Jerry Seinfeld finally agrees that Bee Movie was disturbing
Jerry Seinfeld has at last admitted that his animated film Bee Movie is "really not appropriate for children."
The comedian's 2007 film memorably spawned gazillions of memes mostly revolving around the implication that Barry B. Benson (a bee) is in love with Vanessa Bloome (a human woman) — hence the coinage of "beestiality" and co-writer Spike Feresten's hilarious clarification to The New Statesman that there was no "interspecies love affair" in the film.
Nevertheless, Seinfeld "apologized for the ambiguity," further telling The Tonight Show that the "certain uncomfortable, subtle sexual aspect of The Bee Movie … was not intentional."
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Seinfeld, who co-wrote the film and voiced Barry, went on to say that "after it came out, I realized, 'This is really not appropriate for children.' Because the bee seems to have a thing for the girl. We don't really want to pursue that as an idea in children's entertainment."
True enough — best to leave that to the experts.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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