Should Bert and Ernie Marry on Sesame Street?

Should Bert and Ernire get married?

  • Yes

    Votes: 27 21.4%

  • No

    Votes: 66 52.4%

  • Not sure

    Votes: 9 7.1%

  • They should both marry Shemp

    Votes: 24 19.0%
  • Total voters
    126
  • Poll closed .

applecorped

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applecorped
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http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011...-bert-and-ernie-get-married-on-sesame-street/

"LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Will the Children’s Television Workshop give way to same-sex puppet love?
An online campaign is calling for the producers of TV’s “Sesame Street” to allow characters Bert and Ernie to get married in an attempt to “put an end to the bullying and suicides of LGBT youth”, according to the group’s Facebook page.
The petition letter adds that “[w]e are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful by allowing Bert & Ernie to marry”, suggesting that the show “even add a transgender character to the show…in a tasteful way”




Vote now!
 
Sure, why not. They've slept in the same beds for years. And the only kids I'd imagine that would even bat an eye over it probably aren't allowed to watch that show anyway.
 
Actually, Bert and Ernie sleep in separate single beds. I think it's because Ernie kicks and rolls around a lot, and hogs the blankets. I'm not kidding, I vaguely remember it being mentioned once when Ernie was having nightmares and wanted to sleep with Bert in his bed.

Have Bert and Ernie come out of the closet though? I always liked how low key their relationship was. I don't feel that homosexuals shouldn't be honest about their relationships; I just like how with Bert and Ernie it's just part of who they are and not a big deal at all.
 
Odd. I recall them sharing a bed. Then again, the last time I watched it was... almost thirty years ago? >.>
 
More importantly, why? It's a children's television show. Children have plenty on their plates without wading too deeply into marriage between anybody. As noted, for years Bert and Ernie been a couple, a family, a pair, as much as is relevant to a child's world. What does explicitly characterizing them as "married" bring to children who can't reasonably be expected to have any well-formed understanding of any marriage?

Nothing, IMHO. Methinks the proposal is more about messaging through than for the children.
 
didn't watch Sesamstreet for 2 decades now, i don't know, have they fallen in love?
 
Jesus, what next? No, kids can learn about that in life, school, parents, whatever. It is a part of real life and I think that is the place to learn about it.
 
DavidS said:
More importantly, why? It's a children's television show. Children have plenty on their plates without wading too deeply into marriage between anybody. As noted, for years Bert and Ernie been a couple, a family, a pair, as much as is relevant to a child's world. What does explicitly characterizing them as "married" bring to children who can't reasonably be expected to have any well-formed understanding of any marriage?

Nothing, IMHO. Methinks the proposal is more about messaging through than for the children.
Click to expand...

^this

What next, Elmo and his high school sweetheart raising a baby out of wedlock? Big Bird gets a sesame seed intervention ? Oscar tackles hoarding? The Count confronts his OCD?
 
DavidS said:
More importantly, why? It's a children's television show. Children have plenty on their plates without wading too deeply into marriage between anybody. As noted, for years Bert and Ernie been a couple, a family, a pair, as much as is relevant to a child's world. What does explicitly characterizing them as "married" bring to children who can't reasonably be expected to have any well-formed understanding of any marriage?

Nothing, IMHO. Methinks the proposal is more about messaging through than for the children.
Click to expand...

I don't care whether they have B&E come out or what, but if having a homosexual relationship/couple/marriage is too age unappropriate shall we remove any reference to Gordon and Susan's continuing marriage?

jalok
 
Jeebus Krist NO!!!

This question implies that they are gay. I have never seen any implication of this on the show. Bert is the straight man and Ernie is the foil. It's a comedy duo formula that has worked and will continue to work. Having them marry would add nothing to the show. It would just confuse kids who, like mine, would probably just sit through the TV ceremony so they could see the next cartoon or fun vignette.

Gearing a childrens show to the desires of adults is DUMB!
 
Jalok said:
I don't care whether they have B&E come out or what, but if having a homosexual relationship/couple/marriage is too age unappropriate shall we remove any reference to Gordon and Susan's continuing marriage?

jalok
Click to expand...

Yes but their marriage being a part of the show wasn't and isn't about furthering a political agenda.

I see your point though.
 
Furcifer said:
^this

What next, Elmo and his high school sweetheart raising a baby out of wedlock? Big Bird gets a sesame seed intervention ? Oscar tackles hoarding? The Count confronts his OCD?
Click to expand...

