"Barnyard" -- A Progressive Exploration of Gender?
It looked cute. I was definitely up for some mild peril and animated downhome antics. There was, however something different about the cast of Barnyard. Specifically the males of the bovine species.
This is Otis.
He is the main character in Barnyard.
Yes, I said he.
Am I the only one thinking something jist ain't right in Cowtown? When I first heard Otis speak in the movie, I was confused. She sounded like a man-cow.
Knowing that people in Hell would, in fact, have ice water before a PG movie in America would feature a transsexual or intersex character, I wondered, what's up with that man-udder?
Did the film makers think if they slap an udder on the guy, they can keep kids from finding about ... penises?
I glanced at my son, who had seen the movie before.
Me: She sounds like a man.
Male Offspring: He is.
Me: I mean a bull. She sounds like a bull.
Male Offspring: He is.
Me: She has an udder.
Male Offspring: Yeah, so does his dad.
Me: His dad has an udder too?
Male Offspring: Yeah.
Me: Why?
Male Offspring: I don't know. It's a movie. They're also walking on 2 legs and talking .
Me: Yeah, ok, but why would they put an udder on a bull? I mean, I can see if they don't want to draw his undercarriage on there, but an udder is not even a reproductive organ. It's not like they're hiding a penis in there, so kids won't know about it.
If they're worried about the PG rating, why don't they just leave it off? Like the Ken doll? Like any other male cartoon character who doesn't wear pants? Hello, have they not seen Scooby Doo? Yogi Bear?
Male Offspring: I don't know. It's a movie.
Me: But now kids will think bulls have udders. It will backfire. A kid will see a real bull, and say "Mommy! What's wrong with that cow's milk-maker!?"
Male Offspring: I don't know. The kid will probably notice the cow isn't walking on 2 legs either.
Me: So how do they tell the girl cows?
Male Offspring: They have a bow in their hair.
And they did. The girl cows had bows on their heads.
Pink ones.
The bows and the smaller, more feminine humanized body shape distinguished the girl cows from the boy cows.
Which, evidently are not to be confused with "bulls".
No, really. According to the cast list, Otis is a "Boy Cow". Either these artists are seriously repressed, or they need to start from scratch with the birds & bees.
If they're going to do this whole udder-on-a-bull thing, why not actually do something with it, instead of just pretending not to notice this pink & perky plastic-looking man-udder.
I mean, if Otis isn't a bull, then what is he? Well, let's see.
1.) He has an udder.
2.) He is a "boy cow".
Logically, this means Otis is intersex or transsexual.
No, I'm serious now --- why not do something positive to educate kids, instead of screwing with their heads. Some possibilities:
- Barnyard: Exploring the Third Gender
- Otis the Intersex Bovine
- I'm OK, You're OK, I'm XXY
- Udderly Transcending Gender Roles
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know it's asking too much to actually think Nickelodeon & Paramount would tackle things like gender roles or intersex and transsexual people. I mean, we're so afraid in this country to discuss sexuality and gender in healthy ways with kids as it is, let alone delving into the "radical" aspects of it.
OK, so that would be asking too much of the film industry. Fine.
There's no way anything like that would make it past the Focus on the Family crowd anyway. (Even though we apparently have no problem with injecting extreme violence into films and tv to the point where kids are desensitized to it.)
I just don't get what the artists were going for. Were they really confused? Repressed? Milk addicts? I know that kids don't get to see much of nature these days, but come on!
Or ...
Maybe, just maybe ... the writer or producer or someone IS actually intersex or transgender, and it's hir way of Sticking It to the Man!
Now that would be some funny shit.
13 prescriptions:
Okay, you convinced me. Barnyard is off the must-see list. Sounds like a very cornfused film.
I did like Chicken Run, tho....
hahaha. man this is some sh*t worth thinking about. what about cars, the movie? since when does something metallic, a mere object have an identity. a car is a lump of metal, sorry guys, thats all it is. it doesent have a personality and get flu and sh*t...
any other names for Cars?
