Is the Flip Side of Penguins Political?

[marmar]

Is flip side of penguins political?
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
By Marlon Vaughn
[e-mail] • 810.766.6324

Yes, even penguins can become partisan political tools in our polarized blue state/red state nation.

The latest flap over our fine-flippered friends has come from critics of the current hit film "Happy Feet," an animated film about a dancing Emperor penguin that has right-wing bloviators such as CNN's Glenn Beck and Fox News' Neil Cavuto crying "fowl" over its supposed promotion of environmentalism and global warming theories.

Last year, the big tizzy was over the documentary "March of the Penguins," which some angry leftist lips and gloating conservatives claimed advanced the intelligent design theory.

But many local moviegoers say the pundits doth protest too loudly.

"It's a good family movie about penguins, and children love penguins," said Sarah Fromentin of Flint Township, exiting Showcase Cinemas West after taking in "Happy Feet" with her 6-year-old son, Sean.

"It figures that people would go looking for politics in a kids' movie," she said. "They try to take the fun out of everything."

In "Happy Feet," a tone-deaf young penguin who doesn't quite fit in with his peers ends up discovering the world, encountering unpleasantries such as polluted oceans along the way. That led Beck to label the film an "animated version of 'An Inconvenient Truth'" and Cavuto to say he "half expected to see an animated version of Al Gore pop up."

"Happy Feet" earned $41.5 million during its opening weekend to snag the top spot, beating the latest 007 opus, "Casino Royale." It's also won the hearts and minds of many critics and moviegoers.

Whether it has brainwashed them into hugging trees and wearing recycled sandals, as some on the right suggest, remains to be seen.

"It's a movie for Pete's sake," said Mike Grabner of Davison, who laughed and nearly cried during "Happy Feet" with his wife and two daughters.

The rest is at: http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/features/index.ssf?/base/features-5/1164731027324650.xml&coll=5

[MessiahRp]

1. LOL right wing idiots

Turning off another entire group of people (aka parents) because of their bullshit rhetoric.

Keep it up boys, I have no problem envisioning an eventual shutout of power for you jagoffs.

Rp

[3waygeek]

2. Well, this penguin has been political for 20+ years