Can there be a gay character in a children's show?

TheSchaef

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Akytalusia said:
i recently marathoned spongebob squarepants. first time i've seen it. i'm pretty sure spongebob is gay; and awesome.
This illustrates a lot of the projection that goes on in our society, although most of it is on the side of the outraged.

The creator of Spongebob was shocked that people would "accuse" his characters of being gay; he described them as asexual, meaning, flamboyant for reasons that have zero to do with sexual preference. Never mind that he's a SEA SPONGE.

I don't think there should be a gay character in any show that targets children below a certain age, and it's probably higher than most people in here would consider correct, but let's make sure the correct context is in place: I have two boys and I don't want them to consume content with any - ANY - sexual content until they are at or near adolescence. Sex as a whole has a level of age-appropriateness and characters on these shows should - like Spongebob - just be who they are, with no reference to what goes on in their bedroom other than sleeping.
 

ImmortalDrifter

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Vakz said:
Honestly, matters to deal with sexuality really has no place in a kids life until he/she reaches puberty.
Pretty much this. Issues of sexuality shouldn't be presented until you'd feel comfortable telling your kids about sex in the first place.
 

EeveeElectro

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The people who say Rainbow Dash is gay annoy me. Firstly, she's a pony on a children's TV show, the focus should not be on her sexuality. Secondly, just because someone is not stereotypically feminine, doesn't mean they're a lesbian.

I don't think the children would mind, but I think some parents would complain. I've heard them complain about a black TV presenter on Cbeebies or about the lady with one arm on Cbeebies. It's not nice, but some parents don't like exposing their kids to things they think aren't "normal."
I think it's a step in the right direction, but there's always going to be ignorant people who will have something to say about it.
 

SD-Fiend

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I don't really think so it's a kids show so they can't outright say that he/she is gay and giving him/her a "gay" personality would just cause stereotypes in small kids.
 

viranimus

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Dependent on the age demographic of the show in question it comes down to an issue of Can there be? Yes, Should there be? No.

If your talking shows that are demo'd for ages 10 and up it does not matter because homosexuallity is already well represented to the point of oversaturation.

However, shows demo'd for ages below 10 have no reason to imply any sexual context one way or another. So representation to children in that demographic is inappropriate because unless the point is to encourage homosexuality (not tolerate it) in children, the point would be lost on them as they are not yet even processing anything like that yet.

No from what I have seen the only real justification is from those who wish to pander to their own self esteem as this notion makes them feel like they are being tolerant when the notion becomes offensive in practical application specifically to the group that they are trying to be tolerant toward.
 

SemiHumanTarget

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The producers of Sesame Street came forward and stated indisputably that Bert and Ernie are not gay, because they are puppets. Puppets that exhibit human traits. I agree with this completely.

That said, I think in the right circumstances, a gay character would be absolutely appropriate for a kids show. The producers would have to approach it delicately but I don't think portraying a gay couple would be any more difficult than portraying a straight couple - you don't have to explicitly show the characters' sexuality to imply that they are gay.

It's worth noting that Sesame Street has, in fact, featured gay human characters before. To little fanfare.
 

Jake the Snake

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Since when did being gay suddenly become end all be all to a kid's childhood? Seriously, I think we're making a much bigger deal about this then it needs to be. Kids don't think in terms of sexuality or sex. Sorry. They just don't. If you feel it makes sense for a character on your show to be gay, even if that show happens to be targeted for children, for the love of god, just do it. And own it. Stand by your choice, and everyone will stop caring.
 

winter2

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somonels said:
TheDarkEricDraven said:
somonels said:
Why and how exactly are you putting sex in a kid's show?
Oh, by the gods. Its not sex! Just because two charecters would be lesbians doesn't mean they would start scissoring every return from a comercial break. I am so tired of the "leave sex out of things" when a gay couple holds fucking hands.
It is about sex, that's why it's homosexuality
O_O

That is the most appalling logic I have seen in a long while.

Wow.. just wow.
 

Czargent Sane

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in theory I have nothing against it, but thats only if everything was handled maturely and wasn't just an attempt by the creators to make a statement or gain attention. and I really don't think that would happen. the homosexual would either be a lisping caricature, or there would be special time given to the fact that they were homosexual, so the creator could preach up on a soapbox.

so I say in theory, sure
in practice, no. at least not now, because there's no one who would handle it properly
 

Czargent Sane

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JediMB said:
Vakz said:
Honestly, matters to deal with sexuality really has no place in a kids life until he/she reaches puberty.
Then we'd best remove Ken from the Barbie franchise, since they're supposed to be a heterosexual couple or whatever.
well, I'd be behind that simply because it would be removing something from the barbie franchise, and really, I'll take what victories I can get against that abomination.
 

