Focus on the Family Attacks SpongeBob

Feisty Mouse said:
Could someone please explain to me why anyone in Spongebob Squarepants is, in fact, gay? Or heterosexual, for that matter? As far as I recall, there is no actual sex in Spongebob, and no homosexuality.
My guess is it was never explicitedly said, then they are going off the name SpongeBOB
Course I know guys named Dana and Shannon so could be a girl named Bob....
 
Ping898 said:
My guess is it was never explicitedly said, then they are going off the name SpongeBOB
Course I know guys named Dana and Shannon so could be a girl named Bob....
Yeah that's true, because (one of) my aunt's name is Roberta and we always referred/called her as Aunt Bobbie.
 
Feisty Mouse said:
No, I *do*, but I would be horrified to see the FOF nutjobs be able to suppress a kids' program because they somehow managed to get offended in some bizarre way. THAT would be suppressing free speech.
Hey, thanks for the anonymous "ding" (very unlike the ding-ding) whoever was terribly offended by my own exercising of free speech. LOL!
 
Feisty Mouse said:
I love you guys.

Now let's go find some queer-loving sponges to lynch. And then suppress any free speech anywhere, ESPECIALLY those dangerous kids' programs!!
Same 'gay' fear was mentioned about Interview with a Vampire and Lord of the Rings....

So, it is okay to 'love' your fellow man, but I'll be damned if I will interpret any emotional intimacy between men (even just because of time spent) as anything other than 'gay.'

Bert and Ernie come to mind too....

Funny stuff.

Maybe they are projecting....

Besides there are so many other reasons to dislike spongebob...
 
Well, I kinda thought that Interview with the Vampire DID have homosexual references. But I still don't see what that has to do with SpongeBob?
 
I am kinda curious now that I have read more into this thread. I would really like to see this "we are family" video and see where these ideas are coming from.

In response to the fact that the FOF doesn't like the fact that they are being shipped to schools and that "strangers" will be making the decision whether their children will see the video or not, perhaps these parents could go to the administration or parent councils of their children's schools and have the video previewed before it is seen by the kids? I highly doubt any administration would open a video and show it to the students without first viewing it to see if it was appropriate or not. Also Parent Councils would surely hold some weight if they objected. Letters could be sent home to the student's parents for permission to allow their children to watch the video, or an info night could be held for parents to watch the video before their children. There are many ways around it. Truthfully, however, if enough stink is made public about it, the video will probably just be shelved in most schools because the administration won't want to deal with it. It will seem a miniscule problem compared to the issues that administration has to deal with nowadays.
 
This is all part of the homosexual agenda, is it not? Subverting the morals of our youth by recruiting them through the insidiously subtle machinations of a cartoon? How deviantly devious!

Did Dobson ever go after Barney? He ought to. I mean, Barney is SO gay. And purple.

Then there's Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. Two male puppets co-habitating. An "Odd Couple" parody? I don't think so!

How about Big Bird? He even had a limp wrist...er...wing. And he minced when he walked. He was downright prissy.

Then there is "The Lord of the Rings." Frodo looking at Sam with those big blue eyes throughout the movie...like a dying calf in a mudhole. Something was up, if you ask me.

I don't think he was quite so thrilled a the marriage of Sam and Rosie inspite of how he acted. Leaving Hobbiton at the end like that spoke volumes to me. "The wound never healed," he said. SURRRRRRE, Mister Frodo. Your broken heart never healed, you furry footed little little twinkie. Off with the elves you go. I'm sure that Gandalf was more than happy to take you along.

And speaking of the elves...did anyone notice at Helms deep they wore purple robes, gold armor and tiaras. What is UP with that? And they squealed when the Uruks killed them. Didn't grunt in a manly fashion, didn't yell...they squealed. No wonder they got wiped out. Who would you bet on in a barfight? The guy wearing black leather or the guy wearing purple?

Well...on a more serious note...guess I'm going to have to go and rent SBSP now. If people are calling for it to be banned, I'm going to check it out.

BTW...John Stewart's book was banned in Mississippi. Sales are expected to go through the roof there and elsewhere as a result. John Grisham, who is from Mississippi, told him this. One of his books was banned there, as well.

There on my reading list now.

Feisty...want to go see Sponge Bob with me and Linda?


Regards,


Steve
 
JPR said:
Their web address is http://www.family.org. You may not agree with his positions, but I know from personal experience that Focus on the Family does a lot of good work supporting families through promoting / building strong marriages and providing resources for positive parenting.
Dobson has built a career out of offering namby-pamby milquetoast common-sense as his "good work supporting families", wrapped in the steel fist of right-wing evangelical politics.

Just as a side note, having lived and worked in Colorado Springs for many years, my friends and acquaintances have served Dobson and his wife as waiters in restaurants on a number of occasions. They are abysmal tippers -- apparently, the idea of supporting families doesn't include supporting people who are working to support their own families.
 
Sponge-Bob is so sinister, I'm going to use his name as the BDSM safe-word for my poor girlfriend. Or maybe I'll make her say "Dobson, Dobson!".

I've just had it with the silliness of this whole thing. Since when do the self-appointed moral police of the American public feel the need to go after cartoons? CARTOONS!!

I'm reminded of the bumper sticker, "The Moral Majority is neither." And yet they're a vocal minority, capable of influencing decisions that affect millions not belonging to their ranks.

Busy-bodies sicken me. Perhaps if they cleaned up their own back yard...

