|
One of the things I love about Bob’s Burgers is the incredible lineup of characters, and not least the minor characters. And while “minor” would be the terminology for those that aren’t a part of the nuclear family or are in every episode, so many of them have depth and charm and lots of potential for entertainment. While planning our current series – The Gospel of Bob’s Burgers – I began to list the characters whose personalities might invite us to scripture. There are many, but I figured a “summer series” is best limited to the summer, so there won’t be any sermons considering the amazing Zeke, the eccentric Aunt Gayle, the antagonist landlord Mr. Fischoeder, or the quirky twins Andy and Ollie, just to name a few. Sermons, no. A blog post… that’s something else entirely. And while this is somewhat about Marshmallow, a character introduced early in the first season, we don’t know a ton about her, so I want to say something more about her presence on the show as an example. To the point: as an openly transgender woman, Marshmallow does good work of normalizing through entertainment. But I don’t want to use that word, “normalizing”. In the strictest sense I think it applies. It’s defined as “causing (something previously considered abnormal or unacceptable) to be treated as normal.” But the parenthetical there worries me; it’s too easy to forget that all important part: “considered”. For some, “normalizing” is a bad word, taking something abnormal and making it normal. But being transgender is not abnormal, and the work being done here is moving people away from considerations otherwise. So I did what you do in tough situations like this: call your dear friend Sean that you met in your first year of seminary to ask him: how do I say this without sounding like a jerk? At one point, Sean offered, “look… representation matters, but the kind of representation matters.” And I think that’s the crux of what I’m trying to say here: Marshmallow is not just a transgender woman on a popular show, Marshmallow is an accepted and beloved member of the community of the show. When she comes to the restaurant, the kids don’t gasp or whisper or giggle – even when she does so in her mankini – she is greeted, seated, and served like everyone else. She is treated like a woman because she is a woman. She is not a spectacle, she is a person. (Okay, sometimes she is a spectacle, but only when she wants to be.) And Bob’s Burgers as a whole does this work throughout the series in good ways, both on the show and behind the scenes. Just like in real life, we’re invited to meet new people and see a quality within them that we may not have expected, or may not be comfortable with. But there’s something about entertainment that can make it feel safer, more accessible. I’ve no idea if this is an expressed goal of the show’s creator Loren Bouchard, but the presentation of its characters on the margins is consistently done with respect. This is a part of why I’m so thrilled to be a part of San Marco Church, a community made up of lots of people that aren’t all the same… don’t look the same, live the same, love the same, come from the same places, or sometimes even believe the same. But that’s how God works: a Body of Christ made up of different parts, personalities, gifts, ever offering opportunities to learn from one another and come together to be a part of the work of God’s kingdom. And to that I say: thanks be to God. I hope you’ll join us for worship this Sunday, where the series will continue with Linda. If you’d like to watch the “extra credit” episode in advance, it’s season 5, episode 18: “Eat, Spray,” Linda”. I’ll be hosting a watch party again this week, Saturday night at 7:30, and you are welcome to join. Watch for the reminder and link on our social media, or reply to this email and I will get you connected. Grace and peace, my friends, Rev. Ben Richards
|
