The Middle- January 11, 2011: Was That a Masturbation Joke?

Cafe Society
1

Mrs. Homie and I are having a disagreement over a joke in last night’s The Middle. Sue (a girl of about 14-15, for those not familiar with the show) is having one of those adolescent “he likes me!” situations. Frankie (her mother) is happy for her, but wants to use this as a teaching moment to help Sue understand that girls don’t need boys to be happy, yada yada yada.

FRANKIE: Just remember to make yourself happy first.

SUE: [Taking it all in] Make myself happy first! Ooh, that’s profound. I got a tingle when you told me that!

I say it’s an obvious masturbation joke. Mrs. Homie says I’m a freak. What say you?

Poll to follow.

2

Mrs. Homie is wrong.

3

Sounds like a masturbation joke to me.

I haven’t seen the episode yet, and I debated opening this thread because I didn’t want to spoil myself. Then it dawned on me that I was worried about spoiling an episode of The Middle, and realized I was taking spoilers way too seriously.

4

You’re a freak. Especially because the joke was supposedly made by Sue.

More likely, it’s her expressing shock that she should do something to make herself happy because, while she’s always upbeat, she’s not exactly happy.

5

I got a tingle just reading the OP.

6

You’re not a freak, but you’re reading too much into it. “I’m all atingle” is a fairly common snappy comeback.

7

This was going to be my response. I haven’t seen the show and don’t know the characters, but taken as a generic teen/mother conversation, it sounds like the girl is just making a somewhat sarcastic response to what she considers really dumb, obvious advice.

8

This is Sue Heck we are talking about. I don’t think she does sarcasm!

You really need to watch the show. Then you will understand that Sue is anything BUT a “generic teen”. (I love the Sue character; she is hilarious!)

9

I don’t know the show or characters, so I’m answering just on what’s in the OP. I do not interpret that as a masturbation joke at all.

10

Even if it is a masturbation reference, it still sounds sarcastic to me. How is the “Ooh how profound” part anything but sarcastic?

11

Sue does not have the sarcasm gene. She is 100% sincere and believes her first ex-boyfriend Brad is straight. You should meet Brad.

12

No way. It was just mom telling Sue that she needn’t latch onto the first boy (first straight boy, anyway) that decides that he likes her. At first Sue is confused, not understanding that it’s possible not to like someone that likes you. She finally gets it and asserts her independence. I don’t see masturbation in there at all.

Personally, I think Sue is cute as a button (I resisted the urge to say cute as heck) and I don’t know why the boys weren’t after her before.

13

I can see how it might possibly be taken as a very vague joke but I don’t think it was. I think she was excited by the idea that she was allowed to choose to make herself happy and didn’t need a boy. I think that was the point anyway.

I love the show. I look forward to it just as much as Modern Family, if not more this season.

14

It’s a masturbation double-entendre. Sue clearly is being 100% sincere and it’s our own filthy minds that insist on giving it a sexual meaning. But just because Sue isn’t in on the joke doesn’t mean there’s no joke.

I can say that because while watching the episode I instantly thought “Aha, a masturbation joke.”

15

I can see how it would have been a masturbation joke by another character, but I didn’t even consider the possibility simply because it was Sue Heck. My mind didn’t even go there because she is just… so… Sue.

16

Kunilou is correct. This is the kind of double entrendre Modern Family does all the time.

17

I did not see it that way, either!

18

Yeah, if it were any other show or character I’d say it was a masturbation joke. Not with Sue though.

My wife watches the show, I don’t and I know way too much about the characters.

I wish they’d let Sue be good at something.

19

for the show and the characters involved in the scene, I never once got a vibe that it was a masturbation joke. It was a moment where Frankie (the mom) was telling her daughter (Sue, who is innocent and naive) that you don’t have to choose the first (or second according to Sue) guy who likes you to be a boyfriend. Frankie was telling Sue to be strong and make your own life choices not for other people to decide what she needs to like or who she needs to like.

20

No. Not in character for Frankie or Sue, or even for the show in general. On some other shows I might see where you could think they were talking about whacking it, hell, just a few shows later Happy Endings had a masturbation joke (hell, the title alone might count as one), but not The Middle. middle