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July 08, 2005

Stifling of Art! Crushing Of Dissent!

A group of pietistic fundamentalists, upset over the message being shown on a television show, gather their political clout and force a network to drop a (possibly intrigueing) TV series.

Southern Baptists flogging their boundless Hollywood clout again?

Nah. Gay Fundamentalist activists.

You've probably heard the story; ABC shelved "Welcome To The Neighborhood", a "reality" series that showed at least some promise of being more than just a prurient train wreck or gross-fest. The premise; seven non-traditional families were vying for a house in a stereotypically white, middle-American cul-desac in suburban Austin, TX. Strib entertainment columnist Neal Justin (distinguished by the PiPress' former entertainment writer Brian Lambert by writing more about entertainment and less about politics - and being fairly capable at it) describes the premise:

The judges: the current neighbors, all of whom are white and share traditional Christian values.

The competitors: a white gay couple who have adopted a black baby, a large Mexican family with a dominating mother, a white family that labels itself as pagan, a Korean family that runs a sushi restaurant, a white family with a stripper for a mother, a black family that cheerleads about God and a white couple covered in tattoos.

Take the same premise, change it from a reality show to a sitcom, move it to Queens, and you had "All In The Family".

Not that "Welcome..." would have been another "All In The Family", necessarily, but the idea seems even more interesting to me, personally, in the context of the time and place. More challenging, if you will.

Some people just don't like challenges:

GLAAD [Gay/Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] argued that it is dangerous to let intolerance and bigotry go unchallenged for weeks at a time. The National Fair Housing Alliance said the show was not good for race relations.

Of course, that logic suggests that race relations are just peachy right now.

What does GLAAD think - that if we deny that bigotry (hard and soft) exists, that it won't exist?

And I have a hard time believing in this day and age that the portrayal of the contestants would be less than an order of magnitude more sympathetic than that of the sterotypical redneck Christian flyoverland stereotypes amid which they're plunked.

Justin:

I don't know much, but I do know that there is more tension among those with different value systems and different backgrounds than there are strippers who get whacked with an ice pick. Yet "CSI" remains the top drama on TV and "Neighborhood" gets yanked before its premiere.

ABC obviously had high hopes for the series. It was slated to run in the "Desperate Housewives" time slot. But the network that dared to give Teri Hatcher a second chance, that dared to air a series about castaways on a spooky island, balked when it came to a series sincerely interested in exploring social tension.

Did they jump, or were they pushed?

If "Neighborhood" had made it on the air, it probably would have annoyed a lot of people, maybe triggered some discussion, gotten people talking about the fact that our melting pot has a few cracks.

That we'll do anything to avoid such a situation is the scariest concept of all.

Posted by Mitch at July 8, 2005 03:50 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Amazing, a stopped clock is correct every once in a while. I don't pay much attention to GLAAD, and from what I hear about this one, I think GLAAD made the wrong call.

Posted by: Eva Young at July 8, 2005 10:35 PM

Oh Mitch...Mitch, Mitch, Mitch. Once again ignoring ALL of the facts.

For example...the fact that you're omitting part of GLAAD's stance. To wit...

http://snipurl.com/g4sp

"'Regardless of how things turn out at the end of the last show, it's dangerous to let intolerance and bigotry go unchallenged for weeks at a time,' he said, adding that GLAAD hopes a revised version might air."

Nah...let's just let people think that them there faggots are a bunch of self-appointed censors.

But wait! There's more! From the same article:

"Before ABC announced its decision, the Family Research Council said it was worried evangelicals would be made to appear judgmental and foolish."

If you're unfamiliar with the Family Research Council, they're your kind of people. White and Christian, or as they put it on their website "Defending Family, Faith, and Freedom". (www.frc.org)

So, it kind of looks to me like BOTH sides objected to the shows. It was a valiant attempt though.

Posted by: Naked at July 9, 2005 12:13 AM

Naked and Deadhead:

Didn't "ignore" GLAAD's stance, just hadn't seen the last bit of it.

"my kind of people?" So you're a vacuous arrogant little prick AND you're clairvoyant? Who knew?

Of course both sides objected to the show. The FRC has plenty of critics; let them carp more.

Posted by: mitch at July 9, 2005 12:23 AM
hi