full image - Repost: [Arthur] "I never thought I’d be going to battle for a gay rat wedding, but here we are": The marriage of Mr. Ratburn, the Arthur fans it upset, and the censoring of a cartoon rodent’s homosexuality. (from Reddit.com, [Arthur] "I never thought I’d be going to battle for a gay rat wedding, but here we are": The marriage of Mr. Ratburn, the Arthur fans it upset, and the censoring of a cartoon rodent’s homosexuality.)
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Hey! What a wonderful kind of day… to look back on some hobby drama involving everybody’s favorite gay cartoon rat! This is the tale of how Mr. Ratburn’s wedding caught the internet off guard, leading to undoubtedly the most legendary, and sadly controversial, day in the history of the Arthur fandom. And now the story of Arthur’s long fight for queer representation, the people the show angered along the way, and the fans who came to the creators’ defense.What is Arthur?Arthur is a multimedia franchise, created by author and illustrator Marc Brown. Originating with a 1976 picture book, Arthur’s Nose, many sequels followed, and throughout the 80s and early 90s Arthur became a popular face in the children’s sections of bookstores and libraries. The series focuses upon the simple life of eight-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark Arthur Read and the people... er... animals around him, such as his bratty little sister D.W., his best friend Buster Baxter, and his strict third-grade teacher Mr. Ratburn.In the 90s, the American animation industry was going through a boom. More high-quality original television animation was being produced than at any time before. Popular cable channels like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network had become household names and were attracting more and more eyes away from the standard avenues of children's TV. To the Public Broadcasting System, the solution was to produce their own cartoons. PBS thus started the practice of making fully-animated series as opposed to only children’s shows that used live-action or puppetry, like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street.The first of the PBS cartoons, The Magic School Bus, debuted in 1994 to great success, showing PBS that adapting a popular series of picture books to animation was a winning formula. The same year, they approached Brown to adapt Arthur. He agreed, as long as he maintained a large amount of creative control over the final product.PBS was likely not anticipating just how successful Arthur would be, becoming one of their flagship programs and constantly being renewed for further episodes. Arthur ran from 1996 to 2022, airing a total of 493 segments over the course of 25 seasons. It is currently the second longest-running American animated series, solely beaten by The Simpsons. In a landscape where most animated shows only last a few years, Arthur managed to beat the odds, always being just popular enough to keep going until its series finale in February 2022.The reasons for the unexpected success of Arthur are probably manifold, but I will observe that there isn’t really anything else like in the pantheon of PBS children's programming. Yes, it’s intended for young kids, but the early seasons had an oddly sardonic edge and observational wit to it that separated it from its siblings on the same channel. Compared to the sickening sweetness of Barney and Friends, Arthur’s reflections on realistic childhood fears, the struggles of life, and lessons on how sometimes you just can’t get what you want in life seem outright alien.Arthur And the InternetFor being such a long-running cartoon, with lots of video games, toys, and product tie-ins that come with it, Arthur has made his mark on pop culture. Even in the ancient days of the internet, the series drew attention from adult viewers who made fan sites and forums to discuss it, almost none of which are longer active. As early as 1999, possibly even before that, Arthur fans had their own sites to conjugate and discuss the series. Perhaps the most famous of these was Elwood City Downtown Core, which had reviews and discussions of each episode, news of upcoming seasons, and even fan art. Its earliest saved incarnation can be found here:https://ift.tt/Sn46JBx the OG adult Arthur fans, the series got renewed internet recognition as the target audience of children grew into adulthood. Arthur spawned many iconic memes which you have probably encountered in the wild. From “That sign can’t stop me because I can’t read!” to “You really think somebody would do that, just go on the internet and tell lies?”, a number of moments from the show have been constantly been referenced and remixed on social media throughout the years.It would amiss to talk about the show’s history and not mention that adult fans generally think the show declined in value over the years. The first four or so seasons are often considered the best in animation and writing quality, with the unique charm being lost as cast members and writers, including original head writer Joe Fallon, left as the seasons progressed. The show switching to flash animation and seasons getting shorter as the result of lower budgets further led to adult viewers being unsatisfied.Wow, That’s A Lot of Moms!So now we get to the meat of our story, focusing upon the backlash to when the franchise has portrayed LGBT characters. Arthur is very progressive when it comes to portraying queerness, going all the way back to the mid-00s. In 2004, the character of Buster received his own spinoff, Postcards from Buster. This series has Buster, a rabbit, traveling across the United States with his father, meeting actual live-action children and their families in a pseudo-documentary fashion. Intended to teach about the diversity of American culture and geography, the show ran into a major controversy in January of 2005, putting PBS in the crosshairs of the culture wars.The episode in question, “Sugar Time,” sees Buster visit Vermont to learn about maple syrup production. The featured gang of children he meets are raised by two lesbian couples. This dynamic is not the main focus of the episode, with it being little commented upon besides Buster saying, “Wow, that’s a lot of moms!”