Is The Grinch the new Once-ler, Tumblr’s autosexual Lorax idol?
| News Media Commentary | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Is The Grinch the new Once-ler, Tumblr’s autosexual Lorax idol? |
| Commentator: | Petrana Radulovic |
| Date(s): | Nov 12, 2018 |
| Venue: | Polygon |
| Fandom: | The Lorax, The Grinch |
| External Links: | article on Polygon |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Prompted by the release of the animated movie The Grinch, Petrana Radulovic published an article examining the parallels between fandom reception of the new movie and The Lorax, another animated adaption of a Dr. Seuss book released in 2012. The article focused on the Once-ler fandom that developed around the character from The Lorax.
Many posts from Tumblr and Twitter, ranging from text posts to fanart, are embedded in the article to provide context and examples of fandom activity.
The title was followed by: "If nothing in this sentence makes sense to you, strap in, because you’re in for a wild ride"
Excerpts
A new Grinch movie in theaters means that children everywhere will get their generation’s version of the beloved Dr. Seuss tale, just in time for the holiday rush.It also means that a specific subsection of the internet is now recoiling in fear, because of what happened last time there was an animated Dr. Seuss tale featuring a lanky antihero figure out in theaters.
Namely, they’re freaking out that the Grinch will become the new Once-ler.
Making things that most don’t consider inherently sexual into very sexual things is something that the internet has always done and always will. A month and a half ago, they did it to Bowser. Before that, it was Venom. And in 2012, it was the Once-ler.
While in the original animated Lorax special, released in 1972, the Once-ler was just depicted with a set of green sleeves poking out of a window, the directors of the 2012 version decided to put a charming face and actor Ed Helms’ voice to the character driving most of the movie’s plot.
- (embed of video: Dr. Seuss' the Lorax (2012) - How Bad Can I Be Scene (7/10))
There was something about Once-ler’s lanky design, his mop of dark hair, and his arc from wide-eyed optimist to edgy bad boy that really spoke to a section of people on Tumblr. He quickly became a fan favorite, spawning massive amounts of fan art and devoted blogs. Essentially, when it comes to popular internet fandoms, it’s not just about having a hot character to fawn over but having a hot character to put into romantic (and yes, usually sexual) relationships with other hot characters. Because the Once-ler was one of the only grown male character in the whole movie, people were at a loss. There was no one to ship with the Once-ler.
So they started shipping him with himself.
It started off with fans pairing the pre-successful, naive Once-ler with his older, more corrupt self (usually referred to as Greed-ler). It was dubbed “Oncest.”
But that wasn’t enough. It’s popular Tumblr practice to create “askblogs,” where users will lightly roleplay as their favorite characters as others send in messages with prompts and what not. But everyone wanted to be the Onceler, so everyone started clamoring to create a different version of the Once-ler. There was Swag Once-ler,Greed Pimp Once-ler, Gentleman Once-ler ... basically any-adjective-you-could-think-of Once-ler.
There was a Once-ler based on the 1972 version of the movie. There were gender-swapped Once-lers. There were Once-lers with two heads. There was every possible variation of Once-ler imaginable and more.
Those who remember those days steel themselves for what could possibly become a full-blown Once-ler redux. Those who don’t remember have begun to stumble across this smooth, smirking Grinch and contemplate if he really is sexy — and if this means they should do something about it. Even those who do know about the Once-ler situation and find the Grinch sexy say that they’re not going to fall into the traps of just how weird Once-ler got.
Comments
azrielen:This whole article neglected to mention that the Grinch is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. THE SHERLOCK CROSSOVERS. THEY’RE INEVITABLE.[1]
- dsuber3:
- oh dear sweet christ in HEAVEN, SuperWhoLock, SUPERWHOLOCK
- death_au:
- SuperWhoLockGrinch
Taylor-Sanders I remember being in the Onceler fandom when it was around back in 2012. It was alot of rp/askblogs, art and fanfiction. It was alot of fun, and I made some good friends that I still talk to. I was also a teenager back then as was everyone else. Pretty much the entire fandom, sans a small group, has grown up and moved on from the fandom at this point tho.[2]
Slygathor:
Why, why must Tumblr continue to ruin everything?
- LancerJayden:
- what do you mean "ruin". there’s ton of porn of isabelle from animal crossing. is she ruined for you? what about bowser? is he ruined because of all the bowsette porn?[3]
LancerJayden: Once-ler issue? what issue? i mean it was weird but it wasn’t that bad. i mean men draw porn of every female character in existence. how come you don’t get mad at people for drawing porn of bowsette but instead teenage girls for thinking a dr suess character is hot. is it really that big of a deal for an article to be made about it?[4]
boudicathebrave: Ah, Oncler fandom. The example that proves the rule of how shipping works in fandoms. This reminds me of the post that claims we dodged a bullet in that if The Lorax came out today, the newly emerged Monster Fucker fandom would be all over the lorax, and definitely shipping him with the onceler. Is that better or worse? You decide.[5]