Friday, December 29, 2006

Medved & Dobson vs. Subversive Penguins

File this conservative media conspiracy under "Silly."

Critic (and we use the term loosely) Michael Medved and conservative talker James Dobson actually had this to say on Dobson's radio broadcast about the animated penguin movie, Happy Feet:

DOBSON: There is a movie that's out now, called Happy Feet. It's about penguins. It's obviously designed to pull children in and yet, you don't like it. I've read some of the things you've said about it. I haven't seen it and don't plan to see it but from what I've heard, I don't like it either. Explain why.

MEDVED: Because it's depressing and it's dark.
[...]

MEDVED: And then there's this whole subtext, as there so often is, about homosexuality. Not that the penguins are gay -- they're not gay -- but the one penguin hero doesn't fit in and the religious authorities -- the so-called religious right in the penguin world -- are very judgmental. They say, "You are not a penguin. You're not a real penguin." And then he makes this heartfelt plea, he says, "Dad, you have to accept me as I am. I can't change."

Let's review, shall we?

It's a children's movie about penguins called Happy Feet and it's "dark"? It's got a "gay subtext" and a penguin version of the "religious right"? Yet the penguins aren't really gay?

Like we said, it's silly. But you would think that Medved and Dobson have more to worry about than these not-really-gay penguins corrupting our children. If the penguins could do that, think about all the damage done by such well-loved children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel," "Little Red Riding Hood," or "Alice in Wonderland."

Then again, if Medved and Dobson actually applied a little common sense to their moral pronouncements, they wouldn't have much left to say.