SpongeBob is One of Us?!?

[bard of aven]

From http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/20/s...reut/index.html:

Friday, January 21, 2005 Posted: 10:26 AM EST (1526 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian groups accuse the makers of a video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon characters of promoting homosexuality to children.

The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.

But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.

"A short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality," wrote Ed Vitagliano in an article for the American Family Association.

The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family" using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and other TV cartoon characters. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in an effort to promote healing.

Christian groups however have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation's Web site, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race.

"Their inclusion of the reference to 'sexual identity" within their 'tolerance pledge' is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line," James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said in a statement released Thursday.

Rodgers said he was astounded by the attack.

"That is so myopic and harsh," he told Reuters. "You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters."

Dobson was quoted by the New York Times on Thursday as having singled out the wildly popular SpongeBob during remarks about the video at dinner this week in Washington, D.C.

SpongeBob, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, was "outed" by the U.S. media in 2002 after reports that the TV show and its merchandise are popular with gays. His creator, Stephen Hillenburg, said at the time that though SpongeBob was an oddball, he thought of all the characters in the show as asexual.

It is not the first time that children's TV favorites have come under the critical spotlight of the Christian right. In 1999, the Rev. Jerry Falwell described Tinky Winky, the purse-toting purple Teletubbie, as a gay role model.

2013 Mod Edit: The above link doesn't work anymore, but the article can be found here.

[gambit_boi]

i've been hearing alot about the "spongebob is gay" controversy. personally, i love the little guy!

he not only comes across as asexual, but also as somewhat non-gendered. other characters tend to put him on the spot for his "unmanliness"- he's just a sweet, helpful, ethusiastic little ball of optimism.

for Spongebob, friendship seems to be the epitome of emotional expression- remember that episode where he and Patrick raise a baby scallop together? cute! he's not afraid to challange gender cliches or hold hands with his best friend- Spongebob rocks.

[Silly Green Monkey]

It pisses me off that I'm not allowed to hold hands with my friends. When did we stop having to hold hands to cross the street and only be allowed to hold hands with someone we're having sex with?

[kbrd143]

It pisses me off that I'm not allowed to hold hands with my friends. When did we stop having to hold hands to cross the street and only be allowed to hold hands with someone we're having sex with?

Oh, that's easy. When so-called conservative groups decided to obsess themselves with sex. It's all they seem to talk about these days. . . . Which seems decidedly ... liberal to me. I mean: I never talk about it. But these family groups just yammer on and on and on about who is sleeping with whom, blah, blah, blah. Shaddup and clean up the airwaves, that wot I says. . . . :roll:

[ApolloSeek]

To the Spongebob Squarepants theme music---

Who needeth a pineapple bashed over his head?

Jerry! Falwell!

Silly and anal and uptight is he?

James! Dobson!

Attacking the windmills like Don Quixote?

Falwell! Dobson!

A public service announcement from the Don Quixote Windmill Protection Society

[Shivers]

HAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! I love it! that's great!

But you really ought to try my group: The Cynic's Society For Placing Deadly Traps Near Religious Windmills... (-:þ

[Katrina Rix]

I have only one response to this: *hands SpongeBob *

[Shivers]

Oooh, good idea, Katrina!!

... make sure it's pineapple flavor, everyone (-:þ

[LonePiper]

A lot of my friends thought I was strange for going to see the Spongebob movie in the cinema. I thought they were strange for thinking I was strange!

On a slightly related note, me and a friend (who didn't ask me why I saw Spongebob) went to see Finding Nemo in the cinema. Somebody with his family, before the movie started, turned to us and said "Do you realize that this is Finding Nemo?" :lol:

[aury]

moo.

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,15804,00.html





2013 Mod Edit: Tha bove link doesn't work anymore, but the article can be found here. For future reference:

SpongeBob & the Asexual Crustaceans
by Josh Grossberg
Jan 28, 2005, 10:00 AM PT

He's square, he lives in a pineapple under the sea, his best friend's a starfish. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Stephen Hillenburg, the 43-year-old creator of Nickelodeon's hit cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, is setting the record straight regarding the sexuality of his highly absorbent 'toon, days after conservative Christian activists accused SpongeBob of advocating a homosexual agenda by appearing in a video holding hands with pal Patrick the Star Fish.

