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The Remote Island

Bert and Ernie: Gay? Straight? Does It Matter?

Posted by Lindy Parker

 

We, like so many others worldwide, sometimes find it difficult to put into words how much we love Sesame Street.  We've had lengthy discussions with friends and foes alike about the ways in which the show shaped the way the we see the world.  Feast of Fools hosts Fausto Fernos and Mark Felion feel the same way.  As Fernos says, "It's really because of Sesame Street that so many people in my generation dye their hair blue or orange or red...our comfort with piercings and hair color and body adornment really is an impact from us growing up and embracing these richly diverse fantasy characters."  How true, Fausto.   

In an extensive podcast interview, Michael Davis, author of Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street (a book we recently added to our Amazon wishlist), discusses the  influence of Sesame Street and the constant speculation about the private lives of the Street's most famous muppets...

Fausto Fernos: What's the biggest misconception that people have about Sesame Street that you're hoping to dispel with this book?

Michael Davis:  That Bert and Ernie are gay.  They're happy, but they're not gay...The truth is those characters are a projection of the real life friendship between Jim Henson and Frank Oz...I have to say that Jim Henson and Frank Oz could be the grand marshals of the heterosexual pride parade -- they both like women a lot.

So there you have it people, Bert and Ernie had a bromance...

Visit the Feast of Fools website for the full podcast and to download the Street Gang audiobook for free.

 Previously:

 Cookie Monster's Giving Himself a Good Hard Look


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About Lindy Parker

Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She now writes for hooksexup.com's TV blog, "The Remote Island." She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

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Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

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Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

Nicole Ankowski has lived in Ohio, Oakland, and on the high plains of South Dakota, but is now proud to call Brooklyn home. She wrote for alternative weekly papers in the first two states, and tried to learn Lakota in the last. (The vowels can be tricky.) She just earned her MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Beeswax literary journal. She is unable to resist good writing or bad TV.

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