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Tinky-Winky says Bye Bye!

simonsheltonbarnes

Simon Shelton Barnes died last night on the streets of Liverpool. Police say he collapsed and later died of hypothermia. He was 52.

I know this one: he was coming home from the pubs with a snootful, I’m guessing, slipped and fell on the pavement and froze to death. I’ve lost more ancestors that way…

Barnes was the second Tinky Winky. The first, Dave Thompson, left the show after he and the director disagreed on his character development. I shitteth thee not.

I’m a huge fan of the series. I have all their albums. Teletubby fever was just catching hold in Britain when I made my first trip here in 1997. I thought it was the weirdest effing thing I’d ever seen. Weirder even than the food.

I’m no fan of Falwell, but he totally spoke the truth about Tinky Winky being ‘the gay character’ (there was the gay one, the black one, the Asian one and the Chinese one, duh). I don’t know if the triangle on his head was a coincidence, but he always carried a red patent leather handbag and occasionally wore a tutu.

If he wasn’t supposed to be gay (“Oh my god, these are children…how can you monsters sexualize children?”) he was certainly supposed to normalize the gender bend. For children. Spare me the pearl clutching, BBC.

Simon Shelton Barnes, on the other hand, was apparently not gay.

Crank your headphones for Tinky Winky Jumps for Fun!

January 23, 2018 — 8:00 pm
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