YMMV / Johnny the Walrus

• Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Because Johnny himself isn't the one who says he identifies as a walrus, and he constantly complains about how the transition process is making him miserable, it's very easy to draw the complete opposite message from this book than what was intended: you should listen to your kids when they say they are uncomfortable with their body, and not force them to present in a way that doesn't match their identity. The transition process is forced on him by his mother, as she was afraid of being labeled a bigot by ignorant internet people who decided that Johnny had to be a boy who identified as a walrus and not just a kid playing pretend, so another Aesop could be: don't do things because you're afraid of what people will think or because of what people who you have never even met are yelling at you to do, and don't assume things about people when their isn't any real basis in fact for them. Of course, this implies that Matt Walsh thought about anything in this book further than “trans people are bad”.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: The book tells the story of a little boy named Johnny who loves to role-play as different animals and objects. One day, he decides that he wants to be a walrus. This (somehow) causes everyone to treat him as if he actually wants to become a walrus, culminating in a doctor suggesting that Johnny eat worms and have his limbs cut off in an allegory for hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery — a metaphor that would only be understood by transphobic adults in Walsh's audience who would purchase it, despite the book being illustrated and ostensibly presented as a children's book. Walsh boasted that it was the best-selling book in Amazon's LGBTQ+ category, only for Amazon to recategorize it to Political and Social Commentary and for Target to completely remove it from its online storefront.
• Bile Fascination: Amongst Walsh’s critics, the main reason to read the book is to see how absurdly it handles its message, as well as to laugh about the idea of conservative propaganda for children. That and mock the art.
• Broken Aesop: Walsh's argument is supposed to be that children aren't mature enough to choose their own gender, but Johnny isn't the one who asks to be a walrus or genuinely believes himself to be one. In fact, he loudly complains about the transition process, something which would cause any trans healthcare specialist to immediately discontinue treatment. Furthermore, Johnny's in grade school, and while some trans kids do come out at a young age and start going by a new name and pronouns and might go on puberty blockers, they certainly aren't getting surgery. In general, doctors don't approve of gender reassignment surgery or even hormones until the patient is a legal adult and can thus make a medically informed decision. None of this particularly matters in terms of the narrative the book is trying to convey (specifically the idea that being trans is itself the problem).
• Narm: The fact that the "Voice of Reason" is drawn to look like Matt Walsh makes him look self-important and goofy. Considering Walsh's sarcastic sense of humor, this is likely invoked.
• Narm Charm: The zookeeper Author Avatar looking like Matt Walsh is something that fans of the book consistently praise or find oddly charming in its ridiculousness.
• Squick:
  • In one of the pages there is a picture of Matt Walsh's head on a baby wearing only a diaper next to a young Johnny who's also only wearing a diaper.
  • Johnny is forced to eat worms in one page, and is looks like he is about to vomit.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!:
  • Other right-wing writers of similar books complained about it lacking originality.
  • Some have mockingly referred to the book as "transphobic Tusk," a Black Comedy horror film about a man who is forced to undergo brutal surgery transforming him into a walrus.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The book is written in a way that would appeal to young children in pre-school or kindergarten, who aren't likely to pick up on the subtext regarding transgender issues. Furthermore, when Walsh read it to a group of kids, he had to explain several words like "Bigot" and "Phobic". There's also the nightmarish drawing of the doctor trying to cut off Johnny's legs. It’s more likely that this book was written for conservative parents who want to instill their own beliefs into their children at an early age and/or are terrified of the concept of progressive values appearing in works for children.
• The Woobie: This is how we're meant to see Johnny, as he's a kid who pretended to be a walrus one day, so his mother forces him to wear itchy greasy makeup and eat worms, making him miserable.

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