Pinky and his "lifestyle choice"

[David Lucas]

Okay now, I had always had the feeling that Pinky was umm......."playing for the other team" during the show. He was constantly wearing make up, and playing wife. That one episode where he was like "I slave over a hot pellet dish (or something) all day for THIS?!"

But after seeing Wakko's Wish........

Come on, I understand that they made the horse, Farfignewton, look like Pinky for comical reasons, but that horse is NOT a girl.

Anyone else think Pinky might be homosexual? (not sayin it as a bad thing or anything)

[VashTheStampede]

You have too much time on your hands.

[Anthonynotes]

Okay now, I had always had the feeling that Pinky was umm......."playing for the other team" during the show. He was constantly wearing make up, and playing wife. That one episode where he was like "I slave over a hot pellet dish (or something) all day for THIS?!"

But after seeing Wakko's Wish........

Come on, I understand that they made the horse, Farfignewton, look like Pinky for comical reasons, but that horse is NOT a girl.

Anyone else think Pinky might be homosexual? (not sayin it as a bad thing or anything)

YAKKO VOICE: Aaaaaaahhhh.... I don't think so.

For starters, being a cross-dresser does not automatically equal being gay; Pinky just enjoys playing "dress-up" :-).

Second, I'm quite certain Phar Fig Newton is female (see: "Jockey For Position" from A!)...

Third, we've seen various other females Pinky's been enamorated with over the years:

- That one episode of PatB with the sea lion(?).

- From the wretched PEatB spinoff, a female pig he falls for.

- From PatB's "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again", the sock puppet he's enamorated with is named Margaret.

-B.
Hoping this isn't the start of some inane flame war-thingamajig...

[Magentabeams]

I think the cross dressing was just for comical reasons. I am pretty sure that Phar Fig Newton was a girl. Because, in Wakko's Wish they can her a "she" in the scene where she won't move.

Sarahanne

[robert]

Not that I agree about any of those theories on Pinky, but there was that time in "Whatever Happened to Baby Brain" when Brain was a 30's child star that Pinky had to be his mom, and he did have curlers on and he seemed to really believe he was Brain's mommy[but you can also say he did cause he's very stupid]Plus he did say to Brain "Hold the door for a lady, dear" at the end. I'm sure that's more fuel for the one man fire, but again, I don't agree.

[BrendaBat]

Didn't the PatB writers hint at this in the Romey episode? For those of you who who don't remember, thats the one where Pinky and Brain have a son together via a cloning machine accident (Brain's reaction was priceless )
In it, Pinky happily insisted that they act as Romey's "mom and dad" and they are referred to as Romey's parents through the whole episode.
The best (and most shocking) line was at the end

-Pinky: So what are we going to do now, Brain?
-Brain: We're going back to the lab to do the same thing we do everynight!
-Pinky: Oh, not tonight Brain, I have a headache

I'll let you draw your own conclusions

[Pearl]

Originally posted by BrendaBat
-Pinky: So what are we going to do now, Brain?
-Brain: We're going back to the lab to do the same thing we do everynight!
-Pinky: Oh, not tonight Brain, I have a headache.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions

First of all, I'd like to apologize for digging this up...

(*laughs hysterically at the quote*) OMG!! Oh, man! I also suspected something was going on between those two... and I even had a fic up at the now completely crappy Fanfiction.Net about it. Yup, Pinky and The Brain slash. Very, very mild. The most that happens is a kiss... very sad story, though... got a lot of good reviews for it.

(*looks around nervously*) Considering I live at Acme Labs, I just hope the boys don't catch me writing this... (eep.)

[Sharklady]

"The World Can Wait" and "The Third Mouse" both indicate Brain likes girl mice (albeit not as much as taking over the world.)

And Pinky is as disconnected as a tossed salad. He may not even know where baby mice come from.

BTW: Pharfignewton was consistantly called 'she' in her debut ep, "Jockey For Position."

[RockItShipper]

Lifestyle choice ? You'd have to be really touched in the head to choose to be gay.

As for Pinky... crossdressing isn't a sign of homosexuality, unless it's specifically used in a 'camp' context. Camp is an attack on traditional gender and sexual roles. And of course, those politics don't really exist in a cartoon universe made for children- nor the possibility of Pinky being depicted as noticing a guy as he has a girl in the examples given. A fair context for judging the possibility of gay cartoon characters does not exist. There is still too much of an overall inclination towards heterosexuality and/or playing it safe in the current market.

