So yesterday, Christianity Today Online posted my comments on the "Is SpongeBob promoting homosexuality" brouhaha. One of the comments I made was that New York/DC-based kids media folks like Sesame Street and Nickelodeon were going to come under increasing pressure to positively portray sexual indentity diversity alongside racial and gender diversity. I predicted that this issue could ultimately split the currently unified world of children's programming into two distinct worlds – one for "Red states" and one for "Blue states." (Or, more accurately, Red counties and Blue counties. Or, even more accurately, secular liberals and religious conservatives.)
So what happens today? There's story in today's New York Times about a fight between PBS national and the Boston PBS mega-affiliate WGBH over just that issue! WGBH, producer of PBS kids hit "Arthur" and the new spin-off "Postcards from Buster" produced an episode of the latter show where Buster visits a lesbian family. PBS national, knowing how many conservatives will be offended, is currently refusing to distribute that episode nationwide. As you would predict, WGBH is going ballistic, planning to distribute the episode nationally themselves.
Hoo-boy! We're in for some fun! Just remember, I called it first…
Phil
I know this is late, but you notice that they picked the “lighter” side of the gay coin (if there is one). I have yet to see on television (not movies outside of the theater, HBO or Cinemax (and the other pay stations), that portrays two gay men living together having a serious (non-comical) sexual relationship. My point being that society as a whole will probably never be ready for that for quite a while, if ever, no matter how “tolerant” we become.
And I don’t understand the big deal about getting all this stuff on TV anyway. Is the public asking for more gay material in the TV shows, or is it the gay public asking for it, or is it the media guessing that the public wants more? My guess would be the latter. Even more suprising is a public station, of which a lot are funded by public donations (I think) would take such a step.
Anyway, that is my two cents on that!!
Well, Tom, being a Christian, I feel I have the right to say I have never seen, from any of my wide variety of friends, any proof that homosexuality is harmful. Maybe to those too intolerant to accept it, but if we realize it is only an abomination the same way doing magic tricks is an abomination, we will all work together much better as a society.
Buster has lesbian mothers because children in real life have lesbian mothers. Poe carries a purse because Poe is genderless, and has no idea what a purse is. Bert and Ernie live together because they are best friends. The more we let homophobia run our lives, the farther back we go as a society, and the harder it becomes for us to discern a real cause for alarm from a fear of those who are different.
I find it hard not to quote “Are You My Neighbor?”, but I think I can resist.
Actually, Cal, Buster’s mom is divorced. I think the problem was that some of the kids he was “interviewing” lived in a home with two “moms”.