Rubble & Crew, a spinoff of the animated series Paw Patrol, has found itself in a ‘woke’ controversy as labeled by the conservatives for introducing a non-binary character in one of its episodes. Lindz Amer, a non-binary author and LGBTQ+ activist who wrote the character River has also garnered criticism from American right-wing critics.
Amer is the founder of the LGBTQ+ web series Queer Kid Stuff which they created in 2016. The show now has around 4 million views. Amer created this show to spread awareness about the LGBTQ+ community among children and bring queer media to mainstream family entertainment.
They also authored a book, Rainbow Parenting: Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies, and host the podcast Rainbow Parenting. Lindz Amer is set to debut in the category of picture books with their “Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!” scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster in February of the coming year.
Amer’s work has been featured by Kidscreen, Teen Vogue, Shondaland, NBCOut, Parents Magazine, and Good Morning America, among other major publications. Their show Queer Kid Stuff has been praised as a groundbreaking educational resource on YouTube by Huffington Post. Teen Vogue also praised Lindz Amer’s episode on the show where they spoke about consent during the peak of #MeToo.
Paw Patrol spinoff's non-binary character disconcerts anti-woke crowd
A short introduction to River by Lindz Amer
Paw Patrol’s spinoff show Rubble & Crew, which first aired on February 3, 2023, introduced the character River in its August 21 episode, Builds An Observatory. The skateboarder with a passionate knack for photography is a new resident of Builder Cove. River joins the Rubble and the gang in completing some of the building work.
In the episode, River shared that they hoped to capture a shooting star, expected to appear in the sky that evening, on their camera. So, the Rubble’s team built an observatory to help their wish come true.
Though the episode did not explicitly mention River’s gender identity as “non-binary,” nor did it state the specific pronouns used by the character, there was a subtle hint within their attire. River donned trainers and socks, which consisted of the colors pink, white, and blue, which is the color of the trans-Pride flag.
River’s creator, Lindz Amer, took to Instagram on September 2 to share that they got to write an episode in the spinoff series of the Paw Patrol franchise and recommended viewers to watch it. Amer wrote that the creators consulted the show’s first non-binary character with them.
The author exclaimed that they wanted to create a non-binary character that would be aspirational to kids and would be “incredibly cool” for young children to look up to. River was also voiced by a non-binary voice actor, Cihang Ma. Lindz Amer shared that they were extremely happy about how everything turned out.
The conservative criticism and earning the label 'woke'
It did not take much time for the right-wing critics to learn about a non-binary addition to the Rubble & Crew team, and they eventually spoke about it online.
Robby Starbuck, a former music video director who has now become a conservative pundit, posted on X (also known as Twitter) on September 18 and targeted Lindz Amer, accusing the author and Hollywood of “indoctrinating” trans ideologies into children. Addressing his fellow conservative audience, he wrote:
“I regret to inform you that Paw Patrol has gone woke."Robby went further and asked parents to turn off mainstream TV shows and forbade them to let their children surf the internet without adult supervision. He added that the video needs to be shared to “wake up” other parents.
Far-right anti-LGBT organization Gays Against Groomers, known for advocating against gender-affirming care for young people, also posted about Lindz Amer’s non-binary character in Rubble & Crew. Referring to River, the organization stated:
“She’s clearly just a tomboy. This is just another example of the gender cult’s attempt to transition and recruit them into their ideology.”Another controversial right-wing pundit, Matt Walsh, accused Lindz Amer of being an extremist activist from the LGBTQ+ community. Walsh also called the introduction of a non-binary character in a popular show for children an attempt to “indoctrinate” them.
Paw Patrol, which first premiered in 2013, is an animated series featuring a police officer squad, but it consists of pups or dogs. The show has been consistently receiving high ratings on Nickelodeon in the US. The show also inspired a film, PAW Patrol: The Movie. It was released in 2021 and was a box-office hit. A sequel of the film, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, is set to come to the cinemas on September 29.
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