29 I just glanced at the article and I see, "lmo famous furry"

It's surprising Elmo hasn't flipped from all the gaslighting and cognitive dissonance happening at the same time. He's been cooler than he ought to be.

When I was younger I found Elmo’s dislike for Rocco to be very relatable because my friends and siblings used imaginary friends to excuse their actions. Granted I’m not entirely sure how much of that was real and how much was a child’s interpretation of the world, but I still connected deeply with Elmo on this matter.

they analyzed the relationship between elmo, the puppet, and a rock.

You know, Elmo’s reactions are reasonable. From his perspective he’s trying to be Zoe’s friend or that he’s doing a task that was asked of him, but every time Rocco or Zoe is around he gets deprived. I don’t think that she’s doing that to be mean, she’s not a cruel character-she’s just very young, imaginative and somewhat insensitive. Yeah, the adults should have stepped-in, but after a while Zoe should have become a bit more sensitive knowing how Elmo felt about Rocco.

Not only Child neglect had been shown in this child show but Parental favoritism is when one or both parents display consistent favoritism toward one child over another. It can include more time spent together, less discipline, and more privileges. Which is happening with Zoey, while Elmo is toss on the side line even though adults do ask if Elmo wants to do something else he just give into what Zoey want over his need, which can mess up a child believing that no one is going to spend time with you because they are going to spend more time with the other kid/sibling. poor Elmo

It’s sad when you realise too, in Elmo’s movie “Elmo in grouchland” Zoe flat out breaks Elmo’s favourite thing (his blanket) and doesn’t even have to take responsibility for it. He had respectfully told her he didn’t want to share it with her, and when he begrudgingly gave it to her for a moment, he then wanted it back and she wouldn’t give it to him. He got mad at her, but that is really the only consequence she had to face in that movie

Since I'm the oldest of my siblings, I can confirm that this is similar to my everyday life. The youngest ALWAYS gets their way.

And this is how narcs are born. Zoe is well on her way to NPD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, establishing a pattern of controlling those around her, trampling on certain people, and when they finally have had enough, she will pose as the surprised victim. This is how this starts.

Given that my grandmother did the exact same thing to me (just with her pet dogs), yeah I can totally understand why Elmo gets mad every time he sees Rocco or has to appease said rock.

For a show about kids, they really don't know how to handle imaginary friends. They either completely ignore it and gaslight the person with the imaginary friend, or they go all in and favor inanimate objects over actual characters. Also the adults being useless is the most realistic lesson sesame street's ever thought

I feel like his anger of rocco at the beginning of the episode is him going, "OH NOT THIS CRAP AGAIN!!!"

Elmo definitely deserves better I agree he can't even get angry but his friends can this is just unbelievable

I was not expecting the genuine pyschology stuff this theory. Well done on your research here, MatPat.

While I agree that it was bad how they treated Elmo over this, let me remind you all that they have RARELY showed Zoey on the show nowadays. She got replaced by Abby and Julia as Elmo's BFF's. So yeah, no more Zoey = no more Rocco = Elmo no longer has to deal with all that baggage.

They should introduce a new character named Luigi the concrete worker. Elmo can bring Rocco to a job site and throw him in the concrete mix and laugh and laugh and laugh some more.

0:47 the custom intro

Elmo: everything deserves love Rocko: *exists* Elmo: ALMOST everything deserves love

I remember seeing these episodes with Rocko and dreading every time Zoe was on screen with Elmo for fear that she'd use that stupid rock to screw him over. Especially since Elmo has some of the best behavior in the show. He truly cares about his friends and is more than willing to appease their whims and wants when they interact normally with him. There was one episode where he was having a Red Monster Parade, but every time one of his friends wanted to join he would amend the title to include them until it go so long that he just called it the Anyone who Wants to be in a Parade Parade. And you touched on it with his observations being validated, but everybody playing along is worse because he might end up thinking that the rock somehow is alive (I'm pretty sure we've seen rocks with the googly eyes and mouths during some song segments) and he's the crazy one for not being able to hear or see Rocko doing anything.

"now I'm curious what else does toothpicky have to say." "That I deserve a raise." "Your toothpick friend is stupid Dan."

15:17 it was this thing, and the vacuum from Teletubbies that scared me as a kid.

I love how matpat just casually says "episode 4,000 and something" as if it's normal. for a show to have over 4,000 episodes

As a kid who grew up with a controlling, favoured sibling, this was surprisingly validating.

