The War on Penguins
Beck, Cavuto, Medved Push Absurd Notion of Environmentalist Propaganda in Animated Penguin Movie
Washington, D.C. -- Not content with their annual discussion of a supposed "War on Christmas," conservative talking heads have taken on a new issue this season: environmentalist propaganda in children's movies. CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck and Fox News' Neil Cavuto recently spoke out against Warner Bros.' new animated children's movie Happy Feet; criticizing the film for its alleged pro-environmentalist content. Media Matters for America spokesman Karl Frisch responded to the criticism, lambasting the conservative talking heads for their return to holiday-season absurdity.
"The idea that anyone would make such comments against a children's movie about a tap-dancing penguin shows just how low the bar has dropped for what the media consider real news," Frisch said. "Conservatives seem to have abandoned their traditional coverage of the supposed 'War on Christmas' for a 'War on Penguins.' "
During their programs, both Beck and Cavuto referred to the film as "propaganda," adding that the movie amounted to "an animated version of An Inconvenient Truth." Happy Feet, which features animated dancing penguins, also admittedly contains environmental conservationist themes, which Beck and Cavuto claimed were meant to indoctrinate children.
Conservative talk-radio host Michael Medved took his criticism a step further in a November 17 weblog post on Townhall.com, referring to the film as "Crappy Feet" and saying it was the "darkest, most disturbing feature length animated film ever offered by a major studio."
Wow. Just wow.
