You never quite know what's going to get TV viewers up in arms and angry these days, but when there's a new TV show about a man rocking an elongated penis that has a mind of its own – and was created for children, no less – then you can be 110 inches, er, 110% sure that loud complaints are imminent, right? Maybe not. That series is a real thing that exists, and it definitely inspired people to question if and why kids need to watch a show about a giant helpful dong, but more people than you might expect seem perfectly fine with it.
The project in question is the new Danish animated series John Dillermand, which translates to John Penisman, so it's not like the creative team was aiming to be opaque about anything. Aimed at children between the ages of 4 and 8, the show's stories follow the titular character as he solves problems and handles troublesome situations with the assistance of his hyper-extending penis. He can hold ice cream cones with it, he can start a barbecue with it and, as seen in the video below, he can even direct traffic with it. Something John's snaky genitalia probably can't do, however, is quell online backlashes. But in this case, it doesn't really have to, since so many of the reactions to the show's weekend premiere sounded like this:
Even though John Dillermand is obviously gratuitous in the general sense of focusing on an animated penis, the show's approach is definitely not sexual in nature, and is pretty run-of-the-mill with its content and "message," as it were. John is a pretty traditional character who helps those around him, and fixes his mistakes when he makes them. That kind of morally sound behavior may have sparked this person's opinon:
To be sure, while there is a lot of eager and/or bewildered support for John Dillermand, there are definitely people out there who take issue with a kids show about a man's semi-sentient penis doing anything, beneficial or otherwise. For instance, according to The Guardian, a Roskilde University associate professor and gender researcher named Christian Groes criticized the show for its potential to upend equality measures, saying:
It’s perpetuating the standard idea of a patriarchal society and normalizing ‘locker room culture’ … that’s been used to excuse a lot of bad behavior from men. It’s meant to be funny – so it’s seen as harmless. But it’s not. And we’re teaching this to our kids.
But while that is at least a direct sentiment, others' criticism tended to dip into sarcasm with lines like "Great message for kids," or simple declarations that they, as adults, were a little put off by it. And then there were generally curious comments such as this:
Still, it would take some lengthy poking around – no pun intended – to find very much hard-nosed vitriol against John Dillermand. Maybe people got so strung out by 2020 that a show about an uncontrollable dong can give us hope for the future. Or if not that, then it can at least pour us a stiff drink and find something on Netflix for us to watch.
Check out one of the shorts for yourself and let us know what you think in the poll below.
John Dillermand doesn't air here in the U.S., but maybe Adult Swim will start streaming it at some point. While waiting to see if that happens, head to our Winter and Spring 2020 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.
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