History Fridge / TheBerenstainBears

* Queenie is a LovableAlphaBitch rather than a mean one, as shown when she is InnocentlyInsensitive when she excludes Sister Bear from getting soft ice-cream with her posse, and Too Tall, for all his bullying, [[EvenEvilHasStandards has standards]], sometimes even forming an EnemyMine with Brother and Sister Bear. Why is that? In the Berenstain Bear community, with minor exceptions like the Beary Bubby trend, most adults fall into the ReasonableAuthorityFigure slant, and their kids tend to follow suit. They may not agree all the time, like Miss Glitch and Farmer Ben about tobacco, but they each are willing to listen to the other's point of view and not resort to violence or sound byte facts. Also in the case of the dress code debate, the principal returns and points out that the debate was a large social experiment, which revealed surprising results, and allowed him to make a decision about casual Fridays for the school. It makes a difference when people are willing to listen. Also, in the Christmas story Mama Bear tells Sister that being good and being perfect aren't the same thing, meaning that when Sister makes mistakes, they aren't held against her and don't stay with her for life.

* Queenie is a LovableAlphaBitch rather than a mean one, as shown when as InnocentlyInsensitive she excludes Sister Bear from getting soft ice-cream with her posse, and Too Tall for all his bullying has standards, sometimes even forming an EnemyMine with Brother and Sister Bear. Why is that? In the Berenstain Bear community, with minor exceptions like the Beary Bubby trend, most adults fall into the ReasonableAuthorityFigure slant, and their kids tend to follow suit. They may not agree all the time, like Miss Glitch and Farmer Ben about tobacco, but they each are willing to listen to the other's point of view and not resort to violence or sound byte facts. Also in the case of the dress code debate, the principal returns and points out that the debate was a large social experiment, which revealed surprising results, and allowed him to make a decision about casual Fridays for the school. It makes a difference when people are willing to listen. Also, in the Christmas story Mama Bear tells sister that being good and being perfect aren't the same thing, meaning that when Sister make mistakes, they aren't held against her or stay with her for life.

** The real horror is that Sister has this revelation and does...absolutely nothing with it because ChildrenAreInnocent, and almost immediately the school counselor hears about it and probably will [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome report the parents to Bear Child Services]]. You can almost see her going home and having this conversation:
-->'''Sister:''' Mama, guess what? That Tuffy who's been picking on me? Turns out her parents abuse her. That must be why she's a bully.
-->'''Mama:''' Oh, what a relief! I thought she was just a bad cub. Do you want vegetable soup or lasagna for dinner?

** Do most 5-year-olds think about killing the bully in so many gruesome, horrific ways? Do they even know that most of the things we saw her imagine can and ARE lethal if used on someone else? The implication here is that she knows ''exactly'' what those things could do to Tuffy, and is imagining each and every one of them bearing down on her.

*** Also, kids don't tend to think of that sort of thing in terms of gore, killing, or anything of the sort. Think about the cartoons...when Wile E. Coyote got blown up by ridiculously overpowered weapons, he was fine. Blackened and a little shocked, but not even really hurt. Daffy duck gets shot in the face at point blank range and all that happens is his beak flips around his face. So kids that small have that sort of view on tanks and bombs.

* In one of the newer books, a family of pandas bears come to live in the town the series is set in. Papa Bear begins to [[FantasticRacism hate them]]. Now this begins the Aesop where he learns to not judge people by their fur color, but think about it. Before this book, most if not all the characters living in the town were grizzly bears. Makes one wonder how long Papa's held this belief of "they're [non-grizzlies] not even real bears" and just never had the opportunity to show it until now? To amplify it further, where did he learn to hate non-grizzly bears? One source could have been from his own parents, aka the lovable Grandmother and Grandfather Bears that we love so much. Whether intentionally or unknowingly, they instilled the distrust into their son and it wasn't until this book that it finally came out.

** The book did mention that Tuffy got therapy, but the parents don't. At least not in that picture book.

** Remember [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Cartmen]] has a mom who isn't racist at all (she's probably done it with every race you can name) and he's pretty racist.

*** Also, kids son't tend to think of that sort of thing in terms of gore, killing, or anything of the sort. Think about the cartoons...when Wile E. Coyote got blown up by ridiculously overpowered weapons, he was fine. Blackened and a little shocked, but not even really hurt. Daffy duck gets shot in the face at point blank range and all that happens is his beak flips around his face. So kids that small have that sort of view on tanks and bombs.

* In the chapter book [[FuedingFamilies where the Grizzlys and the Bears are fighting]], Papa's ill-thought-out crusade to convince all Bears to boycott anything owned by Squire Grizzly comes off as nutty and a bit goofy in-universe and out. Then Brother and Sister get to school and see Too Tall and Queenie in a bitter spat; the trouble quickly escalates to ''every kid in school'' trying to rip each other to pieces. And to make matters worse, Lizzy, who as a Bruin may or may not actually have anything to do with the ancient grudge fueling the whole mess, can be seen in the illustration of the fight, flat on the ground with a "What did I do?" look on her face. Given that most of the other cubs in the shot appear to be older than her, it's a wonder she's not more hurt.