SpongeBob, says Hillenburg, is not gay. He's just an animated sea creature.

"[sexuality] doesn't have anything to do with what we're trying to do," Hillenberg told Reuters on Friday from Singapore, where he's attending the Asian premiere of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. "We never intended them to be gay. I consider them to be almost asexual. We're just trying to be funny, and this has got nothing to do with the show."

Hillenberg says that politics have never factored into the show and that the titular sea sponge's sole goal in his porous life is simply to be fun and entertaining--despite the show and its merchandise's obvious popularity among gays.

The SpongeBob brain trust came to the 'toon's defense after a full-blown controversy erupted this week when James Dobson, a Christian radio evangelist and founder of the group Focus on the Family, issued a warning to parents claiming the naïve yellow critter and his crustacean compatriots advocated a "pro-homosexual video."

Dobson and his minions believe a music video made by the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation to promote the ideas of tolerance and diversity is really just a cover promoting the gay lifestyle. The video is being distributed to 61,000 U.S. elementary schools and features more than 100 cartoon characters, including SpongeBob, Barney and Big Bird.

"Their inclusion of the reference to 'sexual identity' within their 'tolerance pledge' is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line," Dobson said.

The brouhaha over SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom mates' sexuality is absurd in Hillenberg's opinion.

"I really don't pay much attention to this," the creator, a former marine biologist and father of a six-year-old boy, told Reuters.

Hillenberg said that SpongeBob is just the latest in a long line of kiddie characters to be "outed" by right-wing zealots, a list that includes Scooby-Doo's Velma, Peanuts' Peppermint Patty, Sesame Street's Bert & Ernie and Teletubbies star Tinky Winky, who was targeted by evangelicals in 1999 for supposedly symbolizing gay pride because he's purple, has a triangle on his head and carries a purse.

After being much mocked in the media for his outbust, Dobson "clarified" his remarks, saying he was attacking the group behind the video, not SpongeBob.

The religious leader's crusade might also be the result of a mix-up, since the We Are Family Foundation responsible for the video happens to have the same name as an unaffliliated pro-gay and lesbian group.

Meanwhile, coming to SpongeBob's defense was the 1.3 million-member Cleveland-based United Church of Christ.

"The UCC extends an unequivocal welcome to SpongeBob," said general minister and president, the Reverend John H. Thomas, adding that the church has no problem with Barney, Big Bird, Tinky Winky or Clifford the Big Red Dog, either.

"Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we."

Thomas also called out Dobson.

"While Dobson's silly accusation makes headlines, it's also one more concrete example of how religion is misused over and over to promote intolerance over inclusion," Thomas said.

Controversy or not, SpongeBob is sticking around for awhile. His first movie continues to invade overseas markets, and Nickelodeon has ordered 20 additional episodes for the small screen.

[gypsylady]

Oh, the fucking Christian Right again. They have nothing to do but diddle themselves and look for degenerate cartoon characters to alert us to!

What a bunch of LOSERS!!

[cijay]

What kinds of hornballs are these people who find sexual innuendos (innuendae?) in everything. My friend and I were walking through the mall, just for a kick looking around at all the things that would be considered sexual material. Of course that was just about everything (one of the puppies on a calendar was naked, another's privates were showing and of course the word "puppies" being slang for breasts etc)

[bard of aven]

...innuendos (innuendae?)

innuendi. The ae ending changes the gender in Latin. :lol:

boa

[Shivers]

Romanes eunt domus?? The romans they go to their homes???

(ahh, monty python (-:þ )

[Hexpiral]

I actually used Bob to bring the subject of asexuality during a talk I had earlier today with my mother. Didn´t react to it. I don´t think she considered it an orientation, but at least, she´s heard the word.