The show has dealt with AIDS (On the south african version), death (Mr. Hooper's death was dealt with beautifully and honestly), natural disasters and many other issues that are part of kids' lives. It's part of the show's mission to teach children not just the ABC's but larger lessons as well.

The Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street worked hard to find ways to advance tolerance in the younger generation on both sides.

If you're surprised that children's television can tackle tough issues, you need to watch more.
 
All that said, this issue has been addressed by the writers and puppeteers before, and the answer was that Bert and Ernie don't have a sexuality because they don't exist from the waist down. Making them suddenly gay would change their character and they've already done that with the "Cookies are a sometimes food" Monster (I kid you not)

The messages that Bert and Ernie give are very carefully crafted, read "The Tipping Point" for a brief glimpse of how thoughtfully engineered this show is. Their story is about understanding and embracing personality differences within friendships, an issue that children actually deal with. Big Bird is there as a charismatic stand in for the audience, to ask questions they would ask. Oscar is there to show them how the rest of the cast can react to his nativity without becoming negative or angry themselves. Elmo is just freaking annoying (in reality he's a replacement for Big Bird's former role, but I think he does a poor job).

I'd be happy to see a new family move in that was a same sex couple, it would probably make the most sense for them to be a human couple with a child
 
Cavemonster said:
The show has dealt with AIDS (On the south african version), death (Mr. Hooper's death was dealt with beautifully and honestly), natural disasters and many other issues that are part of kids' lives. It's part of the show's mission to teach children not just the ABC's but larger lessons as well.

The Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street worked hard to find ways to advance tolerance in the younger generation on both sides.

If you're surprised that children's television can tackle tough issues, you need to watch more.
Click to expand...

Admittedly, I don't watch much SS these days. I can see where something like death, losing a tooth, or a new baby brother might be covered, but things like abortion, gay marriage, polygamy etc. not so much.
Even in Canada where gay marriage is legal I can see it being polarizing and ultimately doing more harm than good if parents begin boycotting the show because it doesn't reflects their views. (I'm fairly certain it would kill the show in the US)
Some things are better left to the parents to explain and sexuality is one of them.
 
Furcifer said:
Admittedly, I don't watch much SS these days. I can see where something like death, losing a tooth, or a new baby brother might be covered, but things like abortion, gay marriage, polygamy etc. not so much.
Even in Canada where gay marriage is legal I can see it being polarizing and ultimately doing more harm than good if parents begin boycotting the show because it doesn't reflects their views. (I'm fairly certain it would kill the show in the US)
Some things are better left to the parents to explain and sexuality is one of them.
Click to expand...

One of the things that has been a constant part of Sesame Street over the years is content delivering variations on this message: "There are many types of families. If yours doesn't happen to include a mother and a Father, that doesn't make you weird, it doesn't make their love any less."

Going back to the early seasons, there were montages of children being raised by their grandparents, a single parent, an aunt or uncle etc. The message that there's nothing wrong with a family of two daddies or two mommies and that such a family is absolutely normal and just as loving as any other is absolutely and unquestionably in line with their mission and their previous messages.

Further, the fact that a family has two mommies has no more to do with teaching children what people do with their genitalia than showing heterosexual parents does.

Yes, it might piss off some ******* bigots. So would showing interracial friends when it first aired, but they did that too.
 
More importantly, why?
Click to expand...
Agreed. Never understood the whole "oh, they're living together, they must be gay" interpretation.

What about my folk college year where half the bedrooms in our dorms were for two people? Were all those boys and girls sharing a room gays and lesbians:rolleyes:?

I imagine Sesame Street had love in it the same way Donald Duck comics do (Donald and Daisy, for example). I don't mind people getting married in kids' shows. It's the idea that Ernie and Bert being in love that I don't get. If you're all of a sudden going to have two characters marry, it should be characters that are already identified as being in a romantic relationship, like the aforementioned Donald and Daisy in the Duckburg universe. Political correctness aside, what sort of message does it send to kids when two people who have been "just living together" since the show started all of a sudden tie the knot:boggled:? There is also the fact that changing static characters, in a static universe, doesn't sit well with me. Let me say, though, that I'm also against the association with homosexuality with sex. Just for the record. Edit:

Further, the fact that a family has two mommies has no more to do with teaching children what people do with their genitalia than showing heterosexual parents does.
Click to expand...
What I was trying to say. It's strange how, when people think of heterosexual love and marriage, they think of holding hands, kissing, living together, going on dates, etc., but when homosexuality is brought up, suddenly it's all about sex.

Sigmund Freud on line two.
 
Last edited:
I look forward to the first transsexual, quadriplegic, conservative Muppet with great eagerness.
 
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