straight as a one dollar bill
As a prelude to this week’s episode of The Simpsons, the FOX Network felt it necessary to air a warning that “This episode contains discussion of gay marriage. Parental discretion is advised.” There’s something peculiar about FOX — at the same time that they are willing to air fairly radical shows like The Simpsons and The Family Guy, the network often makes a concerted effort to distance itself from the content.
The premise of the episode is that the city of Springfield, suffering from bad publicity, hopes to rejuvenate the economy by welcoming gay couples looking to wed. The show even goes so far as to include a rant by Marge about why people should be allowed to marry. When the right Reverend Lovejoy refuses to tie the knot for same-sex couples, Homer opens a same-sex wedding chapel in the garage, and, of course, hilarity ensues.
Nothing too new happens in the episode — after marrying every gay couple in Springfield, Homer starts marrying “anything to anything,” bringing the whole “slippery slope” argument to the peak of its absurdity, and Patty outs herself as a lesbian, causing conflict for the ostensibly liberal-thinking Marge. The disturbing thing about the disclaimer is not that it alerts people to shield their children from some potentially progressively ideas, but that it assumes an intense degree of oblivion. There’s nothing too new in the content — children unaware of the issues addressed here are likely too young to be in the program’s target audience or living sheltered not only from gay people, but also from virtually every news source available. I would hope that the average jr. high student would have at least a passing understanding of what has become a tremendous national issue.
Then again, I’d hope that the average jr. high student could read at their grade level.