CarlMin

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viranimus said:
Dependent on the age demographic of the show in question it comes down to an issue of Can there be? Yes, Should there be? No.

If your talking shows that are demo'd for ages 10 and up it does not matter because homosexuallity is already well represented to the point of oversaturation.

However, shows demo'd for ages below 10 have no reason to imply any sexual context one way or another. So representation to children in that demographic is inappropriate because unless the point is to encourage homosexuality (not tolerate it) in children, the point would be lost on them as they are not yet even processing anything like that yet.

No from what I have seen the only real justification is from those who wish to pander to their own self esteem as this notion makes them feel like they are being tolerant when the notion becomes offensive in practical application specifically to the group that they are trying to be tolerant toward.
I'm not sure if I understand you correctly but I don't think the idea here is to introduce children to some kind of political topic. It's much simpler than that. The heterosexual relationship has been glorified for decades in movies and TV-shows aimed at kids. Just take any Disneyfilm as an example.

If we depict homosexual relationships as something natural in children's movies and the like, perhaps they will grow up with the idea that it is indeed natural.
 

flatten_the_skyline

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A friend of mine walked in on his mom watching a TV series featuring a gay couple, and after she explained to him what was happening he accepted homosexuality as a normal thing... and an age of 8 or something. Really helped him explore his bisexual side, which is what many adolescents struggle with, since everyone is making such a fuss about it. But I agree that homosexual characters should be included whose characters are not based on their sexuality, but just enhanced. I don't want to see kids cartoon characters solely based on their heterosexuality either... that is called hentai^^
 

JamesStone

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Jun 9, 2010
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If the character is well made, if being homossexual is just a characteristic instead of a definition of their personalities, yes. The sooner kids see that they exist and that is completely normal and not "wrong", the better.

If we just avoid that theme and reveal to them or let them discover when they are in a extremely intolerant age (teens that is, not all, but most) it will increase the chance of creating another proto-republican extremist, and we all know that we don´t want those guys around (republican extremists, that is. If you are a republican but not a extremist, yay for you).

Now, if the character is gay just to be around saying: "Ooooh, look at me, I´m soooooo gay, this is EXACTLY how real gay are (giggles), I´m sooooo defending gay riiights (giggles)" or "Yo, chicks I´m lesbo, yup yes I am and we ALL act like this ALL THE TIME, now let us all spit lead an fork women. YEAHH!" no, because... well, you know why.
 

torzath

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Prismatic Baron said:
No, because the creator has said Rainbow Dash is not a lesbian.
No, she hasn't. She simply said that Rainbow Dash's sexuality has never been referenced in the show and that's wrong to just assume she's gay merely because she's a tomboy. Nowhere does she ever explicitly state the sexuality of the character, straight, gay or otherwise.

I'd personally liked to think of all the ponies (except Rarity) as asexual, since none of them have shown any signs to the contrary.

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/24/my-little-non-homophobic-non-racist-non-smart-shaming-pony-a-rebuttal/
 

Dags90

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Mezmer said:
Since when did being gay suddenly become end all be all to a kid's childhood? Seriously, I think we're making a much bigger deal about this then it needs to be. Kids don't think in terms of sexuality or sex. Sorry. They just don't.
Well obviously it is the end of their innocence. This is why children aren't allowed to know where babies come from, because it'll corrupt their pre-sex minds. Also why pregnant women aren't allowed on the telly, it'll make parents have to do awkward explaining about sex.

What do you mean it isn't the 1950's?
 

tahrey

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I'm out of time to threadskim, so can I just say (even if it duplicates someone else):

Doctor Who. Started out as a children's programme. I'm not aware that its remit actually changed. At the very most, it's a family/all ages show now - but that still includes children as part of the core audience, and one of the most recent episodes came about as part of a primary ("elementary", if you prefer) school writing competition, and the collaborative group of kids who ended up winning it got a studio tour, met all the cast, saw it being filmed etc.

Doctor Who is the show that brought us Captain Jack Sp... er, Harkness. A "pansexual" character who has at least a couple of homosexual on-screen kisses. As in full lip-locks. Etc. And is also eh pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything.

Q. E. D. ... can I have my cookie now? Cheers.


Now, I wanna know if we're gonna get the practical tips for home weapon making and the frequent trippy drug references found in 80s toons back any time soon....

(Surely a shift of the most controvertial or damaging thing in kids shows from ultraviolence to someone getting pointlessly offended by another person's sexual orientation is a positive step?)
 

Alterego-X

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Adolescence is confusing enough, without prepubescent kids making premature assumptions, that since they "like" someone from the same sex, just like that cartoon caracter, they must be bi/gay, then after puberty, when REAL sexual attraction hits them, get confused about actually being straight.