The Blue's Clues Pride Parade πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ Sing-Along Ft. Nina West!
June 1, 2021 8:33 PM   Subscribe

 
What a time to be alive!
posted by longtime_lurker at 9:06 PM on June 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


Wow, it took me a minute to realize that this is really from Blue's Clues, and not a parody. Good on them! Also, a bit funny that there is both a large number of likes and dislikes, at a ratio of 4:3. Sounds about right for the contemporary world.
posted by anhedonic at 9:10 PM on June 1, 2021


It really goes on too long. I was sold on two daddies and two mommies. It's actually boring. (When Johnny Comes Marching Home is your theme music? Why not just wave a confederate battle standard?)
posted by SPrintF at 10:40 PM on June 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


It really goes on too long.

I happen to work at the studio that makes Blues Clues. If there's one thing I know about them, it's that they like loooooong shots. I believe that part of the premise of the show is that you can keep a toddler's attention for a long time on a slow-moving show if you do it right.
posted by clawsoon at 10:57 PM on June 1, 2021 [26 favorites]


Thank you for that insight, clawsoon.
posted by SPrintF at 11:08 PM on June 1, 2021


The emphasis on wholesomeness and families and children is a little discordant when looking at the current discussions on Twitter about whether or not kink (both representational and as active behaviour) belongs at Pride. You can't really have a family-friendly event when some members of the crowd are defending what they consider to be their right to fuck in public and otherwise indulge their fetishes.
posted by jokeefe at 12:33 AM on June 2, 2021


It really goes on too long. I was sold on two daddies and two mommies. It's actually boring.

The emphasis on wholesomeness and families and children is a little discordant when looking at the current discussions on Twitter about whether or not kink (both representational and as active behaviour) belongs at Pride. You can't really have a family-friendly event when some members of the crowd are defending what they consider to be their right to fuck in public and otherwise indulge their fetishes.

All the rest of us dirty queers and transes can fuck off then, got it. When we're not too politically toxic for you to stand up and defend us, we're too "boring" to get a callout in a Pride-themed cartoon.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 1:11 AM on June 2, 2021 [15 favorites]


Yes, that's exactly what I said, I definitely referred to "dirty queers and transes" and called people politically toxic. FFS. I made an observation regarding a current debate in the community which I've been following on Twitter, one which I am not even participating in but which came to mind watching this earnest cartoon, which relies heavily on the images of children and families as part of Pride. I told no one to fuck off. I'm a lesbian; I'm allowed to have opinions on Pride.
posted by jokeefe at 1:32 AM on June 2, 2021


Thank goodness we can finally talk about kink in pride! I'm sure the thread about this lovely and heartwarmingly inclusive cartoon is the perfect venue for it. This is going well!
posted by death valley compound at 1:50 AM on June 2, 2021 [26 favorites]


The arguments about "no kink in pride" is exactly why something like this is needed, because, you know, all of queer existence is deemed inherently not safe for children.

The Blues Clues Parade is one part of changing that mindset by showing kids that being queer is a simple part of life on a level that the young children it is aimed at can understand.

Meanwhile, the idea that kink at pride is inherently sexual and something you can object to "because you didn't consent to it" is the adult version of queer people being inherently sexual in a way we'd never talk about cisallohet people.

That you think dressing a certain way or being topless is sexual is no more justified when it comes to queer people at pride then it is to scold women for going topless at a beach or school girls for dressing too provocatively around teenage boys.

Finally, so much of the "no kink at pride" mindset comes from people profoundly ignorant of Pride and its history at best, but is mostly fanned by rightwing homphobes, terfs and 4-channers each year to try and divide the queer communities.

So yes, Shirley, you can be in favour of kink at Pride AND like the Blues Clues Parade.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:03 AM on June 2, 2021 [17 favorites]


When we're not too politically toxic for you to stand up and defend us, we're too "boring" to get a callout in a Pride-themed cartoon.

It was a comment about a movie, not a judgement on a lifestyle. And with clawsoon's input, I understand that this was aimed at kids. I think it's great that kids understand about extended families.
posted by SPrintF at 2:58 AM on June 2, 2021


You can't really have a family-friendly event when some members of the crowd are defending what they consider to be their right to fuck in public and otherwise indulge their fetishes.

My emphasis added, but this is a straw-man and no one is defending the right to have sex at Pride. Folsom Street Fair, an actual 18+ event? That's a different story.

The current discourse is about kink at Pride. About whether Leather Daddies, harnesses, pup hoods, and the like are welcome. It's a pushback against the corporate sanitization of what is supposed to be an unapologetic display of one's true self.

There's no reason why any of this is especially un-friendly to families. You really just need to tell your kids that they're costumes. Harnesses and a lot of other fetishwear is already somewhat mainstreamed. No one's saying that BTS is "imposing" their kink on children. It's just a harness, it's just a costume.

