The sexual orientation of the Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie has been a debate for as long as the show has been on air. For most normal children who grew up watching the show, the sexuality of the puppets was probably not something that was on their radar. They were presented as two best friends who happened to live together, and it was that simple.
But the debate is being discussed with vigor recently. Mark Saltzman, who was a writer for the show from 1981 until 1990, said in an interview with Queerty that “when [he] was writing Bert and Ernie, they were gay.”
Saltzman, who is gay himself, felt he “didn’t have any other way to contextualize them. He said later these comments were taken out of context, but it did nothing to appease the heated debate among the avid believers of the conspiracy and those who see the muppets as just friends. Sesame Street’s Twitter page, The Sesame Workshop, addressed the recent “outing” of Bert and Ernie by denying Saltzman’s statements in the most kid-friendly let-down imaginable. They say that “Bert and Ernie were created to be best friends, and to teach young children that people can get along with those who are very different from themselves.”
What makes childhood so nostalgic is the naivety that comes along with it. Sexual orientation, politics, war: these are things to which children are blissfully unaware. There was no reason Sesame Street had to address the relationship status of Bert and Ernie. In the 21st century, children are going to become introduced to actual obscene concepts at a much younger age. Children’s TV shows should try to harbor the innocence of their audience for as long as possible.
Sure, Sesame Street’s mission is to help children become acquainted with the idea that they are going to meet people that are different from them. That being said, children are not credited enough in their ability to be pretty apathetic about most things. It would be fine for a children’s television show to introduce characters that are part of the LGBTQ community, but more likely than not, a child will not care long enough to take their fingers out of their noses. It is a concept that has a place on a show with an older demographic. The only people who cared about Bert and Ernie’s sexual identities are the adults who have been watching the show for a while. Sesame Street should not have had to put out the statement because, essentially, creators were only trying to pacify grown people with Twitter accounts. The kids that watch the show are not concerned with the relationship status of the muppets. All they care about is how good of friends the two are.
Photo provided by Pixabay
