A since-sidelined animated Netflix show targeting preschoolers is drawing media attention over a character who comes out as “nonbinary” during an episode described by the show’s creator as a “roadmap for coming out.”
In the wake of the not-so-positive response, Netflix has canned the series, Daily Mail reported.
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The scene in question came during a recently released episode of “Ridley Jones,” a kids’ series about a bison named “Winifred” who works up the courage to tell her grandmother, voiced by Cindi Lauper, that she feels “most myself” when she’s called “Fred.”
“Grandma doesn’t know I changed,” the young bison tells her grandmother, Grandma Dottie. “She still thinks I’m her granddaughter instead of her grandFred. … I do want to tell her.”
The bison went on to say she wants to go by the pronouns “they” and “them,” rather than “she” and “her.”
“My heart says that the way I feel most myself is to go by the name ‘Fred,'” the animal says. “That’s because I’m nonbinary, and Fred is the name that fits me best. And I also use ‘they’ and ‘them,’ because calling me a ‘she’ or a ‘he’ doesn’t feel right to me.”
Grandma Dottie, for her part, is very receptive to the bison’s request and apologizes for using the “wrong name and pronouns” to refer to her grandchild.
While many on social media are voicing concerns over the content of the cancelled series, aimed at 2- to 4-year-old children, the show’s creator, Chris Nee, celebrated the scene as a “roadmap” for kids who want to share their sexual and gender identities with their parents.
“I realize in this day and age dumped means many things. Just zero promotion of the episode. So go watch it. Show your kids. It’s on Netflix. It’s important. It’s a a roadmap for coming out but also for having someone else tell you they’ve changed their pronouns and/or name,” wrote Nee, best known for her series, “Doc McStuffins.”
Earlier this week, though, Netflix pulled the plug on the show, announcing it would not come back for a sixth season — a cancellation that came, Nee argued, after the show received “no promotion.”
“Doesn’t surprise me that Netflix has quietly dumped the first preschool show that has a nonbinary character coming out,” tweeted Nee. “Ridley Jones 5 episode Happy Herd Day Fred tells their Grandma played by [Cyndi Lauper] that they’ve changed their name and pronouns. Watch it. Tweet about it.”
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