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| Wednesday, September 14, 2005 11:10 AM |
| They're f-ing penguins. Get over it. |
| by poppy |
While in Ithaca visiting my lovely and dear friend who, not insignificantly, is doing her graduate work on gender and the media, brought up that savior of the summer box office, March of the Penguins. She said something to the effect of, isn't it so sweet, the way the birds care for each other? Now, I respect this woman's intelligence highly, and I felt that the fact that she would make such an observation merely highlighted the silliness inherent in both the narration of the film and the advertising for it (particularly the more recent ads which push the "family angle." FYI: not a good kid movie)
I did not think it was sweet the way the penguins cared for one another, because I am not a penguin. I have absolutely no reason to believe that penguins, in their actions and motivations, are like humans in any significant way. Were they damn cute, the way they would nuzzle each other and seemingly kiss each other's necks? Sure thing. I'm a sucker for some cute animals, and especially when the chicks hatched, I was all over it. But I am not comfortable in asserting that these birds feel love or affection in the ways that we understand them.
Some may feel I am being a bit of a killjoy. But Lo! Conservatives are now taking anthropomorphizing to new heights, by suggesting we all take lessons from the penguins (via Blogging baby, since I don't feel like registering for NYT again). Ahem. The film clearly shows that gay marriage is against god. Whether or not that god is our human god or a god of penguins is not clear.
I would like to also state for the record that apparently conservatives either didn't pay attention to the exposition, or are merely taking the bits that support them and leaving the rest (which would, of course, be completely unlike a conservative. Or a liberal, but that's another post). Right from the start it was made clear that penguins are serial monogamists; they do not mate for life. I find it hard to believe that conservatives (or their god) are suggesting we swap partners every 10 months. Or maybe that's a requisite for worshipping the penguin god...
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