Curiously, new monkey movie lands in middle of cultural battle

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Friday, February 10, 2006 | Joe Garofoli

[DogByte6RER]

Curiously, new monkey movie lands in middle of cultural battle

- Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, February 10, 2006

For the politically correct Bay Area parent, the "Curious George" children's books are a minefield of cultural horrors through which to tiptoe. Imperialism. Animal abuse. Bad parenting.

Puh-leeeeze, George's defenders say. They're children's books, whose charm has not dimmed -- 25 million books and countless swag sold -- even if ideas about political correctness have evolved since the first George adventure was published in 1941. Sometimes a speechless, mischievous monkey is just that -- a monkey, not a metaphor. Besides, George's tales are no more un-PC than those of that royalist warmonger, Babar.

Both camps are wondering how "Curious George," the animated movie that premieres today, will translate details of the popular series of children's books for the more heightened sensitivities of 2006.

The Curious George oeuvre was the work of the husband-and-wife team of H.A. and Margaret Rey, German Jews who escaped France with the first book's manuscript as the Nazis invaded. Most of the seven stories they wrote feature the antics of a monkey whose sweet curiosity gets him in trouble until he's rescued by the nameless Man with the Yellow Hat, George's keeper/parental figure/pal with bail money.

To some, that's the core of an unhealthy relationship.

[DogByte6RER]

I grew up reading "Curious George" in the 1960s. Is nothing sacred to these leftist PC jihaist bastards?

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I hope Will Farrell took his compensation up front.

[AntiGuv]

Gay murder shocker! Two men arrested for murder of Curious George co-writer

[Past Your Eyes]

I just asked my 8 year old granddaughter and my 11 year old grandson how they liked it. (They saw it last night.) They both said it was funny and they enjoyed it very much. That's good enough for me.

[trubluolyguy]

Just wait. The pro-Darwin nazi's will latch onto this one too.

[Psycho_Bunny]

 

[nuconvert]

Did I miss something? Why is it a gay murder?

[AntiGuv]

Because evidently he met the murderers through a gay online sex service.

[Cicero]

"Curious George" reveals "the sinister side of a corrupt wildlife trade with perilous roots in Western imperialism."

O-o-o-o-kay!

[nuconvert]

Ah, I missed that line.

[Bernard]

Sending George to jail "just raised too many questions," O'Callaghan said. "Why would you send a monkey off to a human jail with other humans? In the '40s that was probably OK, but not now. It would involve too much explaining."

Who would need the explanation? Small children or the parents?

[null and void]

Frankly I'm disappointed in the left.

Clearly, Curious George is George W. Bush. After all, hasn't the left been comparing him to a chimp since day one???

As to Curious George's actions, what better parody of the antics of "The Chimp" than having Curious George stumble from one mis(underestimated)adventure to another, while always being bailed out be the nameless Man with the Yellow Hat. Clearly a Beilderberg/Illuminati/New World Order backer working in the shadows (I bet it's "Big Dick" Cheney!)

Worse, Curious George treats the modern world like his own 3rd world playground! He does what he darn well pleases with no regard for the consequences, just like the dry drunk Not-My-President.

Worser still, this George always makes a monkey out of those who are clearly his intellectual superiors, much as the stupidest man ever to be President consistently tricks the left into giving him his way, and is proved to be (far) right in the end.

Worsest of all, he gets re-elected over the charismatic hyperintelligent war hero, an man of God-like wisdom and aspect, who, by the way was in Vietnam.

It should be required viewing for every (surviving) spawn of a lib-uh-rhul liaison...

[Fruitbat]

The beginning of that piece reads as if it came from The Onion.

[Fruitbat]

LOL...

Yeah, I think they even have a page of pics over at DU with chimps and Bush.

Too funny!

[gaijin]

The dawn of tolerance heralds the death of common-sense, the death of laughter...

The gays hated Jar-Jar Binks because he parodied gays...The blacks hated Jar-Jar Binks and even Sambo (of the restaurant chain) because he aped blacks....

Will it ever end? No...

[RedMonqey]

The strict, bitter, humorless PC Leftist has replaced the image of the strict, bitter, humorless bible thumper of the Puritans of ages gone by..

Only their god has been changed.

[JOE6PAK]

Your post / parody is spot-on! Required reading for all Freep-dom.

Classic!

[kaylar]

Good grief! I'd love to see what the deconstructionists would make up my favorite Rey book, Pretzel .

[BenLurkin]

"the more heightened sensitivities of 2006"

Only in itchy, sweaty holes like San Francisco.

[Bob Mc]

Very good. Thanks for the laugh.