Issue 5: The Sexual Orientation of Puppets

Last week it was announced by the people in suits at Sesame Street that Bert and Ernie are not gay.  They are, in fact, best friends and have no sexual orientation whatsoever.  My question is this; was that necessary?  Ever since this news hit last week I’ve read several opinions on both sides of this argument and given the opinions of others and the final decision from Henson studios I’ve got a few things to say about the whole thing.  First, Sesame Street could benefit greatly from a gay character.  A gay character.  One.  And not a puppet an adult.  They can teach tolerance for other people and their sexual orientations at a young age.  Some may say that there’s no need for that, but with homosexual relationships as celebrated and publicly open as they are now kids are inquisitive and it’s not about if they’ll understand, it’s about the fact that one day they’re going to ask.  So, yes, a gay human character on Sesame Street could be quite beneficial.

Issue 3: The Fuzzy, The Weirdos, And Me

Image courtesy of James Hance

Just this past week I revisited the Sesame Street movie Follow That Bird and it occurred to me how terrifying that movie actually is.  I mean you need to replace Big Bird with an actual six year old, but when you watch the movie you need to remember that Big Bird IS six years old and it’s referenced many many times.  And any kid watching should be terrified for Bird but I don’t think it registers for them the same way, it didn’t for me back then.  But you’ve got to think, at the very beginning of this movie Big Bird is ripped from everything he knows and loves and cares about, all of his friends and the people that look out for him and his best intentions and he’s thrust into a house by some caretaker who says he needs to be with his OWN kind and not fraternizing with others.  If that weren’t bad enough he runs away and hitch-hikes his way half way across America.  The moment that made me kind of go “How was this okay for kids?!” was when the carnies catch up to Bird, capture him, paint him blue, and force him to perform.  Who does that to a six year old?!

For all the scary bits, there’s great messages all along the way, one in particular coming in the form of a song from Waylon Jennings about how nothing is ever too big to be accomplished.

I guess what I want to talk about today is The Muppets.  Some time ago I discovered the art of a now good friend, James Hance.  His style was like nothing I’d ever seen and what he was doing by combining popular art with popular culture wasn’t only hilarious but it was amazing.  It reminded me that there exists a world of mostly wholesome characters out there that have brought me joy time after time after time.  From Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street when I was in diapers and could barely speak to Muppet Treasure Island in my younger days to finally sitting down and catching up on five seasons of The Muppet Show as it aired in pieces on the Disney Channel.  Somewhere after the flop of Muppets in Space and the cancellation of Muppets tonight I sort of forgot about Kermit, Fozzy, and the rest of the gang.  I forgot about Gobo, Boober, Red, Mookey, and Wembley Fraggle, I mean, I knew what they were and that I was an avid watcher when I’d sit in front of the television, but they just kind of went to the wayside.  When I discovered James’ art it was all brought back to screaming life and I couldn’t be happier about it.