Bert and Ernie? Really?
Maybe I'm just naive, it never occurred to me that Bert and Ernie were a gay couple. I guess if I knew somebody like that in real life the thought would cross my mind -- I don't speculate much about the private lives of puppets.
So there's a movement to tell Sesame Street they should marry. FoxNews has it:
I love the fact that one of the clues that they may be romantically involved is that they fight all the time. After this many years, you'd think they'd do the right thing and tie the knot, wouldn't you? It would set a good example for the Sesame Street audience, a grown-up couple taking responsibility and making it legal.
There is a little more to this article, with links to this petition and a Facebook page.
So there's a movement to tell Sesame Street they should marry. FoxNews has it:
An online push is under way to pressure the producers of "Sesame Street" into having Bert and Ernie get married.
More than 900 people have signed a petition about the pair of platonic puppets on Change.org as of early Wednesday.
"We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful," the petition reads. "It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different."
The sexuality of Bert and Ernie -- perhaps the kid show's most popular characters -- has long been debated since the roommates sleep in the same room and constantly bicker. Rainbow Connection? Online Push Under Way for Bert and Ernie to Get Married on 'Sesame Street'
I love the fact that one of the clues that they may be romantically involved is that they fight all the time. After this many years, you'd think they'd do the right thing and tie the knot, wouldn't you? It would set a good example for the Sesame Street audience, a grown-up couple taking responsibility and making it legal.
There is a little more to this article, with links to this petition and a Facebook page.
posted by JimK at 1:13 PM
17 Comments:
Bert and Ernie are BFFs.
Boy-Friends Forever?
Some years back I started a collection of stuffed toys of children's characters who are allegedly gay. Sitting on my bed are Spongebob and Patrick (they hold hands sometimes), TinkyWinky(he carries a purse and has a puple triangle on his head), Barney the dinosaur, and of course Ernie and Bert (they live together and sometimes share each other's clothes).
We're all just one big happy LGBT family.
I thought they were brothers that fight all the time. Remember your childhood?
Gordon
[ on the Street ] Hey, you hear that singing? C'mere. That's Ernie! Ernie lives down in the basement. And he lives there with his friend Bert. Y'know what? Whenever you hear Ernie singing, you can bet he's taking a bath.
[ cut to: Ernie and Bert's bathroom. The bathroom is dominated by an enormous white bathtub, with bubbles spilling over. Ernie is in the tub, scrubbing himself. ]
Ernie
HEY, BERT! Bert! Can you bring me a bar of soap?
Bert
(offscreen) Yeah. Yeah.
[ Bert enters. ]
Ernie
Just toss it into ol' Rosie, here!
Bert
What.
Ernie
The soap. Just toss it into Rosie here.
[ Bert looks around. ]
Bert
Who's Rosie?
Ernie
My bathtub. I call my bathtub... Rosie.
[ Ernie continues scrubbing himself and humming. Bert does a quick take to the camera. ]
Bert
Ernie. Why do you call your bathtub Rosie?
Ernie
What's that?
Bert
I said, why do you call your bathtub Rosie?
Ernie
Because every time I take a bath, I leave a ring around Rosie!
[ Ernie laughs, and continues scrubbing. ]
Bert
Ernie.
Ernie
Hmmm?
Bert
Get outta the tub.
Ernie
How come?
Bert
Well, because there are a lot of people waiting to take a bath, that's why.
Ernie
Take a bath?
Bert
Yeah.
Ernie
In my Rosie?
Bert
Right.
Ernie
Who?
Bert
Well... Solomon Grundy, for one.
Then there was a little cartoon about Solomon Grundy taking a bath, and a film about kids and animals cleaning themselves.
[ Back to the bathroom. Ernie is out of the tub, toweling off. ]
Ernie
Oh, boy! Do I feel good! Hey, Bert -- you ought to take a bath! It would cheer you up! Then you wouldn't be such a grouch!
Bert
(towering over Ernie) I DON'T NEED CHEERING UP!
[ Bert nods and exits. ]
Ernie
I... I can tell you don't. Aw, but everybody in the world should take a bath. Then they'd be happy, and -- hey. You out there in TV land. Everybody wash!
That, of course, leads into the "Everybody Wash" song, and then a bunch of other stuff. The next time we see Ernie and Bert is following a cartoon about the number 2:
[ Ernie and Bert are on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street. Ernie is crying into a handkerchief. ]
Ernie
Oh, that was such a beautiful, beautiful film! That's -- d'you know, the number two is my very, very favorite of all the numbers in the entire numbering thing! I just love the number two most of all!
[ Bert pats Ernie's arm consolingly. ]
Bert
Ernie, Ernie.
Ernie
Y'know, Bert, d'you know, Bert, there are two of us? You and me! Did you ever think of that? You and me! That makes two! Aw! Aw! I love the number two. (He sobs.)
Bert
Ernie, Ernie, it's just a little movie about the number two.
[ Ernie grabs Bert and sobs into his chest. ]
Ernie
Yes, wasn't it beautiful! Aw, Bert! I love it!
