Hands Off SpongeBob!(Reuters more accurate than the NYTIMES)

Toonzone via Instapundit. ^ | 01/21/05 | Maxie Zeus

[Pikamax]

---

First they came for the Teletubbies and I did nothing, because I hate mewling horribles who live in Orwellian romper rooms. But then they came for SpongeBob SquarePants. Now it's time to march.

That's the reaction a lot of people--not all of them cartoon fans--seem to have had when The New York Times on Thursday reported that James Dobson had criticized Nickelodeon's cheerful yellow sponge for appearing in a video promoting tolerance. The problem, apparently, is that the kind of tolerance being promoted would extend to (among others) people who are gay.

People who read the Times account weren't very happy with Dobson. Over dinner, for instance, my sister laid it on the table with the off-hand remark, "I see that now they're attacking SpongeBob for being gay." "They" are not one of her favorite groups. Nor one of mine.

At Toon Zone, we haven't followed this story with focused interest. But I have watched, with a mounting dread, as each piece of the current controversy started to fall into place. Last November we reported on the video now being criticized.

We reported, too, when the attacks started earlier this month.

And on Thursday we duly carried a summary and link to the Times article (registration required; here is a hassle-free copy).

So I'm not exactly surprised to see this break out into the wider world. While posting the earlier articles I could be heard silently muttering to myself: "3… 2… 1… Make controversy go now!" Complaints that cartoons are corrupting our kids are about as bewhiskered as the Bugs Bunny in a dress gag. This kind of hysteria makes me very tired, both because it's very silly and also very old.

At the same time, let's remember that it's The New York Times we're dealing with. These days it helps to have an advanced degree in Kremlinology while perusing their articles.

Look at the Times opening grafs:

On the heels of electoral victories to bar same-sex marriage, some influential conservative Christian groups are turning their attention to a new target: SpongeBob SquarePants.

"Does anybody here know SpongeBob?" James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, asked the guests Tuesday night at a black-tie dinner for members of Congress and political allies to celebrate the election results.

In many circles, SpongeBob needs no introduction. He is popular among children and grownups as well who watch him cavorting under the sea on the Nickelodeon cartoon program that bears his name. In addition, he has become a camp figure among adult gay men, perhaps because he holds hands with his animated sidekick Patrick.

Now, Dobson said, SpongeBob's creators had enlisted him in a "pro-homosexual video," in which he appeared alongside other children's television characters such as Barney and Jimmy Neutron, among many others.

Compare it with this summary from Reuters:

Christian Conservative groups have issued a gay alert warning over a children's video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon favorites.

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.

Notice the difference?

The Times: Several conservative Christian groups are criticizing SpongeBob SquarePants for appearing in a video that they claim promotes homosexuality. (Those are the words of our reporter Ace the Bathound.)

Reuters: Christian groups are criticizing a video that exploits cartoon characters to advance a pro-gay agenda.

As Reuters describes it, Christian groups are attacking a video; the various cartoon characters and entertainers who appear in it are being criticized indirectly (if at all) for lending themselves to an agenda that these critics deplore. As the Times describes it, though, these groups are specifically attacking SpongeBob. And by sticking in an early and gratuitous reference to SpongeBob's popularity with gay men (a point utterly irrelevant to a story about the video), the Times creates the impression that Dobson is attacking SpongeBob for being a gay icon. No wonder a casual reader comes away with the impression that Dobson is attacking SpongeBob for being gay.

In fact, if you read the Times article carefully you'll see that it adds nothing to the story carried by WorldNetDaily two weeks ago, except for some innuendo about a popular cartoon character. (Reuters' more pellucid summary makes clear that the story hasn't advanced in the last two weeks.) Of course, I don't know for sure: maybe Dobson went off on an anti-gay tirade in which he mocked SpongeBob for his cheerfulness, his tendency to skip and sing, and his fondness for holding hands with his best friend Patrick. But if so, why is the only Dobson quote in the Times the colorless "Does anybody here know SpongeBob?"

I'm not interested in the "gay" angle to SpongeBob, and as an editor and reporter on this site I have no interest in gay marriage, gay rights or any of the other social controversies that so exercise Dobson. I think Dobson and his allies are very foolish to treat what sounds like a bland grammar-school video as a threat to American values; I think it is execrable that he should try piggybacking his social agenda onto innocent cartoon characters and their innocent creators.

But the Times, intentionally or not, appears to be guilty of the same thing. Deliberately or not, it appears to have twisted Dobson's position and imputed to him (without evidence) an argument he does not seem to have made. And in making SpongeBob sound like a martyr, it appears to be trying to piggyback a rival agenda onto his very thin shoulders: Save SpongeBob from the bluenoses!

Cartoons don't deserve this. SpongeBob doesn't deserve this. And SpongeBob's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, certainly doesn't deserve to have his creation kidnapped and turned into a giant puppet in some freak protest parade, no matter what its cause.

To Dobson and the Times I've a simple message: Get your hands out of SpongeBob's square pants.

Update: Dobson's organization has released a statement on the controversy.

[annyokie]

I am sorry I was unclear. This agenda is not being pushed in my children's schools. There is little to no discussion about human sexuality and if there is the parents are involved.

The city Librarians are old grandmas who would blanch at the thought of discussing sex with six year olds.