. At the time, same-sex marriage was illegal in every state except Massachusetts, although Vermont had civil union laws granting same-sex couples all the same legal rights as married straight people had. In short, this episode was downright groundbreaking, and it’s somewhat surprising that’s it overlooked in retrospectives of LGBT representation in kids’ TV.Of course, this was not without major controversy coming from conservatives, up to and including the Bush administration. Margaret Spellings, the United States Secretary of Education, decried the content of the episode, noting that the Department of Education had funded the show without knowledge of its script, and demanded that the money used in the production of “Sugar Time” be returned. PBS dropped the episode in response to the outcry, though dozens of local stations opted to still air it. Fox News and other conservative outlets took aim at the show, with Bill O’Reilly saying “I wouldn't want Buster hopping into a bigamy situation in Utah. I wouldn't want him hopping into an S&M thing in the East Village… So, let's keep Buster out of the sexual realm in all areas!”The LGBT community condemned Spellings and the self-censorship by PBS, while being supportive of the Arthur crew for standing by the episode. The featured families expressed disappointment over the controversy and how it affected their children: “When Buster the Bunny paid us a visit last year, we never imagined that it would create such a firestorm across the country… Our children grew up watching Buster, DW and the rest of the gang on "Arthur" and they were both proud and excited to introduce other kids to Vermont and to the family and home that they love… This chain of events, beginning with Spellings’ condemnation of Gay and Lesbian-run families being shown on Public TV as an actual segment of the United States, sent a very clear message to my children: You and your family are not worthy, not valid, and not accepted.”Shortly after the controversy, PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell announced that she would resign in 2006. Many believed the Buster incident played a part in this, though it was denied.It’s A Nice Day for A Rat WeddingYou might assume that the Sugar Time controversy would’ve turned the Arthur writers off from ever venturing near the topic of homosexuality again. But they eventually returned with a vengeance. On May 13, 2019, the 22nd season premiere of Arthur was broadcast. The first of the two segments, entitled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone”, sees Arthur and his coterie find out that their teacher Mr. Ratburn will be married. The focus of the episode is mostly the group misunderstanding that Ratburn will marry somebody horrid, and their failed attempt to sabotage the wedding. Thankfully, all works well when Arthur finds out Ratburn’s groom is a gentleman.Wait… groom? Yes, Mr. Ratburn, a reoccurring character since the first season, is casually disclosed to be gay in the last 45 seconds of the episode. This was not brought up at all in any of the promotional material, meaning that it was not until the episode aired that it became a topic of conversation. The fact that Ratburn married a man went viral on Twitter, easily becoming the biggest news story related to Arthur until its cancellation a few years later. These twenty minutes of fame led to lots of news articles, memes, and fanart, my personal favorite being The Onion headline “PBS Defends ‘Arthur’ Episode Where Mr. Ratburn Reveals He’s The Ultimate Twink Power Bottom”.While fan reaction was mostly positive, there were many people upset by this “display of the gay agenda”. The official Arthur Facebook page saw a flood of negative comments from conservative parents triggered by the episode. These complaints still remain on those posts to this day and include the following:“All for gay marriage but not at the age you are targeting, pretty messed up....”“So sad a children's cartoon has to be TAINTED with a homosexual episode. Children should not be exposed to this disgusting lifestyle. That's where AIDS started.”“Disgusting and outrageous to push the gay lifestyle indoctrination unto our children!!”“It seems Arthur is now pushing a liberal agenda at our our kids. What's next? An episode where Francine's older sister gets pregnant and gets an abortion? I wouldn't put it past them! Goodbye, Arthur.”“This is an entirely inappropriate platform for this subject matter. People have a right to marry whom they choose. But I don't want this agenda item pushed on my child in a manner that I did not select. I should'nt have to screen a cartoon for material like this. But I guess now I do. And before you say it, YES! I must definitely WILL be changing the channel! No replies or comments required.”