Bert and Ernie

The recent articles in the press about Sesame Street caused me more than one instance of rolling eyes again recently. Ros Marsden nailed it with this one:

Bert and Ernie

Sesame Street has been around for 42 years, not just "entertaining", mind you, but educating kids of pre-school age on issues that they can understand, like numbers and letters and how to be friendly to people you meet in your neighbourhood. And yet, for some strange reason, the Gay Rights lobby thinks that Bert and Ernie are poster-boys for their cause.

I choose to pass no judgement on the Gay Marriage issue. What I DO have a problem with, is the pushing of this, or any kind of political agenda onto pre-school aged kids. At that age, all kids should be worried about is getting their single digit numbers in the correct order and learning to do things like tying shoe laces. Issues of sexuality won't even register on the minds of a child that age simply because they lack the cognitive abilty to deal with such a complex issue.

Bert and Ernie and their alleged sexuality have found themselves at the centre of debates for do-gooders and PC-advocates-with-nothing-better-to-do for years. They seem to lack an understanding of a concept where two men could live together in a shared environment and, possibly, just maybe even, NOT be gay? No, really! Haven't they ever heard of the idea of "flat mates?" Sharing a living space, sharing the rent and that's all? Even a 4-year old is smart enough to realise that they're just friends and nothing more! Why try and ascribe a more sinister meaning that a kid is not going to understand anyway?

Call me naive if you must, but the Jim Henson organisation has been making wholesome family entertainment for ages. Sesame Street has been doing a great job at what it does for over 4 decades. Let them keep doing it for many more years to come. And may they continue to do what they do without the interference of politics.