The Subversive Penguin Agenda

A day or two ago, our friends over at NYCStories posted a story entitled “Happy Feet, Happy Movie”. A glowing review of the new film, Happy Feet, relates the plot line and tells us:

Happy feet is the story of Mumble a penguin who isn't able to learn to sing his lovesong, and thus he is a misfit in Emperor Penguin society … If this all sounds a bit like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, it is. The difference, however, is in the twist on the story that speaks to the discussion of the old school religious ways vs. more youthful and liberal ways, including hints of the same sex marriage issue going on in society today. (Not to worry America, Mumble is straight and likes a girl.) Mumble is shamed and run out of town by the essentially fanatical religious penguins who make up the old guard and rely on blind faith to lead them out of the current crisis that the penguins are having with their food supply. When they see Mumble's differences, they blame the lack of fish on Mumble's dancing skills and chase him off.

NYCStories concludes their review with the following thought:

Happy Feet is a fun movie, and will do well. I am interested to see if the
religious right picks up on the barely hidden meaning in the movie, and if they
decide to protest what is really one of the cutest movies of the year.

Wow. A subversive PENGUIN movie? Who would have thunk? We were still reeling (and having a lot of fun with) this idea, when we opened up our news page this morning and found this item from the AP Wire:

Gay penguin book shakes up Ill. School

Holy Cow. It’s not a subversive Penguin movie, it’s a whole subversive Penguin MOVEMENT!

From the AP story:

SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is
getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's
availability to children — and the reluctance of school administrators to
restrict access to it.

The payoff, however, comes a little further down the page when a disturbed mother (you can read that remark anyway you like!) recounts how she and her daughter discovered the book:

Lilly Del Pinto thought the book looked charming when her 5-year-old daughter
brought it home in September. Del Pinto said she was halfway through reading it
to her daughter "when the zookeeper said the two penguins must be in love."

"That's when I ended the story," she said.

You go lady. It’s a horrible conspiracy. I’ll be the French are behind it all.

As for us, we’ll be eating scrambled Penguin eggs for breakfast.

We had to destroy the embryo in order to save it.

Sources:
AP Story
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061117/ap_on_re_us/gay_penguins_book_flap_6

NYC Stories:
http://nycstories.blog-city.com/happy_feet_happy_movie.htm