“Thank you, writers of the show, for indoctrinating our children with your liberal personal beliefs and lifestyles (Gay marriage episode) Since, you have no problem with pushing this on our kids, I expect to see the tolerant liberals do an Arthur show where Arthur and his friends meet missionaries who teach them about Jesus and His salvation. It would only be fair, now wouldn't it?”“I'm very disappointed to find my kids watching this episode today. This is a topic that should be a parent's choice on how to share and when to share. We will not be watching PBS in our home anymore.”“Let me just say I am not excited, I am disappointed. PBS Kids and Arthur are not displaying everyone's views, only the ones they wish to support. There was no warning, no allowance for parents to not watch this episode. It is underhanded way to try to indoctrinate the views of children. We will never be watching Arthur again.”“Our seven children have grown up being entertained by numerous PBS kids shows over the past 25 years. Arthur has long been a favorite and I am saddened by the decision to create an episode portraying Mr. Ratburn's "marriage" to another man. My youngest 2 will no longer be viewing any PBS programs.”“Excuse me? Words have failed me to express my disgust and disappointment at your choice concerning the character of Mr. Ratburn. Indoctrination at its best. All of my support for PBS kids is withdrawn, which is really too bad because it used to be great. Now I'm thoroughly disgusted.”“This show will never be on in our house again. It was always a favorite but no more.”“Very upset Arthur has joined the lgbt propaganda this is def not something my kids will watch. God have mercy and to clarify, we don’t hate the people that are that way we just hate everything the Lord is against. God made Adam and Eve if you don’t like it well truth is still truth.”Beyond social media cranks, the episode received condemnation from more powerful people. Alabama Public Television did not broadcast the episode, stating that doing so would be a “violation of trust” to viewers. The episode being pulled led to much mockery from its supporters and upset many who saw it as homophobic censorship. One defender of the episode, Alabama resident Misty Souder, was interviewed saying, “There’s too much going on not to stand up for stuff, even if it’s Arthur. I never thought I’d be going to battle for a gay rat wedding, but here we are.” The term “gay rat wedding” further highlighted the absurdity of the conservative recoiling and people began using it in conversation about the affair.Politicians threaten to defund PBSThe episode even led to backlash from a member of congress. Doug Lamborn, the representative of Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, wrote an essay entitled “PBS Is Indoctrinating Our Kids. It’s Time to Defund Them.” In part, it reads:“PBS—the Public Broadcasting Service—which recently aired a surprising episode of the children’s show “Arthur” titled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone.” In this episode, PBS writers deemed it appropriate to preach their liberal views on same-sex marriage to America’s young children: The episode featured—and celebrated—a same-sex wedding.After the episode, many conservatives, including Rev. Franklin Graham and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, came out in opposition. Even the state of Alabama opted against airing the program and instead barred the episode from Alabama Public Television.When confronted with criticism, Marc Brown, the creator of “Arthur,” explained: “That’s not the kind of world we want to live in, and we want children educated so they can see there’s not just one type of family.”Taxpayers now know with complete certainty that the goal of the PBS cartoon is to impart social liberalism to children.Enough is enough. It is time to stop sending our hard-earned tax money to support programming that is objectionable to many Americans.That’s why I’m reintroducing a bill to cut off all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS.”This “Anti-Ratburn Bill” never went anywhere, but it’s a good illustration of the insanity of our elected leaders.And Now a Word from Marc BrownAs soon as the media buzz had started, it was over. The conservatives moved on to new things to freak out about, the curious onlookers and supporters had their fill, and the small hardcore Arthur fandom found new things to talk about. Nonetheless, the saga remains a reminder of both how far we have come with respect to queer rights, and how easily we could fall again in the near future. As for Ratburn himself, he stayed a series regular for the few remaining episodes, his husband Patrick appearing alongside him twice more.For his part, Arthur creator Marc Brown expressed pride in the support that the episode received from the majority of the fandom, who saw it as a great example of properly doing an LGBT portrayal in a kids’ show. Addressed the controversy, he said,"I had a wonderful friend in Fred Rogers [of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood] …. What he taught me was how to use television to be helpful to kids and families. That's kind of where I come from and that's what we try to do with the show."
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