November 25, 2004

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  Something's Swishy About Shark Tale
  Cartoon Primes Kids with a Pro-Homosexual Message

  
  

  Movie Review by Ed Vitagliano
  November 17, 2004

  
  

  (AgapePress) - The DreamWorks animated film Shark Tale centers on the busy cosmopolitan life of an ocean reef.

  
  

  The reef, however, is frequently terrorized by an organized crime syndicate made up of sharks. The mob is run Mafioso style by a great white shark named Don Lino and his two sons, Frankie and Lenny.

  
  

  It is when Shark Tale turns its attention to Lenny that it veers toward an undercurrent of approval for homosexuality. While it is difficult to prove intent when a film does not explicitly make a character "gay," the story and dialogue demonstrate an implicit approval of homosexuality.

  
  

  Lenny's mannerisms and voice tend toward the effeminate, but that's not the worst of it. For in sharkdom, masculinity is measured by one's proficiency as a meat-eater.

  
  

  The real problem, of course, is that Lenny isn't a meat-eater. In fact, he's a closet vegetarian, and Lenny understands just how unnatural that is for sharks.

  
  

  

  
  

  As movie reviewer Dustin Putman notes, Lenny is "a shark afraid to 'come out' as a vegetarian to his mob boss father," and this plot device is "slyly standing in for the experiences many go through in coming to terms with their sexual orientation."

  
  

  Lenny finally confesses to Oscar that he's "different." He admits: "I'm a vegetarian .... You're the first fish I ever told. I'm so tired of keeping it all a secret. And my dad -- he'll never accept me for who I am! What's wrong with me?"

  
  

  But Lenny is more than just a vegetarian. He turns out to enjoy dressing as a dolphin, an obvious allusion to cross-dressing.

  
  

   The film does not come right out and say that we should all accept homosexuality. And, naturally, children should be taught to be accepting of others.

  
  

  Two decades ago, accepting differences meant accepting a person who might have a different skin color, or be from a different ethnic background. Such differences are immutable characteristics, however, and not sexual choices. In this respect, Shark Tale comes far too close to taking a bite out of traditional moral and spiritual beliefs.

  
  

   

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