[EdReform]

Bump!

[jwalsh07]

Dave, I already informed you, you simply wish to remain standing at attention with your eyes squeezed shut railing against the "theocrats".

Any site pushing sexual politics through teachers and librarians should be, a priori, reason enough to doubt their motives. The rest is entirely up to you.

My grandkids enjoy SpongeBob, I see nothing wrong with the cartoon, I see plenty wrong with the We Are Family fifthe columnists.

[EdReform]

One more link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1184439/posts?page=27#27

[Corin Stormhands]

Was that this one?
http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/index.asp

I'm not trying to argue with you. But there IS another "We are Family" group that focuses ~specifically~ on gay issues.

Nile Rodgers was on "The Today Show" yesterday.

[annyokie]

Thanks.

Off topic: Dobson happens to own the cellphone towers in my neck of Oklahoma. It is the most mismanaged outfit I have ever dealt with. Terrible service and miserable, obnoxious reps. I guess he doesn't oversee them.

[DaveDCMetro]

I certainly agree that it is your right to disagree with the org's mission statement and, consequently, question their motives regarding their products. And I would certainly oppose the video if it did bring sexual politics into the classroom. From what I've read so far though, it's my opinion that the video is harmless. To each his own, I suppose.

[Cowboy Bob]

Patrick Starfish is gay.

His name is Patrick Star, and he is not gay. I do, however, suspect that Squidward is gay.

One this that has bothered me is Mr. Crabb's daughter, Pearl. How can a crab have a whale for a daughter?

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

And I would certainly oppose the video if it did bring sexual politics into the classroom

Read post 57.

[Cowboy Bob]

When Sponge Bob and some other character were talking about raiding grandma's panties it was the last time my 4 year old grandson was allowed to watch that program in my house.

Whats wrong with a little panty raid? When I was in college, we raided Mary Baldwin College. It was a major raid, some guys got caught and got in big trouble. It made national news, and the Governor of Virginia had to step in and issue pardons.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

When I was in college

Kind of different from being 4 years old. Plus, there is something particularly creepy about raiding GRANDMA'S panties.

[DaveDCMetro]

I just read it. The argument is faulty. More propaganda. Basically, the logic of the argument is that because the website of the org contains the org's mission statement, and because the mission statement contains the words "sexual identity," that means that the REAL purpose of this video is to get the children to go home and visit the website, to see the words "sexual identity," and thus be exposed to the homosexual agenda! (Gasp!)

I'm not trying to be flippant. Here's the thing. As the generational shift continues in our nation's corporations and organizations, pretty much every company is going to be amending its definition of "non-discrimination" or whatever to include sexual orientation. Why? Because the seat of our economy is now in the nation's major cities and suburbs, which, as we know, are also the "bluest" areas of the nation. Young people in these parts of the country are generally very comfortable with homosexuals. Most have gay friends and coworkers. So here's what I'm getting at. In the years ahead, it's going to be really easy for demagogues on the Right to say, "Hey, look, Kellogg's has added the words 'sexual orientation' to its website! Kellogg's is promoting the gay agenda! Don't buy their cereal! What about Tony the Tiger!" And like clockwork, a lot of well-meaning, devout Christian conservatives in rural areas who don't understand what's going on in Blue America will believe them. That's all I'm saying --- that there are a group of Jesse Jacksons on the Right who will try to create misunderstanding to increase their power and, ultimately, their fundraising. Maybe Dobson is one of them. Maybe he's not. But, as someone who was raised in a rural red county and now lives in a suburban blue county, I know the mentalities of both and I can see what's going on here.

[isthisnickcool]

His name is Patrick Star, and he is not gay. I do, however, suspect that Squidward is gay.

Starfish is his real name. He changed it after doing a couple of "blue" movies.

Squidward is really a woman. She had a sex change operation.

Seriously, I have a young one and I bet I have seen every Spongebob on TV. Ernest Borgnine (as Mermaid Man) Tim Conway (as Barnacle boy) are a hoot.

[jwalsh07]

Yes.

[jwalsh07]

An excerpt from their teachers guide.

[Zechariah11]

Excellent response to a rather dim post.

[Dysfunctional]

Take the "B" out of your own "H."

[Zechariah11]

I didn't catch the name til now. Very good, Sherlock.

[Dysfunctional]

I followed Dobson for years. I raised my two sons according to much of what I heard from him. The man speaks the truth (in my humble opinion).

If you cut to the core, we must be as vigilant and as insistent as the leftist, gay crowd that never give up and never stop turning up the pressure.

They not only want full and equal status as married heterosexuals, but they want preference and celebration of their life styles.

Did we teach sexuality to our 4 year olds in the 50's and 60's? Did we need to? No, because sexuality was a natural progression for normal non-homosexuals.

But to obtain a practicing field beyond the 1% or 2% of the population, homosexuality needs to be sold to our young at a very tender age.

So, under the guise of equality, the homosexual lobby is teaching sex to young minds. If you don't think that this raises curiosity in the minds of the young, then you forgot what it is like to be young.

[SweetCaroline]

....if you don't know the difference between the brains of college student and a that of 4 year old, I won't waste my time explaining it to you. I don't want my grandson getting the idea of raiding my pantie drawer.