I think the implications of 'Romey' were pretty interesting, though. And maybe they'll be addressed in a critical context one day. Or in a manner similiar to the one Disney's "Spin and Marty" serials from the '50s were mentioned in Tales From the City.

Originally posted by Pearl
...I even had a fic up at the now completely crappy Fanfiction.Net about it. Yup, Pinky and The Brain slash. Very, very mild. The most that happens is a kiss... very sad story, though... got a lot of good reviews for it.

There's also one up at this multi-fandom slash archive I skimmed through a couple years ago. It was about Brain's scientific approach to a physical change in Pinky.

[Anthonynotes]

>>>
As for Pinky... crossdressing isn't a sign of homosexuality, unless it's specifically used in a 'camp' context. Camp is an attack on traditional gender and sexual roles. And of course, those politics don't really exist in a cartoon universe made for children- nor the possibility of Pinky being depicted as noticing a guy as he has a girl in the examples given. A fair context for judging the possibility of gay cartoon characters does not exist. There is still too much of an overall inclination towards heterosexuality and/or playing it safe in the current market.
<<

Smithers on "The Simpsons" is the only identified-as (if not openly) gay animated cartoon character I can think of on a show that airs on broadcast TV...though S:TAS did include Maggie Sawyer (and made various hints that comic fans would've noticed in "Apokolips Now"). IIRC, there's also some cartoon that airs after "Queer As Folk" on Showtime (called "Queer Duck" I think....vaguely recall that Maurice LaMarche does a voice on this cartoon....which ties nicely back into the topic :-)

There's probably more examples of gay cartoon characters from comic books/comic strips, though that'd be more on-topic in the "Comics" forum, I suppose...

>>I think the implications of 'Romey' were pretty interesting, though. And maybe they'll be addressed in a critical context one day. Or in a manner similiar to the one Disney's "Spin and Marty" serials from the '50s were mentioned in Tales From the City.

Assuming we ever see new PatB episodes/a new PatB comic book series produced...

Hmph, there's an idea for a fanfic story: Pinky and the Brain-meet-the "Tales of the City" cast. Though I guess it might involve a few jokes/references that wouldn't pass Toonzone archive muster...

BRAIN: Hmm...Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
PINKY: I think so, Brain, but if Michael's nicknamed "Mouse", then why can't I be nicknamed "Human"?

>>>There's also one up at this multi-fandom slash archive I skimmed through a couple years ago. It was about Brain's scientific approach to a physical change in Pinky. <<<

Aaaaahhh.... think I'd stick with writing my fanfic idea above :-)

-B.

[The_Bookworm]

Mr. Paulsen, Pinky's voice actor, has said he is a big fan of MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, which basically is six British gentleman prancing about in drag every other skit. If nothing else, Pinky's cross-dressing is an homage. I'm sure though, with the exception of one of them--now sadly deceased--all were straight as the trunk of the larch...the...larch. *ahem* British comedy does rely heavily on such things--cf. Benny Hill and that Humphries chap of ARE YOU BEING SERVED?

[Sharklady]

> British comedy does rely heavily on such things. <

For that matter, Bugs Bunny has been doing "drag" humor for decades now, and everybody seems to understand it's just for laughs.

[Vin]

To all members who are contributing to this thread, do not let this thread get out of hand at all, or it will be closed.

[Pearl]

"The World Can Wait" and "The Third Mouse" both indicate Brain likes girl mice (albeit not as much as taking over the world.)

And Pinky is as disconnected as a tossed salad. He may not even know where baby mice come from.

Hey, I know that. But there's nothing wrong in having a little fun, now is there?
In any case, Pinky thinks baby mice come from a magical factory on the moon-- remember that one?

[Sharklady]

> In any case, Pinky thinks baby mice come from a magical factory on the moon-- remember that one? <

He only believes that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Thursdays and Fridays, he thinks it has something to do with geranium leaves and blue yarn.

His Saturday and Sunday opinions change every week, but on Mondays he's generally convinced that gingersnap cookies play a crucial role.

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

Bugs Bunny was a crossdresser, does that mean he's gay? If I remember right, he was quite the little skirt chaser. (He even dated that one rabbit Witch Hazel got turned into by mistake!)