I love how elmo's patience is broken by a rock

When you're a kid, other kids will do things which seem silly or downright ridiculous and the adults around you will choose to just go along with it (much to your frustration). I think Rocco helps kids learn how to navigate frustrating situations with patience and tact, even when you want to throw the dumb rock off a cliff.

I didn't see many Rocco episodes growing up, but I did watch the Grouchland movie. The message of the movie was to learn to share with your friends and not be selfish/greedy with your stuff, but the whole opening of the movie was about how important Elmo's blanket is to him, he goes and make Zoey laugh after she wasn't able to go to the zoo and immediately after she grabs his blanket without asking to see it and Elmo states and is visibly upset at her actions and wants the blanket back but she keeps holding it and it turns into tug of war ripping the blanket and then it ends up in Oscar's trash can. Zoey is sorry for losing the blanket and apologizes but it always felt weird and now looking back it's because yes it's important to share with your friends but it's also important to ask first and respect boundaries of what's okay to borrow from a friend And yeah they're three this when they should be learning things like this at this age, but even as little kid Zoey's actions that started the movie's adventure never sat right with me *** EDIT AND ANOTHER THING TO TAG ONTO THE ADULTS IN SESAME STREET when Elmo is looking in the trash can screaming for Oscar to give the blanket back the adults tell him to calm down and just wait for Oscar to comeback which yeah good call except no one goes to look Oscar or asks where he went after he threw the blanket in the trashcan and walked away. They pretty much said this situation that has you panicking this much doesn't need to be solved right now And after Elmo storms a few steps away the adults start to coddle Zoey when she starts showing remorse, but as she starts to explain the chase after the blanket Elmo disperses the crowd telling them to leave, and for second I couldn't figure out why, and then it hit me They were actively listening to Zoey explain and letting her let her emotions out right after they told him to calm down and try to not be upset about what just happened, they dismissed his worries and turn around to coddle her, I wouldn't blame him if he made everyone leave just so he wouldn't have to immediately apologize for getting mad at her before he's ready to forgive her cause they'd think the blanket falling in the trash can would be his fault in their eyes. ***One more thing of note just cause Elmo states he needs to get his blanket home, and that says to me that his blanket rarely if ever leave his house

I hardly watched Sesame Street, I always watched Elmo's World with Elmo having the spotlight on him. It made me think that Zoe was secretly jealous of Elmo being more popular than her and used Rocco as a reason to do what she wanted and have the spotlight on her. That's my theory.

Yk what’s funny , as a kid I never like Rocco or zoe either but when anyone asked me i didint know why, but now I think it was because I understood that Rocco was js a rock and how Elmo felt and cs I also loved Elmo 😭

0:02 BALLOON BOY MOMENT!11!!!!!!111!!1111

So glad that people are on Elmo’s side regarding this situation over how much of a bad friend Zoe is to Elmo, especially when it involves Rocco. I loved every bit of this! It’s definitely sad how no one ever sides with Elmo over Zoe’s behavior with or without Rocco and usually always side with her like she’s the victim and that’s wrong. Elmo has a very good reason to be angry at her because she has gaslighted him for so many years which really affected their friendship in terms that they were once considered as “best friends” but that’s not how best friends really are and it’s more like a toxic friendship which was all started by Zoe wanting to get her way out of everything and it ruined the spotlight for Elmo. Zoe has not over tormented Elmo over Rocco but she has also ripped Elmo’s special blanket after taking it without his permission to wipe her face with, stole Elmo’s Front & Back joke by telling it to everyone on Sesame Street and when Elmo tried to tell his joke, they say that they already heard the joke from Zoe and she never gave him credit for that, bullied him by calling Elmo a rotten egg or rotten potato chip (and Elmo even asked her to stop calling him that because it makes him really feel rotten), wouldn’t share her ZoeMobile during the play date with Elmo by gaslighting him and never admitting that she didn’t feel comfortable with Elmo driving it until the very end, she told Elmo that after he tried to do a Leap Dance for friendship day, Zoe yelled at him by saying *”Elmo, I don’t believe it! Why did I ever agree to let you be part of this dance?!! YOU ARE THE WORST!!!”* and it really broke Elmo’s heart when she said that to him and he actually said that he doesn’t want to be her friend anymore, and most of all, gaslights Elmo pretty much every time they’re together. Elmo deserves more of the spotlight and love like he has for many years since he became a popular Sesame Street Muppet character that people of all ages adore and no hatred because he’s a great character. If there’s any character you should hate from Sesame Street, it’s Zoe. Another thing is that Zoe hardly ever learns a lesson from her mistakes and she still does more gaslighting to Elmo affecting him even more to the point that he has to get angry and vent his feelings out at her giving Zoe a piece of his mind. Elmo has a good reason to be angry but to this day, it’s so hilarious how his expressive actions are when he gets angry and Elmo is just like any other good character from TV shows that are usually always kind and happy, but they have their limits when something isn’t right from people that act like crap that they wouldn’t tolerate for whatever situation it is going on. I’m glad to see that the popularity of Elmo vs Zoe & Rocco is still going on as it was partially dead for a while lol *Be on Team Elmo and don’t be toxic like Zoe*

