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Jan 27, 2014

Sanjay and Craig: A Boy and His Snake



I heard that Maulik Pancholy, previously on Weeds and now the voice artist for Nickelodeon's Sanjay and Craig (2013-14),  is gay, and recently got engaged to long-time partner Ryan Corvaia.  So I watched some episodes to see if there were any gay subtexts.


It's a "my secret" series about an ordinary boy, Sanjay (who is of South Asian ancestry), and his best friend Craig, a talking snake (Chris Hardwick, left, who looks presentable in a speedo).  A master of disguise, Craig often masquerades as a human boy.

Other recurring characters include parents, friends, bullies, a girl who has an unrequited crush on Sanjay, and a girl on whom he has an unrequited crush.

Any gay subtexts?  A few
They idolize a washed-up action hero named Remington Tufflips.
They try to save their friend Hector from wolves.
They drool with lust over the ginormous calves of an overdeveloped police officer, and even invent a "mirror on the shoe" device to spy on him better:
Sanjay: Those calves are the best!
Craig: Glorious!



And gender ambiguity:
Snake-hating neighbor Mr. Noodman is feminine-coded.
Craig has many feminine mannerisms.
Craig masquerades as a girl to enter a beauty pageant, and loves his new role.
Sanjay believes that he is pregnant.

Nothing spectacular, but Nickelodeon animation has always had a pitiful gay-subtext record, especially when compared to the Cartoon Network's Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.  This is a good start. 

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