Should Bert and Ernie Marry on Sesame Street?

[ponderingturtle]

Sure, but the target demographic is too young to know what "gay" is. You really run the risk of creating confusion, just because someone likes to play with the girls or likes to play with the boys doesn't make them gay. You really need to define sexual attraction, and that's not something Sesame Street age kids are capable of.

Wrong. You just need to show that sometimes men and women are in relationships together and sometimes it is men and men or women and women. Having married couple forces them to address what straight it and how they have their sex right?

Relationships between adults in kids fiction are common but they are not about sex, showing that it is two men or women requires no more discussion of sex or sexuality than showing a man and a woman.

And you are forgetting that kids see the world around them, they see their parents and family and the relationships that they have and the relationships that their neighbors have.

 

[ponderingturtle]

The muppets on Sesame Street are children. Bert and Ernie are older than, say, Elmo, but they're still children. So no. But they could have a gay human (all the adults on Sesame Street are human) couple, no problem. In fact, I'm surprised they don't already have one.

They are viewpoint characters for children, but I am not sure they are children.

The count at least is dating see this funny censored version of the song

 

[ponderingturtle]

Well if THAT'S all.

Yes I'm sure that's a reaonable and even common topic among 1st graders at recess - the usual, yknow - "LGBT," abortion, birth control, gun control, the economy....

:forehead slap:

And their transgendered classmates?

 

[Drewbot]

A. They can't get married because Bert's insurance at his work, won't cover Ernie's health care. Ernie has to go to the emergency room every time he is sick, and if they were married, the Hospitals could go after Bert for the money.

B. Muppets don't have jobs? How about Guy Smiley? Best damn game show host I've seen.

 

[Puppycow]

Bert, Ernie not gay say S. Street prodcuers.

http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/bert_and_ernie_gay_it_ain_so_O1hjk3sEtOqaazSLbu1RMN

Sorry folks.

 

[The Don]

According to the BBC, the question is moot

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14504208

Sesame Street pair Bert and Ernie 'will not marry'

The makers of Sesame Street say characters Bert and Ernie will not marry in a same-sex ceremony despite an online petition calling for the union.

 

[Cavemonster]

They are viewpoint characters for children, but I am not sure they are children.

The count at least is dating see this funny censored version of the song

Yep, Oscar has a steady girlfriend, Grundgetta.

 

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Gordon's a science teacher. Bob is a music teacher. Susan is a nurse. Alan is a grocer. Angela runs a day-care. Nitya runs a laudromat. Luis runs a repair shop. Linda is a librarian. And someone runs a diner.

They talk about their jobs all the time.

The muppets -- who are magical creatures -- don't appear to have jobs. (Though Abby Cadabby is apparently a fairy godmother in training.)

Indeed, that's what makes me think of the muppets as being child like, not adults. As you point out, the human adults have jobs, responsibilities, etc, and they discuss these often, and sometimes you see them at work on their jobs. It was the same way with Jim Henson's Kermitt & pals muppets. They constantly are shown working, and worrying about grown up things like paying rent, and also you see them in romantic relationships. Whereas the Sesame Street muppets don't do anything like that.

As for Oscar and the Count dating - good point. But at the same time, they don't (to me anyways) seem to have the same generally childlike behavior (particularly Oscar) that some of the other muppets do - particularly Bert & Ernie, Big Bird, Suffie, and Gover. But I can see how it may be that the muppets are just supposed to be more relatable to children rather than actually being children themselves. Still, their inherent behavior really just makes me not see them in any sort of a sexually mature light.

Sesame Street is an anarcho-syndicalist commune.

 

[TragicMonkey]

I do hope that if Bert and Ernie do get married, they'll have the ceremony somewhere better than Sesame Street. I mean, they're both international celebrities with decades-long careers. Surely they could afford to have the wedding somewhere exotic, a tropical island beach, rent a castle in Europe, or something. Ernie's Catholic so maybe he'd like to have it St Peter's in Rome, although there might be difficulties because at the 2008 MTV Music Awards Bert threw his drink onto the pope. Apparently he took exception to a remark His Holiness made about Pink, and things escalated quickly.

 

[Furcifer]

Wrong. You just need to show that sometimes men and women are in relationships together and sometimes it is men and men or women and women.