This cartoon does a good job of explaining that you'll see lots of different people at the parade. It's lots of people, lots of costumes, that's all kids need to hear.
posted by explosion at 5:00 AM on June 2, 2021 [10 favorites]


"no kink at pride" are you telling me you would say no TO HIM? (Adorable dachshund puppy dressed in leather).
posted by MartinWisse at 5:48 AM on June 2, 2021


It's a pushback against the corporate sanitization of what is supposed to be an unapologetic display of one's true self.
There's a long and complicated discussion to be had about "corporate pride" (disclaimer: I'm generally okay with it), but it think it's very much worth noting that the "no kink at Pride" push has not come from the corporate sponsors.

"Family friendly" is one of the oldest homophobic dogwhistles in the book, and it's pretty upsetting to see it being adopted by people who should know better (especially alongside the other trope of unfounded accusations of pedophilia and sexualizing children).

Anyway, I'm unironically glad that corporate America is willing to stick its neck out and show a bland, boring, rote depiction of queer people simply existing (as literal families). This thread alone is evidence that even this plainest-of-plain statements will drag the homophobes out of the woodwork, and force us queer people to once again defend our right to exist.
posted by schmod at 6:00 AM on June 2, 2021 [6 favorites]


What sort of bland boring queer people are you seeing in this video?! There are astronaut dinosaurs, buck-toothed beavers, zebras wearing rainbow leg warmers, a kitty in a cowboy hat (my favorite), a porpoise in a wheelchair, an owl in a hijab, and a couple of daddy bears. Also some snails and some weasel-looking things which I'm sure a ferret enthusiast will correct me about and a winged horse and some turtles and... All presided over by a fabulous drag queen and a blue dog.

Yeah there's no kink on display but I think in the context of, you know, a TV show for 3-5 year olds they did a pretty good job conveying diversity with a variety of brightly colored animated paper cutouts of animals. I'm all for supporting kink at pride! But I'm also for the liberal agenda of indoctrinating little kids with queer-positive inclusive messages and this video seems to advance that cause pretty well.

My confusion was it seems to be a song about escalating polyamory. When they got up to "families marching eight by eight" I was like "I fully support my poly friends, but isn't eight people in a relationship awfully complicated?" Then I realized it was just a counting song and we were counting eight different kinds of queer families, not families with eight parents. I guess this isn't a stealth Sense8 reboot.

Also how come no one is talking about changing the meter of the song by adding a stanza for "the big parade"?! Can you really do that to a song? It seems to work.
posted by Nelson at 7:40 AM on June 2, 2021 [9 favorites]


Previously in Blue's Clues to The Queer Agenda: P is full of Pride, an LGBT cameo in an alphabet song.
posted by Nelson at 7:46 AM on June 2, 2021


So yes, Shirley, you can be in favour of kink at Pride AND like the Blues Clues Parade.

Who is Shirley? If you have an issue with a specific user or a specific comment, it's less sexist to respond to them directly instead of using a random woman's name as your imaginary opponent.
posted by betweenthebars at 8:38 AM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Hi all, coming to this thread belatedly to say, this is a clip from a tv show for preschool children, so it's pretty natural that it's a repetitious, simple, small-kid-friendly, family-centric presentation. The collision of different contextual spaces is causing different fights to overlap here, one where the phrase/concept "family friendly" might be a dogwhistle that aims to exclude people from Pride, but the clip isn't trying to do that or take a position on that even though it is trying to be kid-friendly and is about families. Hopefully we can talk about the clip in its own right while also recognizing that other context (where "family friendly" can be used as a tool of exclusion) exists. As always, see the Community Guidelines for more.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:49 AM on June 2, 2021 [5 favorites]


Nelson: “Also how come no one is talking about changing the meter of the song by adding a stanza for "the big parade"?! Can you really do that to a song? It seems to work.”
It's been known to happen.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:52 AM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


Also how come no one is talking about changing the meter of the song by adding a stanza for "the big parade"?! Can you really do that to a song? It seems to work.

The real controversy. Because boy did that feck me up the first times I heard this.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:39 AM on June 2, 2021


Hmm. Good as far as at it goes, including non-binary, bi, pan, and ace, but it excludes intersex. Hmm.
posted by Quasirandom at 10:06 AM on June 2, 2021


Intersex is explicitly included, see the bunnies hopping along with intersex pride flags at 2:17. I'm not aware of the specific gender identities of the... are they buffalo? ... on family #8 but there's an intersex flag riding on their float. Note the .. yak? .. with the crown is also carrying a staff with a Black Power salute fist on it. In their horns is a frog family, also wearing a crown, with a rainbow flag with a Black Power salute inset on the background of a trans pride flag. Pretty sure that's an LGBTQIA+ bingo right there on the one frame at 2:24.
posted by Nelson at 10:28 AM on June 2, 2021 [2 favorites]


When Johnny Comes Marching Home is your theme music? Why not just wave a confederate battle standard?