Bert
Yes, Ernie, that's all it was. The world must go on! Ernie? Calm down.
Ernie
I'm sorry.
Bert
Calm down. Okay?
Ernie
I'll try to control myself.
Bert
Okay. Try and control yourself.
Ernie
I'm sorry.
Bert
Buck up, kid.
[ Ernie sniffs. ]
Bert
Okay. Now you're ready for the next thing?
Ernie
Yes. What's next?
Bert
The letter E.
Ernie The letter E! OH! (He grabs Bert and starts manhandling him again.) Oh, Bert, did you know that that's my favorite letter in the entire alphabet? Did you know Ernie starts with E?
Ernie
Hey, y'know what, Bert?
Bert
Yeah?
Ernie
I'd like to do something really exciting today, huh?
Bert
Yeah? Yeah?
Ernie
You know, really exciting. Wouldn't you like to do something, you know, like, oh, I don't know, something fantastic, like, go to a parade, or maybe a circus, or, uh, how about a great big birthday party, how about that, Bert?
Bert
Well...
Ernie
Wouldn't that be exciting?
Bert
Oh, I don't know...
Ernie
Oh, boy, I'd like to do something exciting. Hmm.
Bert
Hey! I've got it! You want to do something exciting?
Ernie
Yeah, Bert!
Bert
Oh, boy! I know something!
Ernie
Whatcha got, Bert?
Bert
Oh, it's more exciting than a birthday party, or a circus, or a parade.
Ernie
Yeah? Oh, great, Bert!
Bert
Stay right there -- I'll be right back. [ Bert exits. ]
Ernie
Yeah? Oh, wow! Something more exciting than a birthday party, or a parade, or a circus. I wonder what it could be. Bert! What could be more exciting than a parade or a circus or a birthday party, huh, Bert?
Bert
My BOTTLE CAP collection!
[ Bert enters, with his bottle caps arranged neatly on a bulletin board. ]
Bert
Oh, Ernie, look at them all... aren't they beautiful?
Ernie
Your... bottle cap collection?
Bert
My bottle cap collection. You wanna take a look?
Ernie
Yeah, well, uh...
Bert
Oh, be careful... are your hands clean?
Ernie
Uh, yeah, sure, Bert... yeah.
Bert
See all these beautiful little babies there? Now, up there, see, that's a Raspberry Smash, and that's a Goodo Juice -- and that's a hard one to find, a Rhubarb Delight bottle cap.
Ernie
Oh, yeah, Bert.
Bert
Huh? Huh? Huh? I bet when you look at those bottle caps, you really get excited. Boy, I sure do.
Ernie
That's... uh, great, Bert...
Bert
You may notice that I've got two -- count 'em, two! -- Prune Pops. Huh? Is that great?
Ernie
Yeah, sure, Bert. Whoo-hoo.
Bert
I'm going to try to get a Yummy Ade too. Oh. This is great.
Ernie
Yeah, well, uh, I tell you what, Bert, it isn't very exciting to me.
Bert
It's not?
Ernie
No.
Bert
Oh, Ernie, well, it is to me!
Ernie
Yeah, well...
Bert
Oh, yeah, I mean, after all, everyone's different. I mean, you like circuses, parades, birthday parties, stuff like that. And me -- I like bottle caps! You know, it all depends on your point of view. Right?
Ernie
Yeah, I guess so, Bert.
Bert
Sure. Now, take a look. See the center there, where there's no bottle caps at all?
Ernie
Mmm hmm. [ Ernie yawns. ]
Bert
That place, I am reserving for the bottle cap I've been looking for, for so long!
Ernie
Yeah, Bert?
Bert
And that is the 12-ounce bottle of Figgy Fizz! That's the bottle cap I want there.
Ernie
12-ounce Figgy Fizz?
Bert
If I can only find that... oh, it would be right there.
Ernie
Yeah... Hey, Bert, uh... here you are, Bert.
Bert
What's that?
Ernie
I found it on the sidewalk this morning.
Bert
[ gasp! ] Ernie -- it's a Figgy Fizz!
Ernie
Mm hmm. It's a 12-ounce size.
Bert
It's a -- it's a 12-ounce size of Figgy Fizz!
Ernie
Yeah... you want me to put it in there?
Bert
Oh, be careful, though -- be careful now -- are your hands clean? Now, take it easy...
Ernie
I told you they were clean, Bert...
Bert
Oh! I found a Figgy Fizz! A Figgy Fizz!
Ernie
Okay, there you are, Bert. All done.
Bert
Oh! That's beautiful! I'm so excited. I better go lie down a while.
Ernie
Yeah, you do that, Bert.
Bert
Oh -- thank you, Ernie!
Ernie
Yeah.
Bert
Oh, oh, Figgy Fizz! [ Bert rushes off, kissing his bottle cap. ] Mwa! Oh boy!
Ernie
Yeah, well... it sure has been an exciting day, hasn't it. [ Ernie sits down and sighs. ]
Here's what Seseme Street has to say:
"Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. "Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics, they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation," Sesame Workshop said in a statement posted on Facebook.
"Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics, they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation," - nudge nudge, wink wink.
try this on for size.
they are puppets watched mainly by PRESCHOOLERS which MOST OF US think SHOULDN"T be even THINKING about sexual orientation or sex yet ! and I would be that most 2-6 years AREN'T thinking about that yet !
Geez.
Leave it alone for goodness sakes.
You people are perverted, must you insert that into EVERYTHING !
Lighten up anonymous.
First, "us people" just read it on the Internet, we didn't make it up.
Second, there isn't anything "perverted" about two people being in love and getting married. It's just something that happens, people being people. And sure, these are puppets and they aren't "really" gay but they represent human characters and sometimes two guys are "a couple" rather than "friends." And if they are a couple living together that long, they really ought to get married, wouldn't you think?
Third, nobody anywhere has said anything about sex. I don't think there is a petition saying that Bert and Ernie should get it on on-screen for the kids. The perverted ones are those who think that sexual orientation is all about sex.
I think Petula Dvorak in the Washington Post gets it about right:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ernie-and-bert-should-not-get-married/2011/08/11/gIQArVqT9I_story.html
"You people are perverted, must you insert that into EVERYTHING !"
Us people? Do you mean people like GOP Indiana State Representative Phillip Hinkle?
"When they arrived at the hotel, Gibson said he was given the room key and told to go into the hotel. They couldn't go in together, Gibson was told. About 15 minutes later, Hinkle arrived in the room, changed into a towel and then during small talk informed Gibson he was a lawmaker.
Gibson said the man showed him an identification card.
The ID, Gibson said, gave a name: Phillip Hinkle.
"My eyes got big," Gibson told The Star. "I didn't really know what to say, so I didn't say anything. It was just a shock."
Gibson said he had posted on Craigslist before but had never met up with someone. Knowing he was in a bedroom with a politician, Gibson said, he got cold feet.
"Yeah, I don't want to do this," Gibson said he told Hinkle.
He said Hinkle's response was: "You need to do this, because I came and got you, and I'm not taking you back until we do what we need to do."
Gibson excused himself to the bathroom. There, he called his sister Megan. She said she would come get him immediately.
When Gibson came out, he said Hinkle told him he couldn't leave. Gibson called his sister again. This time, Megan told him to put her on speakerphone.
"I started cussing him," Megan told The Star. She also threatened to call the police and the local media.
"He said, 'I'll give you whatever,'" Megan said.
But when they hung up, Kameryn Gibson said Hinkle grabbed him by the right arm, just below the shoulder. Gibson said it was then that Hinkle grabbed him in the rear, dropped his towel and sat down on the bed -- naked.
When Megan Gibson arrived to pick up her brother, she again threatened to call police and the local media.
Kameryn and Megan Gibson said Hinkle then offered his iPad, a BlackBerry and $100 in cash.
Kameryn Gibson walked past his sister and out of the room as she continued to yell at Hinkle.
"She was still going off," Kameryn Gibson said, "and I was like, 'OK, I think that's enough, I think he gets it.' "
Megan Gibson said that on the drive back, she began receiving a series of calls on the BlackBerry, including one from a woman who said she was Hinkle's wife.
"I was like, 'Your husband is gay,' " Megan said. "And then she was like, 'You have the wrong person.' "
Megan read her the email address: phinkle46 @comcast.net.
The line went silent.
"Just for a couple seconds," Megan Gibson said, "and the first thing she said was, 'Please don't call the police.' " "
Contrary to bad anonymous's hysterical ranting children don't think of sex when they learn about gay couples anymore than they think about sex when they learn about opposite sex couples. Their reaction is pretty innocuous:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2011/07/12/35026
Hey Priya,
When I followed your link I ended up at a site that no longer has the video posted (due to copyright problems) but I think this is the video you might have wanted us to see. A young boy meets a gay married couple for the very first time.
And here's a sweet video from Sesame Street:
Jesse tells Grover what marriage is.
Marie married Luis on Sesame Street that season and neither sex nor sexual orientation were in any of the scripts for the show that entire season or any other.
I would be [sic] that most 2-6 years AREN'T thinking about that yet !
Geez.
Leave it alone for goodness sakes.
You people are perverted, must you insert that into EVERYTHING !
August 13, 2011 12:56 AM
Indignant caps and a wee hour posting? That has to be Theresa.
Theresa, you can BET there wouldn't be sex or sexual orientation in any scripts if Bert and Ernie were to get married too.
Sheesh!
You should consider trying to sleeping at night instead of coming here to RANT!
Yes Aunt Bea, that's the video I meant to post, I should have checked my link first to see that it was still there.
I love that video, it just shows how the anti-gays' hand wringing over "I don't want my children to know there are gay couples!" is much ado about nothing.
The problem with you, "Anonymous" is that when you say: "PRESCHOOLERS which MOST OF US think SHOULDN"T be even THINKING about sexual orientation or sex yet !" you are really being quite dishonest! What you really think is that no child, at whatever age (including teens) should be thinking about sex or, in fact, anything at all - except the narrow-minded thoughts of bigots and Christo-fascists like you!
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