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orichalcum at 01:25pm on 26/01/2005
orichalcum at 01:25pm on 26/01/2005It appears the UCC has yet more cartoon characters it will need to welcome into its fold. Margaret Spelling, the new Education Secretary, has denounced a PBS cartoon, Postcards from Buster, where the main character, a bunny, travels around to different states and places to see what makes them unique. In an upcoming episode, Buster was going to go to Vermont and eat maple sugar with his friends and their two mommies, Karen and Gillian, before visiting the farm of Georgia and Sylvia and learning how to make butter. She has pressured PBS into removing the program from its planned circulation; it will not air anywhere in the country, on the grounds that PBS programming is expected to be strictly educational.
I think about the PBS programs I grew up with, and wonder what will be next. Of course, I also do find it ironically humorous that the new 30-second version of Vermont is "Maple Syrup! Cows! Cold! Lesbians!"
The argument of Spelling and the folks at PBS is that this is a sensitive issue that parents should talk about with kids before they are exposed to it on television. I have two counterarguments, which I'm more than happy to have challenged:
1. Plenty of mainstream media, at hours watched by children, features much more explicit portrayals of gays and lesbians. Half of the WB (which runs reruns of programs at 3 and 4 and plenty of kid-friendly hours), NBC, Fox, etc... The only difference I can see in this cartoon is that it portrays lesbians who are presumably civilly united (I cannot confirm for certain that they don't kiss or discuss their sexuality, but I doubt it...).
2. I was exposed to _lots_ of messages about difference and toleration from PBS shows that my parents hadn't discussed with me beforehand. The first time I knew about deaf and blind people was through Sesame St; I learned about racism through Big Bird's Eyes, and I certainly wondered where Mrs. Rogers was. Those messages weren't banned in the 1970's, at a much more racially tense time, why should they be now? Yes, it may get kids asking questions of their parents, and you know what, if those parents want to say: "Only bad people up in weird Vermont do that," that's their privilege. But our government is dictating selective exposure, and banning any positive representation of committed, stable, gay married couples and parents from the mass media, and yes, I have a problem with that.
Thoughts?
I think about the PBS programs I grew up with, and wonder what will be next. Of course, I also do find it ironically humorous that the new 30-second version of Vermont is "Maple Syrup! Cows! Cold! Lesbians!"
The argument of Spelling and the folks at PBS is that this is a sensitive issue that parents should talk about with kids before they are exposed to it on television. I have two counterarguments, which I'm more than happy to have challenged:
1. Plenty of mainstream media, at hours watched by children, features much more explicit portrayals of gays and lesbians. Half of the WB (which runs reruns of programs at 3 and 4 and plenty of kid-friendly hours), NBC, Fox, etc... The only difference I can see in this cartoon is that it portrays lesbians who are presumably civilly united (I cannot confirm for certain that they don't kiss or discuss their sexuality, but I doubt it...).
2. I was exposed to _lots_ of messages about difference and toleration from PBS shows that my parents hadn't discussed with me beforehand. The first time I knew about deaf and blind people was through Sesame St; I learned about racism through Big Bird's Eyes, and I certainly wondered where Mrs. Rogers was. Those messages weren't banned in the 1970's, at a much more racially tense time, why should they be now? Yes, it may get kids asking questions of their parents, and you know what, if those parents want to say: "Only bad people up in weird Vermont do that," that's their privilege. But our government is dictating selective exposure, and banning any positive representation of committed, stable, gay married couples and parents from the mass media, and yes, I have a problem with that.
Thoughts?
annoyed
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