Snagglepuss, our favourite pink cat from Cartoon Network is GAY. And God bless DC Comics for that!

Another comic book character falls on the rainbow spectrum. Yay!

Dipannita Saha Dipannita Saha
फरवरी 03, 2017
Can we have more gay comic book characters, please? Photo: Youtube

Do you remember the pink mountain lion who aspires to be a stage actor? No, don't think about the Pink Panther. We are talking about Snagglepuss--the lion who featured prominently on The Yogi Bear Show.

If we have been able to successfully jog your memory about this very flamboyant lion, then there's a good news for you. DC Comics is relaunching the cartoon cat as a "gay Southern Gothic playwright". Yes, you heard it right--the cat is coming out of the closet!

It may not come as a surprise to many of you, simply because Hanna Barbera's giant pink cat was always living in a glass closet. And though he was never explicitly revealed to be gay, his mannerisms, speech, and attire were code for "queer" in mid-century America.

In an interview to HiLoBrow, Mark Russell--The Flintstones writer, revealed that he's writing about the pink mountain lion in a new comic book, and plans to reimagine him as "a gay Southern Gothic playwright."

"Yeah, it's never discussed and it's obviously ignored in the cartoons because they were made at a time when you couldn't even acknowledge the existence of such a thing, but it's still so obvious; so it's natural to present it in a context where everybody knows, but it's still closeted," he said.

"And dealing with the cultural scene of the 1950s, especially on Broadway, where everybody's gay, or is working with someone who's gay, but nobody can talk about it - and what it's like to have to try to create culture out of silence," Russell added.

DC Comics even shared a snippet from the eight-page "Snagglepuss" story that will arrive in March, as part of the Suicide Squad/Banana Splits annual, on Twitter.


The makers have even revealed that the story will be about Snagglepuss being dragged in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Interesting, right?

Comic books are a fast evolving medium, and writers and artists are crafting their books as a reflection of society. Thanks to their forward thinking, today there is more diversity in comic books than virtually any other medium.

We have been introduced to many comic characters recently, who either fall on the LGBTQ spectrum, or are people of colour. Take the example of Deadpool, he was revealed to be pansexual; or even the newest on the block America Chavez, who is not only queer, but is also a woman of colour. Earlier, some of our favourite comic superheroes, Iceman, Catwoman, and Batwoman were also revealed as members of the LGBTQ community.

Also read: Marvel just got its first queer Latina superhero, and she's inspired by Beyoncé

The thing is when closeted kids, or even young adults, see their favourite cartoon character, or a comic superhero, come out of the closet, it helps to deal with their personal conflicts. It not only sends a message that it is okay to be queer, but also that they probably can do it too.

It is difficult to be young and queer, with no queer icons to look up to. So these characters become an inspiration, and also normalizes homosexuality.

We don't know about you, but we are definitely hoping that DC Comics, Marvel, and other comic makers continue the awesome work that they are doing. Although, we just hope that Snagglepuss is not being revamped because he's pink. That would just be reinforcing the stereotype. Right?

 

लगातार ऑडनारी खबरों की सप्लाई के लिए फेसबुक पर लाइक करे      

Copyright © 2024 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today. India Today Group