Director and producer Frank Oz, the voice of dozens of puppets and muppets and one of Jim Henson’s earliest collaborators, has chimed in to the debate over whether or not Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie are gay.
The decades-old discussion over the nature of Bert and Ernie’s relationship, who shared a basement apartment but slept in different beds, was brought up again after former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman told blog Queerty that he wrote the duo as a couple based on his own real world relationship with film editor Arnold Glassman, according to NBC News.
But Oz shut that idea down, tweeting, “I created Bert. I know what and who he is.”
It seems Mr. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. It’s fine that he feels they are. They’re not, of course. But why that question? Does it really matter? Why the need to define people as only gay? There’s much more to a human being than just straightness or gayness.
— Frank Oz (@TheFrankOzJam) September 18, 2018
I created Bert. I know what and who he is.
— Frank Oz (@TheFrankOzJam) September 18, 2018
Oz continued to go back and forth with Twitter users who asked why the puppets couldn’t be gay.
Agreed. When a character is created to be queer it is indeed important that the character be known as such. It is also important when a character who was not created queer, be accepted as such.
— Frank Oz (@TheFrankOzJam) September 18, 2018
Right. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that if people see positive views of themselves and others in B & E
— Frank Oz (@TheFrankOzJam) September 18, 2018
Sesame Workshop, which produces Sesame Street, originally said that the pair had no sexual orientation and that they were simply “best friends” but on Tuesday, they changed their statement to say the show had always promoted inclusion.
Please see our statement below regarding Bert and Ernie. pic.twitter.com/6r2j0XrKYu
— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) September 18, 2018
Please see our most recent statement regarding Bert and Ernie below. pic.twitter.com/gWTF2k1y83
— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) September 18, 2018
Oz wrote on Twitter that in his mind, he couldn’t call Bert and Ernie gay because it wasn’t honest. But he wrote that he was happy people, regardless of sexual orientation, could see themselves in the characters.
Holy cow! I gotta go!! Been tweeting waaaaaaaaay too long. But it was good. And I learned something profound. Thanks for those who tweeted with me. Next time I would be very interested to know: If Bert and Ernie were indeed gay, would they be different than they are now?
— Frank Oz (@TheFrankOzJam) September 18, 2018
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