Meanwhile In Denmark, There’s A Children’s TV Show About A Man With A Giant, Mischievous Penis
'John Dillermand' more or less translates as John Penisman, or Penis Penisman.
A new Danish cartoon called John Dillermand — aka John Penis-Man, aka Penis Penis-Man — has caused controversy, as it centres on a man with a giant, uncontrollable penis that gets into all kinds of mischief, but also helps save the day.
The national broadcaster-created show is a claymation aimed at 4- to 8-year-olds. In clips available online, you can see Dillermand (‘diller’ being slang for penis) get into many hijinks thanks to his penis, a snake-like object that pops out out-of-control but remains covered by his striped red-and-white onesie.
His penis accidentally catches fire after pouring gasoline over a barbeque Dillermand is struggling to light; it rescues balloons stuck in trees for children; it steals ice cream and accidentally short-circuits traffic lights in the process; it walks dogs, wrangles loose lions, and propels Dillermand into the sky as both a helicopter blade and a pogo stick.
The penis does a lot, and Dillermand often watches on in shock — but, over each five minute episode, will set things right and get the penis under control to help fix whatever crazy situation it has caused.
America is fallen. Now we must look to Europe for leadership — ah, ok https://t.co/tcMPSjj1wq
— henno (@jrhennessy) January 6, 2021
In their coverage, The Guardian has a child psychologist weigh in, who points out the show’s desexualised nature is helpful for children, who may also feel out of control of their body or emotions.
“The show depicts a man who is impulsive and not always in control, who makes mistakes — like kids do, but crucially, Dillermand always makes it right,” says Erla Heinesen Højsted. ‘He takes responsibility for his actions. When a woman in the show tells him that he should keep his penis in his pants, for instance, he listens. Which is nice. He is accountable.”
Still, there’s a moderate controversy over the show’s appropriateness from both conservative and liberal critics, the latter linking the ‘larrikin penis’ to a ‘boys will be boys’ mentality that perpetuates rape culture.
You will all be happy to hear that the big debate in Denmark at the moment is whether or not a new animated childrens TV show about John Dillermand – the man with "the world's longest penis" which he uses to fish, fly and solve other every day challenges, is appropriate
— Peter Thirup Bæck (@PeterBaeck) January 5, 2021
In a comment to The Guardian, DR, the Danish national broadcaster, responded to criticism by saying “it could just as easily have made a programme ‘about a woman with no control over her vagina’ and that the most important thing was that children enjoyed John Dillermand.”
You can watch the introduction of John Dillermand below and find episodes on YouTube. Weirdness-wise, it’s still no match for the Round The Twist episode about a fish entering Bronson’s penis.