Bert and Ernie Come Out

[Go]

Should have used the Teletubbies.

Oh that Tinkywinky. Should have been Twinkywinky, amirite?

 

[PhilliesDeacs]

I'm not saying that Bert and Ernie are or are not gay BUT the image in that cover is the perfect capture of the equality movement.

The modern equality movement is considered to have begun with the Stonewall Riots in NYC June 28, 1969. Yes, there were other events prior but the riots are considered the start of the modern era. Sesame Street premiered November 10, 1969 and was reflective of a major metropolitan urban setting with a wide array of individuals. Bert and Ernie, both original characters, were set to live together in a basement apartment in a time when a gay couple on television (let alone a children's show) would be the end all. Like most couples of the time (and many still today), they were invisible in plain sight. Fast forward to today, and those same couples can now be officially recognized which is what the image is capturing.

DHD just owned this whole thread.

 

[PhDeac]

And here I was thinking Bert and Ernie were a take on popular 1968 movie, The Odd Couple.

 

[davejuice]

would the little kids that watch sesame street even know they are gay? they just see them as two friends.

 

[DeaconBrews]

If these are your original thoughts, I've just read the most insightful words ever written in the pit.

who knew that an implication of two muppets' sexual orientation would lead to this

 

[DieHardDeacon]

And here I was thinking Bert and Ernie were a take on popular 1968 movie, The Odd Couple.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/27/AR2005072702568.html

Neil Simon's enduring play "The Odd Couple" (1965) was born out of his brother's divorce. Mr. Simon had moved in with a newly single theatrical agent named Roy Gerber in Hollywood, and they invited friends over one night. Mr. Simon botched the pot roast.

The next day, Gerber told him: "Sweetheart, that was a lovely dinner last night. What are we going to have tonight?"

Mr. Simon replied: "What do you mean, cook you dinner? You never take me out to dinner. You never bring me flowers."

Sesame Street was and is about teaching diversity and co-existence. It's 1969, recent events had caused a stir and you want to introduce a controversial topic, how do you go about bringing it in subtly? The TV series hasn't premiered yet (comes out a year later in 1970) so this became a way to introduce a topic that was actual while doing it in a softer manner. I don't see anyway of denying the gay innuendo's that caused the creation.

As I said earlier, Im not stating Bert & Ernie are or are not gay but the image is a perfect analogy of the equality movement from being a male couple that can only be identified as "roommates" for decades to now, officially being recognized as a couple.

 

[Go]

That makes sense to me