Nickelodeon kids’ show Blue’s Clues has decided to celebrate Pride Month by making what is probably the most relentlessly LGBTQ-inclusive childrens’ cartoon the world has ever seen.
The three-minute video, starring an animated version of Nina West, one of the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, features a bouncy little musical number spelling out the assorted people animated animals who fit under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, from lesbian alligator mommies to trans beavers to non-binary dolphins.
Here’s the video:
While the video is getting cheers from many in and around the LGBTQ+ community, it’s also, rather predictably, inspiring angry if sometimes incoherent reactions from assorted homophobes and transphobes and the occasional QAnon fan convinced that Nickelodeon is trying to groom their children.
Right-wing blogs and other media sites took aim at the video as well.
“Woke Capitalism Promotes Polyamorous Parenting,” declared The American Conservative, warning parents about Nickelodeon’s
animated drag queen singing a tribute to polymorphous perversity, and encouraging children to sing along too. … this is about teaching preschoolers to accept chaotic sexual desire as good. Do you want your four-year-old to ask you, “Mommy, what’s ace, bi, and pan?” Then you’d better not let them watch Blue’s Clues.
“Nickelodeon’s ‘Blues Clues & You’ releases ‘predatory’ LGBT parade video featuring drag queen,” shouted the Christian Post, quoting a transphobic child-development “expert” who warned that
Blue’s Clues’ introduction of sex and gender material indicates either a troubling lack of understanding about the basics of child psychological development or that the show’s writers and producers intend to groom children toward early and developmentally inappropriate encounters with sex and gender topics.
Meanwhile, the Moonbattery blog describes the Blue’s Clues video as
yet another attempt to indoctrinate kids to embrace sexual deviancy …
Nothing could be more perverted than exposing kids to leftists’ grotesque sexual ideology.
Those young enough to watch this stuff won’t understand what “nonbinary,” “ace” (asexual), “bi,” “pan,” et cetera mean. Maybe liberal parents are expected to fill in details that for now can’t be televised. Or maybe the idea is to establish positive connotations in the minds of rug rats so they will be eager to study pansexuality when public schools incorporate it into the grade school curriculum.
Reactionary Canadian site the Post Millennial warned that the powers-that-be at Nickelodeon had also slipped in “a microphone with the revolutionary “black power” fist symbol etched as an emblem.”
As the Western Journal sees it, the video is so over-the-top in its inclusivity and
so obviously propaganda that it seems more like a parody of modern leftism than it does subtle indoctrination on Nickelodeon. It’s more like a humorous riff on how conservatives might view today’s television programming than what even the most progressive children’s show looked like just a few short years ago.
Similar articles appear on other right-wing media sites ranging from Breitbart and RedState to The Gateway Pundit and Alex Jones’ InfoWars.
The most, well, imaginative analysis of the video has to come from Zach Heilman at Red Voice Media, who is convinced that “Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues Is Targeting Babies & Preschool Kids with Transgenderism & Pedophilia.” Indeed, he argues that the video is filled with hidden symbols — in particular, the triangle-shaped spiral that QAnoners and other conspiracy theorists think is a symbol for “little boy lover.” But the screenshots he uses to prove his point all feature regular spirals in the artwork, not triangular ones; in one case he flags the number “6” as a possible symbol of pedophilia.
I think too much TV may be turning Heilman’s eyes (or perhaps his brain) to mush. The Blue’s Clues video is pretty much stuffed with symbolism (mostly in the form of various pride flags) and its agenda is crystal clear — to celebrate all those in the LGBTQ+ coalition and help kids make sense of the world. There’s really no reason to make shit up. But that’s how all these guys work, imagining patterns that aren’t there.
Happy Pride, everyone!
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I’m really curious to know where IMC sees “communism” in that video. (I know it’s probably the typical conservative “Everything I don’t like is communism” stance, but I’d love to make him say it so everyone can see how stupid it sounds.)
And then you have Moonbattery trotting out the tired old “How am I going to explain this to my kids?” argument. If they were sincere, they would google things like “explaining Pride Month to kids” and whole rafts of suggestions and resources would pop up. What they mean, of course, is “How can I convince my kids to hate the LGBTQ+ community when I don’t have all of society backing me up?”
That video – I’m not crying, you’re crying
They should just be happy all their fuck parts work enough to have kids in the first place and worry less about their kids having to learn that different type of people exists.
Here’s another one for you David and he’s a pretty old fashioned homophobe who doesn’t see a difference between being gay and being a pedophile
https://twitter.com/cornelims/status/1399023968791707652
https://twitter.com/cornelims/status/1399051259064225795
https://twitter.com/cornelims/status/1399034529378095104
I’m honestly surprised! Even less than a decade ago I never imagined a major network/media group would do this. (Note that this is pleased surprised!)
@Nequam : one additional proof that homophobes are on the rope. Which make them all the more dangerous, but let’s still take solace in progress.
Ah, reminds me of “Heather Celebrates Kwanzaa With Daddy’s Roommate”
(That was a spoof children’s book title in the comic Dykes To Watch Out For some 20 years ago. Somehow I managed to get the references despite not being American.)
Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when such things no longer exist, because they’re no longer needed. It’s just taken for granted that you like who you like.
I’m seeing in conservative spaces right now the possible beginnings of a backlash against teaching consent to children. If it involves sex, then it’s inappropriate simply because any subject involving children + sex is inappropriate. If it’s more general, then it’s undermining family values, because adults have the right to children’s bodies, labor, and affection.
