Shrek and the GAAAAY AGEENNNNNDA!!! (Shrek II spoilers here)

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 5:38pm

President Bush's chief of faith-based activities stood in the White House the other day and said that while Iraq drew so much attention, there was another war, right here at home, we should heed: The culture war. (What better way to distract Americans from the war in Iraq than promoting cultural difference?)

Well, here's a sure sign of culture war: A right-wing group has watched a children's cartoon and sees moral Armageddon. Remember when Jerry Falwell deconstructed Tinky-Winky and saw not a purple Teletubby but the color of gay pride -- and a gay pride symbol instead of a triangle-shaped antenna?

Now, Lou Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition is alerting parents to yet another danger lurking in children's entertainment. This time, the offender is a supposedly "transgender" bartender in Shrek 2. This bartender has stubble yet wears a dress and has "female breasts," the TVC alert warns. Confusing matters further, the bartender's voice is that of Larry King.

TVC watched the movie and details the offending passages: "During a dance scene at the end of the movie, this transgendered man expresses sexual desire for Prince Charming, jumps on him, and both tumble to the floor. In another scene in the movie, Shrek and Donkey need to be rescued from a dungeon where they are chained against the wall. The rescue is conducted by Pinocchio who is asked to lie so his nose will grow long enough for one of the smaller cartoon characters to use it as a bridge to reach Shrek and Donkey. Donkey encourages him to lie about something and suggests he lie about wearing women's underwear. When he denies wearing women's underwear, his nose begins to grow."

For all this and more, read TVC's report, "A Gender Identity Disorder Goes Mainstream," which helpfully explains "the transgender agenda and the effort to deconstruct the biological reality of male and female." DreamWorks is helping in this effort by "promoting cross dressing and transgenderism in this animated film," TVC says.

Concerned parents may also want to read up on TVC's research on hermaphrodism. TVC claims to "expose" the "homosexual urban legend" that "genital deformities found in hermaphrodite newborns are actually evidence of a third sex -- not a birth defect." We had no clue. Neither, clearly, does the TVC. (Thanks to reader Steve & Eve.)

-- Geraldine Sealey

Updated On: 6/3/04 at 05:38 PM

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 5:41pm

O.....k. Well, that's kind of um...crazy? Yes, that's the word.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 5:42pm

yeah, i love how my party is conveniently forgetting the last time they went hog wild with the culture war talk. i think it was '92 wasn't it? now a bush was in the white house and was soon to leave, i think. ahhh, who can foget ol' uncle pat's lovely bed time speech at the convention that year. gillespie can you hear me?

[dramaqueen]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 5:43pm

do they actually think children will notice this-and even if they do would they care?? doubtful!!!!!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 5:49pm

BorstalBoy, you should put a spoiler alert on your subject line since those are two of the funniest bits in the film.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 6:19pm

Confusion here. Its the Ugly Stepsister as the bartender(Doris as a matter fo fact) I never even thought about gender! Wow, talk about too much free time....

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 7:01pm

It is the ugle stepsister, but it does come off a little bit like a transvestite joke--a very funny one, really.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 7:59pm

AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm sorry, the religious right is so wacko funny.

I really don't know how they can live under such rediculous paranoia. I'm surprised they aren't boarding up their windows and locking themselves in the basement, lest all the sexual predators lurking in the shadows suddenly come and steal their children away.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 11:20pm

Well, the dragon wears lipstick. Hello? DRAG-on? And the Donkey is in an inter-species relationship. And the fairy godmother promotes witchcraft.

(It's easy to come up with this stuff without really even trying to hard.)

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 12:00pm

Blue Wizard, you don't know how the religious right can live under such paranoia? It's what they're trained to do!
Man, I grew up in the ORIGINAL ultra-right-wing protestant church (Assembly of God, responsible for the entire pentecostal movement). When I was 3 years old, two ladies in church approached me at a summer bbq and told me I was going to hell for wearing shorts. I was also not allowed to swim in the same pool with girls because a shirtless 5 year old would be a sexual temptation, I suppose.
The super religious right stakes its power over its constituents by creating that fear. Idolatry may be condemned but its alive and well in the deism afforded certain high-level leaders (like Falwell)...and those hate and fear-mongers seek to generate as much fear and hate as they possibly can. And each little lie or stretching of the truth tightens their own powerful grip on these denominations.

[orion59]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 12:18pm

It's not as if this is something new. Cartoons and other childrens shows have, for generations, been filled with images aimed at corrupting the youth of America and pushing them toward deviant, homosexual lifestyles.

Bugs Bunny often dressed in drag and even married Elmer Fudd in one episode.

Barney was once changed into a woman by Gazoo so that Fred could use him as a date to get Wilma jealous.

The Rocky and Bullwinkle show had it's fairy tale segments narrated by a real fairy, Mr Edward Everette Horton, a grand dame queen of the old style

The old Batman TV show had some of the queeniest villians imaginable. Does anyone honestly think teh joker was straight? Let's not even discuss why the single Bruce Wayne lived with his "ward".

There were questions about the Lone Ranger and Tonto. they spent quite a bit of time in the desert together, just the two of them.

The Power Puff Girls currently has a transgendered villian.

[Plum]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 1:48pm

The fact that the Ugly Stepsister was voiced by Larry King amused me to no end. Updated On: 6/4/04 at 01:48 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 1:48pm

And yes, the TVC is hilarious. You see what happens when you view the world through one distorted lens? This goes for people of all political persuasions. You just look silly. Updated On: 6/4/04 at 01:48 PM