No. NOT just a theory. You are ABSOLUTELY correct!!! Some dangerous behavior being championed by Sesame Street. Allowing Zoey to get away with manipulating everyone for her own gain while poor Elmo is being antagonized and trespassed against! Unthinkable, unacceptable, and inexcusable!!!

"What's the back story? IS there a back story??" ME: ITS A ROCK!!!! (got your back Elmo)

I feel like it’s a mix of Zoey wanting to put herself first and the adults fearing that it may end up another Snuffleupagus if they don’t play along.

Finally! A video that focuses on the adults in the show! So far I’ve seen the argument that Zoe is manipulative and gas lighting Elmo or that Elmo has anger issues and can’t play along. This is the first video I’ve seen that highlights the adults enabling Zoe while ignoring Elmo’s needs.

Now I'm just imagining Zoey growing up to be a Karen because everything was handed to her and Elmo growing up to need therapy because the adults never gave listen to him when it comes to him and Zoey

i love how he just turns a kids show character, that they probally annoyed elmo with for laughs. into a full blown investigation and theory. keep it up

Why is this one of my favourite FT Intros-

This is what I understood as a child. Everyone enabled Zoe to not crush her imagination, but Elmo was being crushed in the process. I didn't understood how it was fair to Elmo and why no adults told her that she should prioritize her real alive friends.

Even as a kid I thought Zoe got her way unfairly. I used to love the movie where his blanket gets thrown into the trash, but I hated that Zoe NEVER faced any consequences. As someone who grew up with a similar situation where my parents would only believe my sister, I sympathized with Elmo so much. It's the same deal with shows like Kid vs Kat. Took years to be able to mend things with my folks. MatPat hit the nail on the head.

I always saw it as Zoey pushing her trauma into Rocko. Shes saying what she wants to say through rocko because shes to scares if SHE says it shell get backlash, so she uses rocko as a wall of sort. In case something goes wrong, she can backtrack, if someone gets mad their gonna yell at rocko instead of her And i think the others are allowing this because they know, but elmos is Zoeys same age so probably doesnt realize it And you can see it to, Zoey says rocko wants to dance bit shes dancing, she says he says 12 but shes saying it, etc etc

17:54 bro elmo you dont have to be sorry. If I were you I would say “So? What do I have to do about it?”

I hated Zoe growing up, still do, and I would literally cry for Elmo's sake when I was little. Even now as an adult and seeing the miss treatment with that stupid rock, it still hurts. Poor Elmo! I bet this doesn't hit hard for all of those middle kids having to watch their golden child sibling get everything they ever wanted and the middle ended up paying for it in the end.

As someone who lives around toddlers practically 24/7, I can say for a FACT that if the adults finally told Zoey to let Elmo have a turn (and presuming that this wasn't a TV show designed to teach kids good lessons) Zoey would absolutely just throw a fit about how "ROCCO NEEDS IT!!" "ROCCO DESERVES IT MORE!!" "ROOCO HAS FEELINGS TOO!!!" And just go off forever with no end In sight.

I am giving you all the props two you for outstanding work on the most watched theory on the sesame street tv show

Y'know.... now that I've grown up... I understand Elmo's frustration.

Never thought a theory about a puppet hating a rock could get so deep

I always hated Zoey, but you're right, the adults are stupid for letting her get away with her crap.

Interview: News: Elmo, what is your opinion on Rocco? Elmo: He’s malicious!

Elmo was and always be my favorite character