Wickie's father is the leader (chief? president? nominated head?) of a clan of vikings. Wickie appears seasonally @ 7pm on KiKa (Kinder channel) and is hugely popular in our household. I'm not sure who enjoys Wickie more - the Caspi-Man or the Ger-Man. Suffice to say that the Ger-Man's been enjoying Wickie for longer.
In the first episode of the first season of Wickie (produced several generations ago) Wickie is proven to be one of the most intelligent members of the viking clan after winning a rock moving competition against head-honcho-Papa, after challenging his authority.
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Since then, in every ensuing episode (and there are many), Wickie accompanies Papa and his "strong men" on many viking-type adventures that include fighting and pilliging (but, understandably, not any raping).
A fellow Düsseldorfian based Australian friend of mine, Dr Jo, has recently, curtesy of her 2 year old son, also become aquainted with Wickie. She was MOST impressed. "What a wonderful role-model Wickie is!" She proclaimed to all & sundry. "And the show must have been so ahead of it's time. Pioneering the way for girls."
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Because in spite of the Vicki name, the 'Dora the Explorer' style bangs & bob hair-styling, and the skirt wearing, Wickie is in fact A BOY. (I had initially made the same assumption until ther Ger-Man set me firmly straight.)
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Ahh, what can you expect in a country where all the strong female role-models (think Marlene Deitchrich, Barbara Becker) choose to leave, leaving icons such as Heidi Klum for the young to aspire to. To spite having a female leader, for most practical purposes (equal pay, childcare options, discriminatory hiring practices, etc) Germany does have a looooooong way to go on the road to equal rights.
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Makes you wonder how different it might be if Wickie had been a girl.
