Jim Henderson would have been very confused to see what Disney has done with his beloved Muppets, or at least with the entertaining alien Gonzo, a character from the Muppets Babies show whom Disney forced (not in the literal sense, as it’s a cartoon) to wear a dress and call himself “Gonzorella” to attend a waltz given by Peggy, the show’s little pig.
Gonzo has always been a man, unless we have misinterpreted (since aliens, unlike humans, do not have sex). Or, perhaps, they do, and Gonzo’s platonic love for Peggy (who always preferred Kermit) is, in truth, a somewhat “strange” and impossible dream, and Disney comes to reveal the sordid reality 31 years after Henderson’s death.
The truth is that Gonzo has always been a male alien and Disney once again prostituted an iconic character from the children’s world to turn him into a standard bearer for one of the political causes of its little Democrat friends: transsexuality in childhood.
For years, progressives have wanted to sell the idea that gender is merely a social construct, and it is not right to permeate children by such archaic constructions where they are “forced” to define themselves as male or female, that is, according to their sex.
Progressive parents, as the good parents they are, prefer that their children define themselves and that they decide what they are regardless of what their genitals tell them, after all, what can be wrong with a child with gender dysphoria?
And that’s where our friend Gonzo comes in, who is convinced by a rat godmother in the chapter that he can be whatever he wants to be, and if he decides to be a princess, well, it’s his right to be if he wants to be, and after waving a wand, Gonzo becomes a beautiful “princess” with glass shoes named “Gonzorella.”
Naturally, Gonzo was afraid of having his charade discovered, and it is only at the end of the chapter that he (or she) —God knows what Gonzo’s gender is at this point— is revealed to be the enigmatic Gonzorella who attended Peggy’s waltz. Then the muppet becomes a “princess” as the other characters cry out in ecstasy.
The problem behind Gonzo’s dress
Although we are not clear about Gonzo’s gender, the message is clear: “parents, your children can dress or pretend to be whatever they want and you don’t have the authority to tell them otherwise”.
I don’t know at what point did gender roles become a bad thing, even though there is no culture where gender roles don’t exist, the woke media and Disney seem to be adamant in insisting that they do.
The vast majority of children have no problem with the gender they are born with, and they like to dress and identify themselves as such. Less than 0.005% of minors in the United States suffer from gender dysphoria, as to be presented as a “universal” problem of childhood.
Disney again insists on prostituting another iconic children’s series to teach “values” and does not question in the least the message it may be giving to children. In return, their Democrat cronies protect their substantial intellectual property portfolio in the courts. A portfolio, by the way, that Disney has hoarded by bleeding creators, authors and companies; and with which it threatens to sue any artist who dares to make a cartoon that resembles one of Disney’s patented nonesense.
Telling a child that his or her sex does not define him or her as male or female can not only lead to confusion at an age when the brain is still developing, but can also lead to long-term damaging psychological trauma. Gender dysphoria is associated with other mental health problems, and those who suffer from it usually also suffer from low self-esteem, become isolated, can suffer from anxiety and depression, and often engage in dangerous behaviors such as self-harm and even suicide.
This is not about making life harder for people with gender dysphoria, nor is it about discriminating against them. It is about not inculcating by culture in our children what does not come by nature. If our child does not suffer from gender dysphoria, what need is there to inculcate it? What need is there to tell him or her to feel non-conforming with his or her sex?
If what Disney wants to do is to “make visible” a phenomenon or the problems of childhood, then let them start doing it with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Down Syndrome, social problems such as bullying, mistreatment or abandonment during early childhood, or orphanhood. All of these are problems that also severely affect early childhood and, in fact, in greater proportion.
However, Disney does not and probably will not do so because these problems —and many times their solutions— do not give rise to a cheap empowerment story as almost all of its productions after “Finding Nemo” have been.
A child, and more so at an early age, is a mind still in formation and extremely vulnerable to the influence of cartoons, and consequently tries to replicate the things he or she sees on TV. What happened to the times when the Muppets were an apolitical show and it was all about teaching interesting details about the world and universal values such as respect and friendship?
Economist, writer and liberal. With a focus on finance, the war on drugs, history, and geopolitics // Economista, escritor y liberal. Con enfoque en finanzas, guerra contra las drogas, historia y geopolítica