"Cars are people too. when you prick me, do i not bleed... :
That sounds like a freaking weird movie. I love how when people anthropomorphize stuff they have to make it all patriarchal and the guys have deep voices and are huge and stuff.
That's really weird. I don't know what to think about that.
Great we have someone to point out crazy stuff. Perhaps the bovines without bows are the "bull ish women cows - hilarious)
I'm saving your addy on my lists of daily visits.
On the artists? I don't know about Barnyard, but the Disney Princesses? And Cinderella III? And the new Tinkerbell? All drawn by the long time boyfriend/partner of a male friend of mine. So your theory could be closer to the mark than you think.
Tactless Wonder: Hoho, interesting! Now that would be some funny stuff if someone intentionally slipped that shit in there Well, maybe there's a little child out there who will someday say to mom & dad, "I can too be a ________!(fill in the gender blank) Otis had an udder, and he was a boy!"
I'm glad to see Disney has finally seen fit to introduce a Black princess.
DOH!
Isn't it plain to see that udders are far more acceptable to display (from a walking cow perspective) than a dongle sort of thingy?
LOL
Don't make me go there woman!
LOL
I saw the clip for this and thought - Ah - now there is something for the blogtress to taunt her readers about - and you failed me not!
I love you!
Ha ha...
Yes! Exactly! What I said, too! I saw this movie with my two 9 yr olds this summer. It was showing at our town's only cinema. (gives you an idea of the progressive city I live in. It is a 10-plex, though, so we're getting somewhere. Maybe.) In the summer this cinema plays old movies, free admission, but heavily promotes the snack bar. Anyway, I was in the theatre with my two kidlets and the children from all the daycare centers in town. And here comes this boy cow. It was udderly rediculous. (sorry, I couldn't help myself) I got more and more disgusted as the show progressed. I was a basket case by the time I got back to the sunshine. I subjected my husband to a tirade when he got home that evening. This movie is seriously disturbing. And/or disturbed.
Wow, you people really need to get over this whole udder thing! It's a cartoon movie... for entertainment, not education! I'm so sick of hearing the same comment over and over again, it's ridiculous. Your son obviously isn't bothered by it, and enjoyed the movie without asking you any stupid questions about animal sexuality. Why is it that only ignorant adults keep asking this question, when 95% of the kids that watch it love it, and don't care about the udders. Why don't you spend your time writing blogs about anti-racism, or disarmament, or something that might actually improve the world we live in, rather than getting hung up on inane subjects such as this?
Oh, by the way, did you see how they made Superman fly in that movie? What's up with that? People can't really fly! What if my sexually confused son (from watching Barnyard) thinks he can jump off the roof and really fly? Maybe I should write a blog about it!
Dude you my friend have way too much time on your hands to be reading too much into this. You son clearly shows that he knows the difference and that this is just a "cartoon." I'm sure Nick was out just to make a movie, not bring out any message about transgender.
I had gone to a Nick panel at Comic Con last year and Steve Oedekirk (the creator) made a comment in response to the whole udders situation. He said that when he was a kid, he just never found females cows even remotely feminine, and that it was meant to be a joke. A ha, ha, funny one. And he said its just a cartoon. He said as long as kids knew the difference between "real life," and a "cartoon," there should be no issue.
You good sir are making a mole hill out of an ant one. It's just a cartoon. It's not even real. You do realize that most animals can't walk on 2 legs and talk nor play tricks on humans. You son seems to get it, but you do not and you're the adult in the situation. Since you took the time to write this blog and construe it into some "transgender" issue, makes me what goes one in your "dirty" mind.
Ha! And there I was just annoyed that his character design made about as much sense as teats on a bull.
Well... I must say that Otis' udder annoys me as well. Why couldn't they leave it off? As stated before, like Scooby-Doo and other characters... Yes, I realize it is just a cartoon n' all.. but.. I, like other parents watch this with our kids and sit there pondering as to why they would bother. Maybe that's the whole point: to give us something to talk (or complain) about...
Weird that in prude America ("Nipplegate" still makes me laugh) really do not object udders on male "cows". Weird, weird, weird.....
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