And then expect to be hearing about this soon:
https://nypost.com/2021/05/29/dalton-parents-enraged-over-masturbation-videos-for-1st-graders/
(For those who don’t want to click the link, the story’s about sex ed for younger students at a private school in New York; supposedly it includes masturbation and gender identity, among other things. Of course some people are up in arms. Since I’ve only seen it on far-right news sites so far, and the story is virtually word-for-word identical on most of them. I can’t help but wonder if something’s exaggerated or missing. It does seem that the original writer is attempting blur the lines with the case of a different school in New York teaching 16-18 year-olds about porn.)
I was going to make a comment about that being SheRa, but you know I’m gonna give it to you after watching the video.
Communism! I spend Pride Month telling my 3 year old “No, we are not going to buy everything that has a rainbow on it”. “Yes, it is pretty and glittery, that doesn’t mean its for you”.
Of course, the subject itself is pretty easy to talk to about with children – families and people loving each other, even though they may not look the same as the families you know. I’ve found explaining that some families have two mummies is a much simpler talk than trying to explain racism – toddlers are race blind until taught otherwise but they are usually interested in families, being so dependent on them. I guess if you think the ideal heterosexual wife is a robot maid with extra sex functions, love in all its varieties is a harder concept to explain.
It’s kind of awkward in the way that cartoons meant for kids often are, but entirely age-appropriate. The only reason anyone’s saying otherwise is that certain factions have decided anything that isn’t cisheteronormative can never be appropriate, no matter how it’s presented. These are the same people who object to “trans people exist” as a supposedly audacious and controversial statement.
Does anyone know if there’s a term or field of study for the phenomenon that pearl clutching conservative reactionaries are simultaneously massive perverts?
They hear about a cartoon telling children that other relationships/genders exist and they immediately see it as sexual ?. Also Nina West may well be the most positive and non threatening spokespeople they could’ve chosen. Keep the rubes terrified of teh gay so they don’t notice they’re having their pockets picked I suppose.
@Waywatcher : It’s. Alway. Projection.
Psychological projection is the natural tendency of people of supposing other peoples think like them. It mean honest people tend to see other people as honest, tax cheaters think other will cheat taxes, and perverts see everything as perverted.
(note that will it’s a good rule of thumb for conservative behavior, don’t push it too far ; in particular, not all homophobes are closeted homosexuals)
@Ohlmann : thank you, I’m sure you’ve hit the mark there. I think the homophobic=closeted argument can be tempting as it harkens back to those heady days when televangelists were constantly getting caught snorting crystal meth out of rent boy’s arse cracks. I agree though that it’s a harmful stereotype.
@Waywatcher of the green
It’s actually pretty easy to peg the self-loathing closet cases: your garden variety homophobe talks about how queers are evil and disgusting and against their religion. The closet cases talk about the urgent need to resist the temptation of gay sex, which is addictive like crack, and once you have it you’ll never want a woman (usually) again.
Was this on the TV show or just the show’s YouTube channel?
@Dalillama
If I’d worked out how to embed videos I’d post the futurama clip of the Preacher-bot.
“Now cuddle with your demons! Mmm mercy ?”
They’re right of course. Kids should learn about sexuality the traditional way: Cluelessly fooling around in highschool. Just ask Sarah Palin.
Oh right, the actual video doesn’t really discuss actual sex, my mistake. Kids certainly don’t need to hear general terms or find out some families have two daddies, no sir. That would just destroy their “psychological development”. *Eye-roll*
Honestly, my biggest takeaway from the song and video is that it’s a quick guide to the most common Pride flags, couched in terms children can understand (e.g. “two mommies” instead of “lesbian”). All while repeating the refrain that families come in many different configurations but the most important thing is that they love each other. It’s kind of taking for granted that parents, whether they count themselves as LGBTQ+ or not, will take their children to see the big colorful parade, and the kids might ask why there are so many different flags.
And that’s beautiful. Rainbows are beautiful.
@ Karalora
Honestly I’ve never been all that impressed with rainbows or colorful parades for that matter. Guess I should throw a fit online, write about how horrible they are and how other people enjoying them are ruining this country’s children with their amoral beliefs?
No it’s not always communism, you know, it’s also Satan, though it’s not an alternative because Satan is included in communism, so it’s omnicomprehensive, so music labels can be notoriously satanists but not really communist, but communism is definitely satanist.
I love when drag queens piss off all the wrong people.
I agree, and also I noticed there’s a clenched fist stencil in the microphone. And on a closer look, it seems it may be holding a pink stripe.
I’m not crying either, you’re all crying either! ????️?
Same, and yep, little catchy song video wins ?♥️
That’s actually a revolutionary queer power fist, but good attention to detail, at least. (Historical note: the upraised fist has always been a revolutionary leftist symbol, but context, background, and sometimes color/pattern can indicate more specific affiliations. It started (as far as can be conclusively shown, there’s some evidence of earlier usage) with the IWW in the early 1910s. Wobblies and unions in general usually have a line drawing of a fist on a white or red background, or a red fist on black. Socialists often put a rose in it. A filled in black fist on a red background or Pan-african flag background is Black Power, while on a rainbow background or with a rainbow fist is Queer Power. Radical feminists (not all of whom are trans-exclusive, and really they aren’t, but anyway) put a Venus symbol around it and use various colors, etc. Any and all of these can be mixed together to show multiple affiliations.
Begging your pardon, sir, but: What brain?
I am intimately familiar with trans beavers.