Gidget

It is our sad duty to report that Gidget the Chihuahua had to be euthanized after suffering a stroke on July 21. She will be remembered for her work in the Taco Bell commercials from 1996 – 2001. It was her face we saw looking quizzically up at us when she said, “Yo quiero Taco Bell.” She was 15, or 90 years old in human terms.

Actually, it may have been her face we saw, but the voice was done by a male Argentine actor. This makes Gidget the latest in a long traditional line of cross-dressing animal actors. Lassie is the most famous example of a female character being portrayed by a male dog. Please don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with cross-dressing if it makes one feel like a more complete person or, in this case, animal. It does, however, offer an interesting tidbit of information about their lives which we could use to enrich our own knowledge of the world around us.

On the other hand, some animal actors stayed within the confines of their original gender. Rin Tin Tin, for example, was dead butch! The studio even published publicity photos of Rinty with his “wife” Nanette and their puppies.

Speaking of Rin Tin Tin, here’s an interesting bit of information about his life. Did you know that he died in the arms of iconic screen sex symbol Jean Harlow? In case you don’t know who she was, boys and girls, let’s just say that Harlow was the Marilyn Monroe of the 1930’s. Um, okay, if you’re not sure who Marilyn Monroe is, then let’s just say that she was the Anna Nicole Smith of the 1950’s! I hope that brings us all up to speed now.

Unfortunately, I now realize that I’ve veered way off the main topic. Please allow me a sentence or two to trace my steps back to the subject at hand. Okay, American sex symbols who died young...animal actors...cross-dressing animal actors...dead cross-dressing animal actors...Gidget! Oh, yes, I was writing about poor Gidget.

Another interesting aspect of Gidget’s life is how her passing is being handled by the media. For example, The Los Angeles Times did a straight forward obituary that concluded with a statement by her handler that "the Chihuahua was typecast which limited her employment opportunities in Hollywood." Okay, honey, let me point something out to you: your client was a SMALL DOG! It’s not like she was destined to play Shakespeare in the Park.

Besides I’m not exactly crying in my beer over the fact that Kirsten Dunst may or may not have won out over Gidget for the part of Mary Jane in the Spiderman franchise.

On the other hand, The Philadelphia Inquirer took a different tact in reporting Gidget’s going to the Big Dog Kennel in the sky. The Inquirer portrayed Gidget’s career — with tongue planted firmly in cheek - as exploitation by the Man to sell some fast food. How Karl Marxian of them! This may be a novel way of summarizing her life’s work, but hey, nobody ever said capitalism was pretty! Somebody had to put Kibbles’N’Bits on the table somehow!

The Inquirer report also mentioned that the Taco Bell commercials were culturally insensitive. Oh, really now, aren’t we taking this a bit too seriously? After all, there could be worse ideas proposed to market American products. For example, it’s not as bad as if Stepin Fetchit was ever hired to hawk Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now THAT would’ve been culturally insensitive!

(EDITOR'S NOTE: WE ARE ENDING TODAY'S ENTRY HERE AS MR. GUNTHER HAS ONCE AGAIN GONE OFF TOPIC. WE OFFER OUR SINCEREST APOLOGIES TO EVERYONE AND OUR SYMPATHIES TO GIDGET’S FRIENDS AND FANS.)

Thank you for reading. Please remember to curb your chalupa!