Patrick Gilmore, who wrote "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," was a bandleader in the Union army and he wrote the song for his sister, who was waiting for her fiancΓ©, a Union army officer. "Johnny" was a common name in early 19th century songs and is not Johnny Reb.

Gilmore later founded the precursors to the Boston Pops and Madison Square Garden.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:27 AM on June 2, 2021 [11 favorites]


So yes, Shirley, you can be in favour of kink at Pride AND like the Blues Clues Parade.

I feel like this is probably a Yes Virginia mixed with Shirley/surely but either way it's at best a bit condescending and unnecessary.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:04 PM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


Ah, I stand corrected. Totally missed the bunny's flags amid the other business. Thanks, Nelson.
posted by Quasirandom at 12:24 PM on June 2, 2021


wow, I thought this was a totally good and innocent, positive thing

I'm not sure that first impression is wrong in any way, but wasn't prepared to see the strong opinions here
posted by elkevelvet at 2:21 PM on June 2, 2021


Metafilter: I wasn't prepared to see the strong opinions here
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:36 PM on June 2, 2021 [3 favorites]


A goat died at the Metafilter Pride Parade that day.
posted by clawsoon at 4:52 PM on June 2, 2021


When Johnny Comes Marching Home is your theme music?

It's a tune widely known to children because The Ants Go Marching is popular with the under-10 set.
posted by LindsayIrene at 4:54 PM on June 2, 2021 [5 favorites]


Folks on twitter have been pointing out details, including a lesbian owl in a hijab, a non-binary parent dolphin in a wheelchair, a trans beaver with top surgery scars, and other things too. There's a lot going on in those 3ish minutes that is making people feel seen and appreciated and recognized for the first time. Kind of awesome, really.
posted by hippybear at 8:20 PM on June 2, 2021 [8 favorites]


Minor linguistic note: they included the word "queer" in a mainstream cartoon for preschoolers. That'll be that reclaimed then? As hippybear said, a lot going on. I'm agog.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:48 AM on June 3, 2021 [3 favorites]


"Queer" is a word whose reclamation depends on which generation and which group you talk to, but seemingly has broader acceptance towards reclamation than the f & t slurs.
posted by i used to be someone else at 8:35 AM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]


Has everyone fought enough, or does anyone want to talk about Meghan McCain using Nina West as a fig leaf to her husband's transphobia?
posted by bookwo3107 at 8:51 AM on June 3, 2021


Β―\_(ツ)_/Β― drag artists have a complex relationship with the trans community.

while there have been trans femme and trans woman rpdr contestants, the majority are cis gay men who aren't immune to having some questionable beliefs about who and what trans people are.

meghan mccain and her ilk are your average mediocre cishet white women who think being self-described "allies" means they're good people, even if they never push back against cishet white men's bigotry, so that's absolutely no surprise there.

i'm not sure what there is to discuss? is this an actual surprise to anyone? especially since it's from 2019?
posted by i used to be someone else at 9:22 AM on June 3, 2021


In the interest of being a decent community member, I'm going to apologize for dropping an early, shitty take in this thread. It was a combination of a late night, life stress, and too much time reading highly emotional Twitter rants. I'll keep in mind the Mefi guidelines in future.
posted by jokeefe at 11:24 AM on June 3, 2021 [2 favorites]


Has everyone fought enough, or does anyone want to talk about...

I pray for the day that everyone on MetaFilter has fought enough.
posted by hippybear at 10:42 PM on June 3, 2021


It's a tune widely known to children because The Ants Go Marching is popular with the under-10 set.

"Ants Marching" is popular with the over-50 set
posted by kirkaracha at 9:15 PM on June 5, 2021 [1 favorite]


"Ants Marching" is popular with the over-50 set

This is a true statement, but I'm having a lot of trouble accepting it. I mean, 1995 can't have been more than 25 years ago, and I was only in my 20's at the time anyway...
posted by mikelieman at 5:57 AM on June 6, 2021 [2 favorites]


The over-50 set... those must be those geriatric Millennials I keep hearing about.
posted by hippybear at 8:58 AM on June 6, 2021 [1 favorite]


The over-50 set... those must be those geriatric Millennials I keep hearing about.

geriatric gen-X
posted by mikelieman at 2:17 PM on June 6, 2021


shhhh. don't mention us, and they won't notice us!
posted by hippybear at 3:06 PM on June 6, 2021 [1 favorite]


Celebrating Pride Month With Blue & Josh! Opening Mail, a companion to the animated parade video. Featuring lots of cute video clips of kids talking about what pride means to them.
posted by Nelson at 7:59 AM on June 21, 2021


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