Is Mike Judge (Beavis & Butthead and King of the Hill) a Republican?

[Mike Daniels]

Just curious... He does seem to take some swipes (albeit gentle) at the more liberal characters in his cartoons although Cotton from KOTH is shown to be a nasty crank on regular occasions.

Also, one can't deny that the King of the Hill characters do hang towards the right side of the political spectrum and he does portray them as relatively good people (which a good number of Republicans such as some of my relatives and all of my in-laws are).

And, no, Dale is not a FReeper. A tin-hat specialist definitely, but his paranoias seem to be more of the benign alien/government intrusion type.

As I said, just wondering...it's not going to destroy my affection for the shows one way or the other.

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. Hank Hill is republican

they did a whole episode in 2000 about is reaction to candidate Bush's* weak handshake and how it tested his faith in the republican party.

[Mike Daniels]

5. Oh, I'd say 95% of KOTH characters are Republican

But then you have Republicans in The Simpsons as well. Matt Groening is definitely a Dem but he pokes fun at the more extreme idiocies of his party as well.

Judge seems to play fair as well in not ripping one side excessively but he does seem to be kinder to his "leads" who lean right as opposed to the outsiders/agitators who lean left.

[tridim]

2. Didn't he make Bush look like an idiot on KOTH?

Something about his weak handshake insulting Hank..

[Fenris]

8. Weak and clammy

[ceile]

3. I hope not!

Seems like a nice guy. He goes into the retaurant where my friend manages alot and he seems decent. Besides he lives in Austin, not too many repugs here-except at the capital.

[Wickerman]

4. I think he makes his point without strong political leanings

A lot of RWers like his show, and it should appeal to them, but Hank also gets his comeuppance every know and again and is learning tolerance bit by bit.

I mean, come on, he has a son who is ambiguous in his sexuality (for his age), the neighbor's wife cheats, they make fun of Tom Landry MS. He points out the ridiculous extremes of the RW and he isn't afraid to punish the long reach of the left, either. He doesn't get it right every time, but its pretty funny stuff.

[Beware the Beast Man]

6. I think Boomhauer is a liberal

"dangman raq anit gotno weaponmasstruction, man. they got 'dem librulgirls, man, yup, theyre lookin fine, man..dang-ol puclican party runnin' this country into the ground, man"

:eyes:

[Fenris]

7. Here's my response whenever this is brought up

"King of the Hill" is a parody of Texas. The characters are all parodies. I guarantee I know someone that is like every character on that show. Hank votes Republican. What the Hell can you expect? He's a Texan. That doesn't mean Mike Judge does. "Office Space" should be proof enough he isn't thrilled with the establishment. The entire point of "KotH" is to make fun of Texas, as only a Texan can. If he injected a bunch of liberal crap in there, who would believe it?

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. Exactly. Here's the way I see it.

I heard that Arlen is based on Garland, which is the town right next door to reprehensor and I. (Because it is full of used car lots, we call it "Car-land.") KOTH definitely takes an affectionate yet mocking tone of "home."

Mike Judge's sister went to UNT with me back in the 80s (when it was NTSU). I met her at a party at a friend's house once.

And to hang out with the Lobby Lizards from Bruce Hall, you had to be at least SOMEWHAT eccentric, to say the least. We were all musicians, artists, and weird folk. I had friends who juggled Jell-O in the cafeteria, made their dinner rolls talk, did strange performance art pieces in the main hallway (the tape outlines of bodies for "Dead Week" comes to mind, and we had one guy who wore kilts and combat boots. You be the judge)

I credit Bruce Hall with pushing me away from repressive, hypocritical Catholicism (no flames, please-- it was my MOM'S flavor of Catholic) and toward seeing the light of liberalism.

I'd say there's definitely a current of lib'rul in that family.

[DBtv]

9. While Hank is the star, he is not necessarily a hero.

Hank's wrong wing views are featured, but there is a subtle vibe that he is actually a moran throughout each episode.

Judge's satire is very subtle, and that is the secret to the effectiveness and universal watch-ability of his shows.

[Mike Daniels]

12. I don't get the moron vibe and I appreciate and get subtlety

Is Hank a bumbler and clueless? Sometimes, but that's nothing new to the concept of sitcom dads through history. He doesn't get his son half the time but then again that's pretty universal with a lot of parents.

It may be a parody of Texas as one poster listed but I'm hard pressed to see anything that specifically sets off his characters as unlikeable outside of their political affiliation. None of the core characters is remotely racist and they seem to be non-judgemental or at least open to persuasion for the most part.

Actually, the only racist and unlikeable characters are consistently Cotton and Khan (who may actually be a Democrat - his hillbilly southern redneck comments echo some sentiments seen on DU) both of whom seem to draw their racism from personal experiences in life.

[louis-t]

10. There was also the recurring character

a gay man who always had some kind of lefty cause going and would always say "thanks for the latte Kenneth". KOTH pokes fun at everyone. Similar to Married With Children.

[Ms. Clio]

11. The show has been leaning perceptibly right, IMHO

Several episodes have made fun of "hippies," New Agers, leftists, etc.

[Mike Daniels]

14. That's kind of my point

The left-ish characters are definitely portrayed in a much more cartoonish and stereotypical fashion.

[Brahma Bull]

13. Everyone but Bobby Hill is a Repuke.

I like the show...but, on one episode in 2000, they kept sucking up to Bush and kept referring to Texas as "Bush Country" and "I'll be pulling that lever for George Bush come electon night."

Other than that, the show is ok.

[testing123]

16. Were Beavis & Butthead freepers?

In a way I think that they were.

[Mike Daniels]

17. B&B were more Freeperish than anyone on KOTH

Actually, I envision most FReepers as being B&B in their mishaped youth.

The only difference is that you can actually grow to like B&B.