Dave
 
The person or persons protesting this has a problem it is called children. I bet any amount of $$$$ that with this negative PR. Their own children are sneaking over to a friends house or when Ma and Pa are away. Will tune to the Cartoon Network and be ruined for life.

Maybe they will start coloring their skin yellow and start wearing shorts and a tie and go around talking in a squeaky voice. Or maybe they will try and sit under a pineapple which I think has a better chance of happening and is more physically dangerous than thinking some child is saying to themselves. "You know what I think SpongeBoB is gay so I am going to be one too!"

This line of logic is laughable.
 
Feisty Mouse said:
Could someone please explain to me why anyone in Spongebob Squarepants is, in fact, gay? Or heterosexual, for that matter? As far as I recall, there is no actual sex in Spongebob, and no homosexuality.

The cartoon in question has no sexual message at all. It involves SB delivering a speech on tolerance. All the uproar stems from the included brochure that uses the episode as a springboard for a discussion on sexual tolerance.
 
JPR said:
FYI. Here is Dobson's answer to why he is objecting to the distribution of the video featuring Sponge Bob:
*******************************************************
From the outset, let's be clear that this issue is not about objections to any specific cartoon characters. Instead, Dr. Dobson is concerned that these popular animated personalities are being exploited by an organization that's determined to promote the acceptance of homosexuality among our nation's youth.

We applaud the ideal of championing to children the value and dignity of every human life as well as respect for our differences. What we vehemently object to is using these beloved characters to help advance an agenda that's beyond the comprehension of 6 and 7 year-old children, not to mention morally offensive to millions of moms and dads.

The video in question is slated to be distributed to 61,000 public and private elementary schools throughout the United States. Where it is shown, schoolchildren will be left with the impression that their teachers are offering their endorsement of the values and agenda associated with the video's sponsor. While some of the goals associated with this organization are noble in nature, their inclusion of the reference to "sexual identity" within their "tolerance pledge" is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line.

You know, you have to wonder if the "agenda" (and I do love how the possibility of tolerence of sexual identiity is an agenda and not just a moral obligation) is "Beyond the comprehension of 6 nad 7 year old" children, how it is going to help advance the "agenda" Most 6 and 7 years I know were more concerned with not catching cooties than wether they should be holding hands with their same sex friends cause they might be in love.
Also just cause the group itself preached sexual identify tolerance doesn't mean they will force it in the video. In fact I think the group has said it isn't in the video cause they in no way wanted to harm the images of the cartoon charaters used.
My guess is the only reason the FOF nutjobs have issues with Spongebob is cause of this (I pulled from the CNN article on this):

"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."

Course if SpongeBob is asexual than that is really sexual identity tolerance as well cause we never talk about asexual humans.
 
This uproar made the local news here tonight, complete with video. I have only seen little bits and pieces of SpongeBob, but I know my friends' kids love to watch him.

As to sexual innuendo, how about the 'classic' cartoons we used to watch (boy am I dating myself here) like Pepe LePew - or was it okay to have a horny skunk running around because it was *just funny*? Or the asides by Daffy Duck. Or Popeye. I guess chasing the *opposite* sex [in an improper manner] is okay for kids to watch...
 
thats all i can stands and i cant stands no more... leave popeye out of this.
he taught me to eat me spinachk... now i am strongs to the finshk. needs i say more....
 
owwwh Popeye...

Well Pete. There was innuendo in those cartoons. We've had this discussion.;)
 
Well, Kenpo Tiger, remember Bugs Bunny dressing up as a female, and actually being a really hot female bunny, (there's something wrong with this sentence) in some of those cartoons, and then kissing Elmer Fudd? Hmm. Nobody complained at the time, maybe back then people had a sense of humor. I've seen spongebob and cannot imagine a more nonsexual character. He is funny, charming and sweet, and yes, tolerant, and being more like spongebob wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
 
Then, there was Betty Boop.

One's still awaiting Dr. Dobson's explanation of why a little decency towards others, and little gentleness, would be such a very, very bad thing to promote.

His problem is that this ain;t the good old days--when, as U. Utah Phillips always said, "Men were men, and sheep were nervous."
 
Go Feisty Mouse! You're too much, I love it! Those people are nothing short of idiots. When I saw that on the news, I almost choked. Good Lord, give us a break here.

Maybe we should separate our sponges, who knows that they are doiing while we are sleeping. We also should have known that eventually Sponge Bob and Square Pants would be outed.

The Prof

Feisty Mouse said:
I love you guys.

Now let's go find some queer-loving sponges to lynch. And then suppress any free speech anywhere, ESPECIALLY those dangerous kids' programs!!
 
There's nothing more disgusting than two sponges "doing it."

Prof
 
lonecoyote said:
Well, Kenpo Tiger, remember Bugs Bunny dressing up as a female, and actually being a really hot female bunny, (there's something wrong with this sentence) in some of those cartoons, and then kissing Elmer Fudd? Hmm. Nobody complained at the time, maybe back then people had a sense of humor. I've seen spongebob and cannot imagine a more nonsexual character. He is funny, charming and sweet, and yes, tolerant, and being more like spongebob wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
I think you're correct - people took themselves much less seriously when it came to being entertained. But. I also think that cross-dressing was considered humorous back then - look at what went on in the movies with many of the popular male actors of that era (not Bogie - he was a man's man). And, *one* could also use certain epithets without fear of reprisal -- i.e., calling women *girls* (okay for us to do among ourselves but don't go there, boy friend!:hammer: ) or referring to black men as *boys* or to gays as *******s* *queers* and so on.

Our society has come a long way in certain respects and is quite backward in others... still.
 
Back
Top