BigShinyThing

The famous gay couple of New York’s Central Park Zoo, Silo and Roy, have split up after six years together, reports John Kass. Once, they were even provided with a donated egg which they sat on and hatched. Their union was celebrated as a penguin lifestyle choice in a New York Times splash on Feb 7th 2004, “The Love that Dare Not Squeak Its Name.”

According to the zoo’s senior penguin keeper, Rob Gramzay, “Silo found a young female. Her name is Scrappy. They had an egg. It didn’t work out and they might try again.” Roy, meanwhile, “didn’t really find anybody. He hung out with a few birds, half of them were female, half were male. He’s not in a nesting situation. It’s more for camaraderie.” He does confirm however – in a return blow for gay pride – “there are a few other same sex groupings.” [Story via Gawker.]

Elsewhere, penguins have become the new poster birds for the conservative movement as commentators find meaning in the documentary March of the Penguins. As reported in The New York Times, conservative film critic and radio host Michael Medved has said that the film is “the motion picture this summer that most passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy, sacrifice and child rearing.” Speaking of audiences who feel that most movies ignore or belittle such themes, he added: “This is the first movie they’ve enjoyed since The Passion of the Christ. This is ‘The ‘Passion of the Penguins.’ ”

Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, told a young conservatives’ gathering last month: “You have to check out March of the Penguins. It is an amazing movie. And I have to say, penguins are the really ideal example of monogamy. These things – the dedication of these birds is just amazing.”

Other religious conservatives have interpreted the movie as a Christian parable. In Sidney, Ohio, Ben Hunt, a minister at the 153 House Churches Network, has coordinated trips to the local theater to see the film. “Some of the circumstances they experienced seemed to parallel those of Christians,” he said of the penguins. “The penguin is falling behind, is like some Christians falling behind. The path changes every year, yet they find their way, is like the Holy Spirit.”

The distributors of the film, Warner Independent Pictures and National Geographic Feature Films, insist that the movie is simply a tale about penguins and that any attempt to divine a deeper meaning is misguided. Not that the discussion is harming the film: it is currently the highest grossing documentary of all time after Fahrenheit 9/11.

“We did not have discussions of what should be in from a social, cultural or political perspective at all,” said Adam Leipzig, president of National Geographic Feature Films. “We just wanted to make sure that it was accurate.” Or as Laura Kim, a vice president of Warner Independent, put it: “You know what? They’re just birds.”