US right attacks SpongeBob video, BBC

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 20 Jan 2005 12:42 pm

US right attacks SpongeBob video

US conservative groups are up in arms over a music video featuring children's TV heroes such as the cheerful cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.

Focus on the Family and other groups say the video - a remake of the Sister Sledge hit, We Are Family - is a vehicle for pro-gay propaganda.

The video's makers plan to mail it to US schools in the spring to promote tolerance and diversity.

They say the attack is based on a misunderstanding.

The video also features children's favourites like Bob the Builder, along with characters from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

But James Dobson, founder of right-wing Christian group Focus on the Family, singled out SpongeBob at a black-tie dinner in Washington in the run-up to President Bush's inauguration, the New York Times said.

SpongeBob - who appears on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon - is seen as an icon for adult gay men in the US, apparently because he regularly holds hands with his sidekick Patrick.

His creators deny that he is gay, but he is not the first such character to cause controversy.

In 1999 conservatives claimed handbag-carrying Teletubby Tinky Winky, an import from the UK, was a bad role-model.

'Easy lesson'

Nile Rodgers, who wrote the song and is founder of the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) which released the new video, says it is intended to help teach children the values of co-operation and unity.

"We believe that this is the essential first step to loving thy neighbour," he said. "And the fun and exciting format makes it a lesson that's easy for children to learn."

But conservatives say it sees the video as a cunning attempt to promote homosexuality.

They point to the fact that the WAFF is linked to a pledge being promoted by some liberal groups which includes a recognition of tolerance of sexual identity.

"We see the video as an insidious means by which the organisation is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids," Paul Batura, a spokesman for Focus on the Family, told the New York Times.

Mr Rodgers said the groups may have confused his foundation with an unrelated organisation with a similar name that supports gay youth.

WAFF spokesman Mark Barondeso told the newspaper that anyone who thought the video promoted homosexuality "needs to visit their doctor and get their medication increased".

Todd Pertll · Post by **Todd Pertll** » 20 Jan 2005 12:56 pm

I love objective reporting.

Martin Abend · Post by **Martin Abend** » 20 Jan 2005 1:15 pm

Bruhaha... great.

Martin

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martin abend Pedal-Steel in Germany
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Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 20 Jan 2005 1:20 pm

I miss Captain Kangaroo... It was so much simpler then...

Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome. Maybe someday they'll consign Wiley Coyote to the raving psychotic lunatic category. Personally, Wiley is my hero.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 20 Jan 2005 1:37 pm

Some people are just too analytical. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 20 Jan 2005 1:40 pm

Just ask Monica! She can confirm that!

P Gleespen · Post by **P Gleespen** » 20 Jan 2005 1:49 pm

Heck, Bert and Ernie sleep in the same room!

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 20 Jan 2005 2:20 pm

Real heterosexual cartoon role models fight like Popeye and Bluto did!

Terry

Ben Slaughter · Post by **Ben Slaughter** » 20 Jan 2005 3:36 pm

If someone isn't capable of raising children with enough common sense to not be brainwashed by a CARTOON, then the problem is not what's on the TV!!!

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 20 Jan 2005 4:29 pm

Any good SpongeBob-ian knows he is a "randy" little guy ....

Everyone has seen that episode where he's watching alittle Cnidarian Porn ...

... with that Linda Lovelace music playin'.

Then Gary slims into the room ... and the "Naughty Little Poriferan" quickly changes the channel to a football game.

Geeezz ... most sponges are hermaphrodites anyway ...

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Aiello's House of Gauss


My wife and I don't think alike. She donates money to the homeless and I donate money to the topless! ... R. Dangerfield

[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 20 January 2005 at 04:30 PM.]

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 20 Jan 2005 5:07 pm

Is SpongeBob and Patrick holding hands any worse that football players hugging, high-fiving, and patting each other on the ass?

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 20 Jan 2005 5:43 pm

Rick, just don't tell Dobson about sponges being hermaphrodites or all sponges will be on his list!

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 20 Jan 2005 10:20 pm

...sponges are hermaphrodites anyway...

And if that's the case, they don't have anything to be gay from..

I'm getting a headache..

EJL

Jussi Huhtakangas · Post by **Jussi Huhtakangas** » 20 Jan 2005 11:03 pm

Holding hands is so gay and pure evil! Kung-fu fights, slitting throats, rayguns, explosions and world destroying mad professors are much better hetero behaviour models.