[Pearl]

He only believes that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Thursdays and Fridays, he thinks it has something to do with geranium leaves and blue yarn.

His Saturday and Sunday opinions change every week, but on Mondays he's generally convinced that gingersnap cookies play a crucial role.

I always knew that there was a pattern to it. He described the "moon theory" to me, once. It was actually very poetic. He didn't remember it the next day, so I guess this explains it. (*sighs*) Pinky, Pinky, Pinky, what are we going to do with you?

Geranium leaves and blue yarn... man, I've got to ask him about that one.

[RockItShipper]

Personally, I am a major fan of slash and that feeds more and more into how I look at all my little fandoms and general things I
watch/read/etc. But there are few characters that can be "fully" gay, because eventually evidence against that possibility shows up because of current standards... even when the show in question takes place in a time and place that may well have different standards. Even if kids tv is still years off from such a subject, who's to say that something like He-Man's scifi-Medieval world would frown on 2 of the soldiers (e.g. ManEFaces, ManAtArms, etc) having a relationship?

RE: Crossdressing... Camp isn't usually 100% female impersonation, but it has a history going back before it was a political statement criticizing gender roles and norms. It's a way of identifying men of the same persuasion- used in gay subcultures throughout history and various cultures worldwide. But it has gotten some bad stereotypes out. I say you just talk about your lovelife/lack of/etc. to whatever degree others around you are. Don't 'come out', just introduce your partner when it feels right between the 2 of you. And of course, act like yourself not some drag queen or pseudo-male unless that's just you.

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by RockItShipper
Personally, I am a major fan of slash and that feeds more and more into how I look at all my little fandoms and general things I
watch/read/etc. But there are few characters that can be "fully" gay, because eventually evidence against that possibility shows up because of current standards... even when the show in question takes place in a time and place that may well have different standards. Even if kids tv is still years off from such a subject, who's to say that something like He-Man's scifi-Medieval world would frown on 2 of the soldiers (e.g. ManEFaces, ManAtArms, etc) having a relationship?

RE: Crossdressing... Camp isn't usually 100% female impersonation, but it has a history going back before it was a political statement criticizing gender roles and norms. It's a way of identifying men of the same persuasion- used in gay subcultures throughout history and various cultures worldwide. But it has gotten some bad stereotypes out. I say you just talk about your lovelife/lack of/etc. to whatever degree others around you are. Don't 'come out', just introduce your partner when it feels right between the 2 of you. And of course, act like yourself not some drag queen or pseudo-male unless that's just you.

Not a big "slash" fanfic fan myself, and usually approach stories I write with a PG-ish-rated frame of mind (though I suppose Axel Foley's "(bleep)" joke might be pushing it, or a few jokes/references). Most risque references so far are probably in the story linked to in the signature file below (had just watched the films "Studio 54" and "Boogie Nights" before I wrote it...hence the "illegal govt. cheese dealing"/"cheese addiction" jokes...).


Re: gay characters: Yeah, figure that children's TV will probably take awhile before any openly gay characters are shown. Recall reading about how it took until circa 1970 for any shows to feature African-Americans in TV cartoons as lead characters (Jackson Five and Josie & the Pussycats being the first examples)...

-B.

[The_Bookworm]

"Lifestyle choice ? You'd have to be really touched in the head to choose to be gay."
There are any number of straight behaviors which people choose that are a lot more harmful. Stalking is a particular favorite--what drives people to such a depth of obsession? Are they demented? Desperate? Do they sincerely enjoy it or do they thoroughly hate themselves when they do it? I've written about this subject before, but never really felt I got as deeply into it as I'd like--I've viewed it from the male POV but I suppose women stalk equally as much, and maybe more creatively, than men do(are there any police, or those who know policework intimately, who can offer insights?).

"He only believes [in the moon factory theorum] on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursdays and Fridays, he thinks it has something to do with geranium leaves and blue yarn. His Saturday and Sunday opinions change every week, but on Mondays he's generally convinced that gingersnap cookies play a crucial role."
We mustn't forget the old wives' tale about infants found under cabbage leaves (which may have a grain of truth, as mother mice often have their litters in secluded, woody areas). And there was Friz Freleng's perennial favorite, the pixilated stork (who usually left the mice in the care of feline parents).