Thursday, November 06, 2008

Gay-Advocacy Group Attacks The Simpsons

Yesterday I read that the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) a Gay-advocacy group has decided to turn its attentions towards, of all things, The Simpsons by calling the show out for a homophobic remark.

They are upset because in the most recent Treehouse of Horrors episode, Nelson Muntz referred to the Grand Pumpkin as "supergay", and as we all know, The Simpsons has been a hotbed for anti-gay rhetoric for years.



Wait a minute... it has been like that at all. I mean, if you think about it, The Simpsons has been one of the most gay-friendly shows out there, and over the years The Simpsons have presented story lines dealing with gay and lesbian issues in a positive and relatively sensitive manner, which has won the show a few Emmys and a GLAAD media award.

Think about it. The show features two prominent gay characters (Waylon Smithers and Patty Bouvier). It has had stories about Homer coming to terms with an openly gay John Waters, of trying to "degay" Bart and then through trauma coming to terms and being able to accept the possibility that his son is gay (when he isn't). It has also tackled gay marriage and featured a storyline about accepting a loved one who has come out of the closet, while also intimating that two other characters on the show were potentially gay but weren't at the stage of acknowledging it. In a related storyline in a later season, Patty's sister Selma, after going through menopause, was left flustered by the bureaucratic machinations of the Chinese government when she tried to adopt a child, as they required her to have a husband, which again, resonates with those in the gay and lesbian community who want to adopt for themselves.

There was also a flash forward episode where Lisa was revealed to be the first straight woman president following the election of Chastity Bono.

Frankly, given the setbacks the gay and lesbian rights movement had during the election, picking on The Simpsons is really picking the wrong battle to fight. Especially since I have yet to see an article mentioning GLSEN's opposition to Katy "I Kissed a Girl" Perry's first single from that album Ur So Gay. I mean, if anything, that song is so much worse than the fleeting reference on The Simpsons because the line following the title in the chorus is "and you don't even like boys". When the GLSEN complains about that, then maybe I'll respect their objection to that particular Nelson remark.

And for all we know, The Grand Pumpkin WAS indeed gay.

8 comments:

Arjan said...

shouldn't they concentrate their attention to California or something?

*btw..that vid of Seth etc. keeps autoplaying everytime I visit..gets me jumpy*

SamuraiFrog said...

It continues to be hilarious to me that after 18 years people haven't figured out this Simpsons thing yet.

You're right on the money here. They have bigger fish to fry. If they aren't going to spend time on Prop 8, Katy Perry's a good start. She's the worst thing to happen to fake bisexuality since Tila Tequila.

PS - my verification word is "collate." I love it when it's a real word.

poppedculture said...

That's so gay.

Micgar said...

geez! Of all things to get worked up about! I don't get it! Its a cartoon for pete's sake! Those referendums/amendments are very real.Those are what we should be fighting against.

Micgar said...

Ha ha! Just saw Jeremy's comment-perfect!

MC said...

Arjan: That's exactly what I am thinking.

SF: I still remember the furor the show caused when it lampooned Brazil... I live in Canada, a country that has been repeatedly mocked, and I think it is funny when it happens.

Jeremy: Touche.

Micgar: Agreed. (on both comments :) )

AG said...

Good god, have they got bigger fish to fry. Heck, a few days' rest would be a better use of time than this. (Though I agree with samuraifrog that there's no downside to calling out Katy Perry, though I'm really hoping her 15 minutes is up, like, now. Not only has she got no talent, I'm pretty sure that playing her song back-to-back with another song could actually suck the talent out of THAT song. This is a galaxy-core-sized talent vacuum we're talking.)

MC said...

If I had enough to say about it, I'd call out Katy Perry every day of the week.

I am thinking about how many videos Katy Perry has sucked the talent from. Granted, most of the music videos these days suck anyways, so like Fry's Brainslug, the gaping maw of the talent vacuum would likely starve to death.