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 21 Jan 2005 1:04 am

Some people with an agenda are LOOKING for a hook, any hook to furthar thier cause.

And here is another example of someone trying their darndest
to find another reason, any reason, to rail at "Others",
for not being like them, therefor a threat.
[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 21 January 2005 at 07:25 AM.]

Mark Metdker · Post by **Mark Metdker** » 21 Jan 2005 5:10 am

HA! This is so ridiculous. I hate to admit it, but this is the only cartoon that I'll sit and watch with my daughter. Very funny stuff!

Wait a minute....does that mean I'm gay?

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 21 Jan 2005 6:17 am

Nile Rogers was on the News this morning..there is HUGE error..

His website name is almost identicle to a GAY/LES website which is where almost all the NEWS organizations as well as many Religious organizations went to for more information.

one of them .org, .net., .com things...

Nile was very gracious as he didn't even realize at first the other website existed, which he came very close to denouncing himself...he made it cler that his views/video are in now way parallel with the other website.

Is it possible that there is an error here ?.or is Spongbob a bad boy ?[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 21 January 2005 at 04:00 PM.]

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 21 Jan 2005 6:48 am

Ray, don't worry too much about you and Wiley Coyote being insane for doing the same thing over and over. I'm not sure when Einstein made the insanity remark. But after the Copenhagen school of physicists used Einstein's theories and quantum mechanics to show the paradoxical and dicey nature of the subatomic world, Einstein said he could not believe God would play dice with the universe. And he spent the rest of his life trying equation after equation in a futile attempt to refute the prevailing views of the randomness and diceness of the new quantum mechanics. Sometimes doing the same thing over and over until you get it right is heroic genius - not that that necessarily applies to Wiley.

Chas, you ought to be ashamed of yourself stirring up a non-musical controversy like this. Go practice some scales, and stop riling up the right-wing majority.

Okay, let's make this musical. Does the campy steel guitar on SpongeBob contribute to the alleged gay atmosphere or detract from it? Has anyone ever heard or played a steel guitar in a gay bar?

Pat Jenkins · Post by **Pat Jenkins** » 21 Jan 2005 7:28 am

I always wondered about the Captain and Mr Greenjeans.

Pat

Waltzing Through A Rock And Roll Life!!

Ben Slaughter · Post by **Ben Slaughter** » 21 Jan 2005 10:39 am

I played at a gay rodeo once. No joke. Our set was followed by a drag queen show. No SpongeBob there, but that was perhaps before the height of SB popularity, about 2 years ago.

Dwayne Martineau · Post by **Dwayne Martineau** » 21 Jan 2005 11:05 am

Has anyone ever heard or played a steel guitar in a gay bar?

Close... I just played at a show in a place that used to be a gay bar. It was nicer before, honestly. The one time I was there, my group of friends was taking quick and desperate refuge after fleeing a "regular" bar and a gangly crew that wanted to beat us silly. It was our fault... having the nerve to walk in and politely order drinks like that.

SpongeBob... is seen as an icon for adult gay men in the US, apparently because he regularly holds hands with his sidekick Patrick.

So, uh, does that mean...

You know, in Turkey, young men stroll arm-in-arm, and the girls all hold hands. I guess it's just a big ol' gay world.
[This message was edited by Dwayne Martineau on 21 January 2005 at 11:07 AM.][This message was edited by Dwayne Martineau on 21 January 2005 at 11:07 AM.]

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 21 Jan 2005 11:13 am

Did I hear anybody mention football (soccer) players??

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 21 Jan 2005 3:13 pm

And it must go against nature

Trophallaxis process,
baits and pheromones are exchanged among colony members.
(The queen produces a special pheromone without which the workers will begin raising new queens.)

In baiting programs (targeting pest populations) the foraging workers carry baited material (that is contaminated) back to the colony's nursery.

The bait is fed back to adults.
In turn, these feed other members of the colony. In this manner, baits are spread throughout the targeted colony.

Without trophallaxis the bait would not penetrate the gigantic organism we know as a colony.

[An example of finding what you want to see in something else, and with a bit of selective editing..
making it apear worse than it really is.]

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 21 January 2005 at 04:29 PM.]

Henry Nagle · Post by **Henry Nagle** » 21 Jan 2005 9:16 pm

I've played at a gay bar a few times. I didn't see anyone holding hands, thank God.

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 21 Jan 2005 9:32 pm

the foraging workers carry baited material (that is contaminated) back to the colony's nursery

and when they're all done, they leave their best friends behind.