Bert and Ernie Gay Rumor: Settled

[Fozzie Bear]

What's a garnish? I don't like my chicken in mideval times clothin anyway!

I edited the end of my fiirst post, ya'll.

 

[Vic Romano]

I don't know if you mentioned the Looney Tunes thing before the edit, Kev, but I thought people did have issues with Bugs Bunny always dressing as a woman.

 

[D'Snowth]

So what exactly was up with Bert's pants?

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Hi, I hope no one minds me jumping in here. To me Ernie and Bert seem to have a big brother/little brother relationship. With Bert being the big brother and Ernie being the little brother annoying Bert and wanting play with him when he's busy.

Though the one thing I've always wanted to know about them is how old they are, but I fear it's like finding out how many licks to takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop the world may never know.

 

[Convincing John]

So what exactly was up with Bert's pants?

If you're referring to that clip I linked to, Bert was just probably annoyed at Ernie throwing them around (along with about half of the stuff in the apartment)!

"My pants!" is just a funny but of improv from Frank in the sketch...along with all the ultra-hilarious angry faces Frank makes Bert do.

One time years ago, my sister was in my room watching TV while I put away my laundry. One of the hangers in the closet snapped and my jeans fell to the floor. I looked down and exclaimed "My pants!" in my best Bert voice. My sister cracked up!

As for Ernie and Bert's ages...that's a good question. Anyone ever asked Jim and Frank? Big Bird's obviously a kid. So's Elmo. Oscar and the Count are clearly adults. But what about Bert and Ernie?

Well...I don't know about Bert, but Ernie might be about 6 years old. According to one sketch, "he has 8 years of grade school, 4 years of high school..." Take that as you will, but that's what Ernie said.

Convincing John

 

[Convincing John]

I don't know if you mentioned the Looney Tunes thing before the edit, Kev, but I thought people did have issues with Bugs Bunny always dressing as a woman.

I've read that, too. I thought that Bugs was just trying to make Elmer Fudd or whoever look stupid in front of whoever was watching. (Bugs would often break the fourth wall and acknowledge the viewers, letting us in on the joke). When he kissed them, I thought it was just a way for him to annoy them because Bugs knew he'd win out in the end and he knew his rivals were idiots.

Another example of this is in the Fraggle episode "Scared Silly". Wembley fails to scare Boober, gets angry, and Boober scares him back. As Wembley stands there, frustrated, Boober says nonchalantly "It's all in the timing." Boober gives Wembley a peck on the nose and exits. Wembley scrunches up his face, fumes with fury, and is about two seconds from going into a Yosemite Sam-esque rant. If you check out the scene, it's almost a Looney Tunes homage (or at least that's what I thought).

Convincing John

 

[frogboy4]

Drag and female impersonation have been used in entertainment for years and there's no real simple answer to the motivations. Some say that it’s about poking fun at gays, some thing it glorifies diversity and some see it as a comedic device in varying degrees of respectfulness.

I must admit to being offended when Tyler Perry does drag. I’m just not a fan of his exploitative humor and the way he panders to his audience. I understand his Madea is based on a family member, but it smacks of bad drag clichés and the history of the device’s use in a lot of African American cinema in order to belittle gays. Frog knows the history of cinema has been horrible to all minorities since D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” in 1915.

But Bugs Bunny in drag is funny to me and has had so very many levels to it that I can’t single one motivation out from the rest. Cartoons can get away with more than the rest of us. As for the rare occasion of Muppets kissing one another on the nose, well…I think it shows a more plutonic love that is so specific to the Muppets. There is a Muppets Tonight episode featuring Prince with Gonzo in fishnets and Seymour in chaps. Pepe covers up Seymour’s bare butt as only a true friend would do, but it does seem a little odd even though Pepe’s such a lady’s prawn. I think it’s just about absurdity.

I’m not the most politically correct person and am proud not to be. Most things just don’t bug me, but now and then someone says something that warrants a response. Some perspective.

One funny note is that the movie studios are remaking yet another 80s classic. This time it’s the movie “Mannequin” that features a very clichéd gay character named Hollywood. I wonder how they’ll deal with him in now that we’re in the 10s.

 

[Drtooth]

But Bugs Bunny in drag is funny to me and has had so very many levels to it that I can’t single one motivation out from the rest.

I always said that if you're looking down the barrel of a gun... you will DO ANYTHING for that not to be the last thing you see.

 

[Vic Romano]

I think the issue people had with Bugs dressing as a woman wasn't so much that he did it, but that he seemed to enjoy it. I think a great bit comes from Wayne's World where Garth and Wayne are laying on the hood of their car, looking up at the night sky asking personal and existential questions, when Garth asks if Wayne ever found Bugs Bunny attractive when he dressed up like a woman.

You could make the counter argument to Laurel and Hardy and the 3 Stooges sleeping in the same bed to Lucy and Ricky not sleeping in the same bed. The validity of the argument is just as silly to assume Ricky was gay because he didn't sleep in the same bed as Lucy. And no one ever questioned whether or not Ricky Ricardo was gay.

 

[Drtooth]

You could make the counter argument to Laurel and Hardy and the 3 Stooges sleeping in the same bed to Lucy and Ricky not sleeping in the same bed. The validity of the argument is just as silly to assume Ricky was gay because he didn't sleep in the same bed as Lucy. And no one ever questioned whether or not Ricky Ricardo was gay.

I'm sorry... but who actually made that assumption? That show was made in an era that if you hinted that a happily married couple lived together, you'd be thrown in front of HUAC for corrupting young minds with thoughts of monogamy. You could easily make the same ill informed decision from all the other shows of the era, especially Dick VanDyke, where Laura and Rob couldn't sleep in the same bed either. Heck, I'm surprised they didn't sleep in separate apartments in cages, that's how conservative minded they were back then. The idea of Lucy even being pregnant was controversial and ground breaking. Apparently, you can show a married couple with lots and lots of kids, as long as the kids poomed out of thin air into existence or something.