And that differs from Ernie and Bert as they are right now how exactly? Because from what I remember Bert and Ernie are a man and a man living together in a relationship. That's why I think people are saying it doesn't make sense to suddenly call them gay. (the fact that many people see them as children is another very good reason not to have them marry)

Having married couple forces them to address what straight it and how they have their sex right?

It does though. Not so much how they have sex but that they are "mommies and daddies". I think it would require a new approach to how they introduce the family unit if they wanted to avoid confusion. It just makes things more complicated.
(kids very much expect couples to have kids of their own)

Relationships between adults in kids fiction are common but they are not about sex, showing that it is two men or women requires no more discussion of sex or sexuality than showing a man and a woman.

Agreed, but like I mentioned, using Bert and Ernie and not just new puppets is a little more complicated. I don't think anyone has expressed reluctance at having a gay couple on SS, just not Bert and Ernie.

And you are forgetting that kids see the world around them, they see their parents and family and the relationships that they have and the relationships that their neighbors have.

Not really. I'm just saying for SS age children, showing them there's nothing wrong with same sex relationships, like Bert and Ernie's, is sufficient. They don't really need to know what's gay about it. If the neighbors down the hall are like Bert and Ernie or Uncle Chris and Uncle John what difference does it make that they are gay?

 

[Pardalis]

Bert, Ernie not gay say S. Street prodcuers.

http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/bert_and_ernie_gay_it_ain_so_O1hjk3sEtOqaazSLbu1RMN

Sorry folks.

Oh well, it's not like I was married to the idea. I just thought it'd be interesting.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Because from what I remember Bert and Ernie are a man and a man living together in a relationship. That's why I think people are saying it doesn't make sense to suddenly call them gay.

(snip)

Not really. I'm just saying for SS age children, showing them there's nothing wrong with same sex relationships, like Bert and Ernie's, is sufficient. They don't really need to know what's gay about it. If the neighbors down the hall are like Bert and Ernie or Uncle Chris and Uncle John what difference does it make that they are gay?

I just thought it was worth pointing out, again, that B & E's "relationship" is one of best friends, it's not a romantic relationship.

 

[Furcifer]

I just thought it was worth pointing out, again, that B & E's "relationship" is one of best friends, it's not a romantic relationship.

Exactly, and that was the original role of the characters. There's no reason to change anything, although it might be worth considering adding new ones. I still do know if adding a married gay couple will go over well in the US.

 

[Matthew Best]

Of course they're not going to get married. Why would they? They're already married and have been for years. Isn't it obvious?

 

[Orphia Nay]

Bert and Ernie not gay and not getting married.

Bert and Ernie, who've been on Sesame Street for 25 years, do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future. They are puppets, not humans. Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends.

Well that solves that one, the answer is clearly no, no reason for non-gay puppets to get married.

This says it all.

By all means, let the SS writers create a same-sex human or muppet couple with their own educational message.

But Bert & Ernie are just friends, with a message that friends don't have to be the same in everything.

I'm almost inclined to argue that the "Bert & Ernie are gay" claim is homophobic, pushed by men who are afraid of being accused of being gay if they love and care for another man. Almost.

 

[curious pheonix]

you know, on radio stations here in Oz, we've had gay activists actually disagreeing that Ernie and Bert should get married.

btw has anyone ever seen bert and ernie make out, hold hands in a couple style way or go on dates? I see no romantic relationship there.

 

[Rasmus]

What ever you do, do not google Videos about "Bernie and Ert"

 

[Craig4]

The unresolved sexual tension is what makes them work as characters. If they got together I think it would just ruin the show.

 

[TragicMonkey]

The unresolved sexual tension is what makes them work as characters. If they got together I think it would just ruin the show.

Great, now I can't stop imagining Bert as Remington Steele and Ernie as Laura Holt. I guess that would make Grover be Mildred.

 

[jayh]

Yes but their marriage being a part of the show wasn't and isn't about furthering a political agenda.

I see your point though.

Gordon and Susan are adults on the show. Bert and Ernie are childlike characters that the young children identify with. Totally different.

I'm also bothered by the correctthink propaganda flavor of this (propaganda for a good cause is still ugly). These characters have an established identity going back decades, it's inappropriate to shove something else into it.