Shock and Awe on TV

I watched the pilot of a new NBC show in the fall lineup called "The New Normal" on nbc.com. It will air at 9:30, can’t remember what day. 

The premise is a gay couple who use a surrogate to carry a baby for them. Sure, the gay issue does bother me, especially since they have a scene where the gay couple is pressed front to front in bed and kiss. For the record, I’d be uncomfortable with that between a man and a woman too, when its not in at least a PG-13 movie. I know, call me a prude, but it bothers me. 

So, it’s not that the story line is a gay couple having  a child, after all, I sometimes watch Modern Family for the adoption story line and that features a gay couple parenting as well (for the record, I think NBC is trying to cash in ABC’s success with Modern Family’s storyline). 

It’s that the show so explicitly pushed GAY SEX at you and GAY ACCEPTANCE, it watches like a propaganda piece, rather than an interesting sitcom with an interesting story line (i.e. Modern Family). The story lines in Modern Family’s gay couple scenes focus on parenting, being in a committed relationship, family. Which is what makes it a good show with good writing. The gay couple is presented as just one way to be a family, just as normal as any other. It’s not on a figurative billboard: IF YOU DON’T ACCEPT GAY PEOPLE YOU ARE STUPID as The New Normal projects. While Modern Family’s gay couple’s story lines are about…..family, it seems the The New Normal is not so much about being a family as being an OUT AND PROUD family and screw everyone who disagrees. 

But, let’s put that aside for a moment. Let’s completely take out the gay couple issue. There were so many other instances of scenes where I dropped my jaw at the crudeness and at the explicit denigration of many other people groups as well as the blatant sexual references on a show at 9:30, when many families are still watching tv, many teens and younger. 

So, remove the gay couple issue and see if you think the below scenes are a)just fine, what’s wrong with it? b) shouldn’t be on at 9:30/not for family viewing c)agree that they are incredibly denigrating to some groups. Would you let your kid see this? Would you talk like this??

The scenes (with my commentary):

1. Name of God taken in vain many times. 

2. There is a close up and I mean CLOSE UP shot of bouncing boobs in a barely there bra, clearly showing a woman having sex complete with sex "noises." I couldn’t believe this one. I mean, the boob shot was so….I wouldn’t expect to see that in a movie with less than an R rating. Would you let your kid watch that? 

3. A joke is made about a woman who’s had 9 (9!) abortions. She is a potential surrogate for the gay couple and she says, "Who woulda thunk it, after 9 abortions, here I am!?" Even if you are pro-choice, abortion is not something to be taken so lightly! 

4. The lead character is a woman who was a teen mom, her daughter is now 9. The daughter says "I know you had me when you were fifteen. I mean, no one else gets married and has a baby at fifteen unless they are in a Christian cult." Really? Pot shots at Christians, what a surprise for Hollywood. It would have been more daring and shown more courage to have the daughter say, "No one else gets married at fifteen and has a baby unless they are in a Muslim country." But of course, Christianity is the one religion its ok to denigrate. 

And, just so you know, I would be offended and against them using that comment with the substitution of Islam or any other religion. It’s just a disparaging comment. And, seriously? Where is a Christian cult who routinely marries off kids at 15 (don’t say Mormon’s they don’t consider themselves Christian in the evangelical sense). 

5. The gay couple, when looking at profiles at potential surrogate mothers says about one who is overweight, "Ewwww! No, not that fatty." 

Since the gay community is always upset about gay bashing and the bullying it (supposedly) leads to in schools, why aren’t they sensitive to the fact that overweight kids get bullied just as much if not more so than gay students? Why would the writers choose to use such a mean, hateful, BULLYING comment like "fatty" and have her be rejected by the couple based solely on her weight? Way to be TOLERANT, Hollywood. If overweight kids get bullied at school, can we now blame your show for instigating it (as is done with any show that tries to present homosexuality as not 100% ponies and rainbows)?

6. When interviewing potential birth mothers, the gay couple asks "Are you or have you ever been an operative for the Republican party?" The social worker says, in seriousness, "Oh, no, we screen for that." Partisan pot shots on a Hollywood show, again, surprise, surprise (note: sarcasm). So, once again, where is the TOLERANCE? We "screen" for that, like being conservative is something that no one would possibly want to have in a friend/family member. 

7. One of the men of the gay couple says, "I faint at the sight of vaginas. They are like big tarantula eyes." How denigrating to women! Every woman, liberal or conservative, should be offended by that. Every PERSON should be offended And is that appropriate language for a show on at 9:30. Also, to add insult to injury, this comment was made IN FRONT OF the main character’s 9 year old daughter. Really?!

8. The gay couple is referred to as "salami smokers." You want to explain that to your 10 year old kid watching with you? Is that appropriate? 

9. And finally, sprinkled throughout the dialogue are various "what the hells?" and "damns." Would you let your kid talk like that? 

So….what do you think?