Pinky and the Brain - the unambiguously gay cartoon

[keire_ke]

In the words of Duo Maxwell, "Well, fuck me sideways..." <-- I think that's from 'Future of the Past'

It turns out that Pinky and Brain are a couple (so are Yogi and BooBoo for the record). I am doing research for my coursework and have come across this article, which analyses the homoeroticism in cartoons.

"Pinky and Brain share more than physical attraction, however; they begin to represent themselves as a closeted gay couple. A prospective employer asks Brain, ''Are you married?'' After a brief, awkward pause, he responds, ''No. I do have a ... roommate.'' Considering various responses and then deciding on ''roommate'' is (or was) a familiar strategy for hiding same-sex partners from potential homophobes. Brain gets the job and enters corporate culture as a closeted gay man (or mouse), clumsily rejecting a female suitor and inventing a lame explanation for the picture of Pinky on his desk.
When Brain's parents visit, Brain again introduces Pinky as ''my ... um ... roommate.'' The liberated parents are not fooled, however. While constantly criticizing Brain for his poor housekeeping, poor cooking, and unrealistic career goals, they never nag him to ''meet a nice girl'' and get married; obviously, they are aware that he already has a partner. At the end of the episode, Mom and Dad invite the two to visit as a couple at Thanksgiving."

Bear in mind that this is, for a change, a serious, academic essay. o.O This was also written by a guy.

Comments

[merula31]

Well, that one never occured to me... though I must say that I wish I had thought of using cartoons to write academic essays in college. I used to spend hours watching the animaniacs...

[keire-ke.livejournal.com]

I'm an all-round cartoon lover. Both anime and (some) American.

And that gets even deeper - later on the author mentions that in one episode P&B, after combining their genes to have Romy, create a fully functional homosexual family, with none of the so-which-one-is-the-girl crap.

He also kept making comments which really made me gawp. Like:
"Potential heterosexual partners did appear occasionally, and Brain was somewhat swayable, but Pinky steadfastly chose Brain over any other love."

"BRAIN: Let us go back to the lab and prepare for tomorrow night.

PINKY: Why, Brain? What are we going to do tomorrow night?

BRAIN: The same thing we do every night, Pinky. [Pause, while we ponder just what they do every night.] Try to take over the world."

"Although most of the emotional intensity of the cartoon occured between Jonny and Hadji, Jonny's parents, Dr. Quest and Race Bannon, were 'television's most well-adjusted gay couple'."

[merula31]

Not that I'm saying he's wrong, but I thought Pinky had a girlfriend- he had that horse. He was always sighing over her photo- wasn't he? So he was more that swayable- he went both ways. And I thought the pause was for dramatic emphasis. But I'm a lit major, so I would think that.

Okay, the Dr. Quest thing I totally thought about.

[keire-ke.livejournal.com]

Can't remember really, didn't watch it all that much. But he always did stay with Brain didn't he?

Dramatic emphasis is probably what the authors of the the show intended - the author of the essay is kind of biased, I'd say (a fanboy?). Even if you have to admit that some comments Pinky offered when answering 'Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking?' can be taken in an ... odd way.

Which is probably why in 'Real Adventures' they added a/ Jessie, Race daughter for Johnny and b/ a number of women who kept making suggestive comments. (Haven't really watched the original series).

[yami-tai.livejournal.com]

Pinky and Brain share more than physical attraction

*grins* Wow, I've not watched enough episodes to really agree or disagree, but it is interesting that someone would think that ^_^!

[keire-ke.livejournal.com]

It really made me spit my coffee all over my screen. Representing themselves as a closeted gay couple!! I thought I was going to flip.