Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[datman24]

Honestly, never. Other than walking into a library where they always had Arthur books, I've never actually seen any actual Arthur merchandise in any store any where. Only Arthur stuff I've ever seen was when my local PBS used to have a massive conference room that was decorated almost like a toy museum, because they had all kinds of vintage merchandise - particularly SS - including a few plushes of Arthur and D.W.

I remember buying a stuffed Arthur doll at Toys R Us (RIP). My 1st Grade class had an entire day dedicated to the anthropomorphic aardvark back in 2001 for the character's 25th Birthday (for some reason). It was complete with Arthur-related games and activities (they even borrowed one of our own Arthur board games from home), and a costumed Arthur character guaranteed to give you nightmares.

 

[D'Snowth]

So, apparently, the upcoming new season is going to open with . . . Mr. Ratburn getting married.

It begs the question . . . to whom? He's never been shown to show any kind of romantic interest in any other character on the show; are they introducing yet another new character to be his spouse?

And it also has me wondering this: they've really been pandering to the base quite a bit in recent years (again, one episode was about Bud taking off his hat because one fan had an obsession with that), and considering that a sizable portion of the base has speculated about his sexuality for years, will this be a gay marriage? On the one hand, it'd be very progressive and forward-thinking, which is one thing this show has been good at; but on the other hand, now that we're in the conservative Trump era of homophobia, this would be met with tremendous outcry and backlash.

Still, this feels like another example of the writers clearly being out of ideas that they're just suddenly having Ratburn get married out of the blue.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

So, apparently, the upcoming new season is going to open with . . . Mr. Ratburn getting married.

It begs the question . . . to whom? He's never been shown to show any kind of romantic interest in any other character on the show; are they introducing yet another new character to be his spouse?

And it also has me wondering this: they've really been pandering to the base quite a bit in recent years (again, one episode was about Bud taking off his hat because one fan had an obsession with that), and considering that a sizable portion of the base has speculated about his sexuality for years, will this be a gay marriage? On the one hand, it'd be very progressive and forward-thinking, which is one thing this show has been good at; but on the other hand, now that we're in the conservative Trump era of homophobia, this would be met with tremendous outcry and backlash.

Still, this feels like another example of the writers clearly being out of ideas that they're just suddenly having Ratburn get married out of the blue.

Where did you read this?

 

[mr3urious]

Does Ratburn really need to be gay? It's like fans wanting Elsa or Merida to be gay just because they haven't shown any interest in men.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I mean, wasn't it always confirmed that Ratburn was gay?

 

[D'Snowth]

No. The only "confirmation" we've ever had regarding any of the characters being of LGBT orientation was when a fan asked Marc Brown if Francine could be a lesbian (another long-standing fandom speculation), to which Marc's response was a coy, "could be."

Maybe you're thinking of Mr. Simmons from HEY ARNOLD! Craig Bartlett confirmed he was gay (as is his voice actor, Dan Butler), and that he was able to get away with it because they never out-right mentioned his orientation on the show. Of course that was way back when. Now THE LOUD HOUSE has characters that are openly gay and bisexual, and are able to get away with it (despite some naysayers out there accusing Nick of pushing agendas, of course).

 

[LittleJerry92]

I know Simmons was confirmed gay, but I could have sworn I read the same for Rayburn somewhere.

 

[D'Snowth]

No, just fan speculation.

But, to be fair, a majority of the fandom seems to like to speculate that just about all of the characters are gay or bi: in addition to Ratburn, the jury's also been out on Binky for a long time, and many ship Arthur and Buster, Francine and Muffy, and Prunella and Marina (the latter of which I kind of ship myself).

Personally, I never really got too much of a gay vibe from Ratburn, however, I've had my suspicions about Francine for a while myself.

 

[D'Snowth]

Welp; it's official:

Spoiler

Mr. Ratburn is gay.

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/talking-with-kids-families-come-in-all-shapes-and-sizes

With us living in Trump's America now, I can just smell another massive boycott/backlash coming from the religious and morality groups a mile away, just like the infamous "Two Moms" episode of POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER in 2005.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Welp; it's official:

Spoiler

Mr. Ratburn is gay.

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/talking-with-kids-families-come-in-all-shapes-and-sizes

With us living in Trump's America now, I can just smell another massive boycott/backlash coming from the religious and morality groups a mile away, just like the infamous "Two Moms" episode of POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER in 2005.

I knew it.