Kerby Anderson

If you want to see how crazy the culture wars have become, you need look no further than Bert and Ernie on “Sesame Street.” On a fairly regular basis, viewers and political activists have asked if these two are homosexual. The standard response from the program is that they are puppets. If anything, they are merely portraying two best friends on the program. Unfortunately, that standard answer wasn’t acceptable to some. Mark Salzman was the scriptwriter for “Sesame Street” in the 1980s and 1990s. He explained that he always imagined Bert and Ernie as “loving partners” since he had a similar relationship with a homosexual man. The Sesame Workshop issued it’s usual response and ended with the explanation that “they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.” I think you can imagine what happened next. The twitter universe went crazy arguing that this seemingly innocuous statement was “insulting and homophobic.” After all, some argued, “Sesame Street” had no problem showing a romantic relationship between Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. You can probably also imagine how the leadership at “Sesame Street” reacted. No longer can you find the original statement about puppets. Instead, they promoted their belief that “Sesame Street has always stood for inclusion and acceptance.” Apparently, identity politics has entered even into children’s education and entertainment programs. What’s next? Bert has yellow felt for skin. Does that mean he may be Asian? Ernie has orange felt for skin. Does that mean he might be Hispanic? If you think that is a silly argument to make, consider the controversy that erupted simply by saying that Bert and Ernie are felt puppets and “do not have a sexual orientation.” In a world of tribalism, every tribe has to be represented on every TV program. That’s why we are having a culture war over something as simple as a puppet show.