IS GLEE TOO RACY? Seattle Times Article.
One of the popular teenage drama programs at the moment is Glee. A television show about a glee singing club in an American high school.
It deals with issues such as teen pregnancy, bullying and homosexuality. It is broadcast at 7.30pm on Channel 10 and is classified "PG" (Parental Guidance). But some critics have said that the show is too racy. The Parents Television Council in the United States have slammed Glee as being unsuitable and "explicit". However, compared to some 1980s and 90s teen television drama, it barely scratches the surface.
When I was in my early teens, one of the popular teenage dramas at the time was a Canadian program called Degrassi Junior High . The young teens (and pre teens) came across as relatively authentic and they seemed to deal with "real issues". The program, and the sequel series Degrassi High, was made between 1987 and 1991 and was broadcast as part of the afternoon children's television line up on the ABC. It dealt with issues including teenage pregnancy, drugs, suicide, homosexuality, abortion and AIDS. Although, incidently Degrassi did encounter some moral panic in the UK, when the BBC refused to broadcast any more of the series, due to the program addressing the topic of homosexuality . However, only a couple of years later, the UK had the popular teenage drama Press Gang that dealt with similar controversial issues relevant to teenagers, such as solvent abuse, child abuse and teenage suicide. This too became part of the ABC's afternoon children's line up in the early 1990s. Additionally, Australia produced its own gritty teen drama, that also dealt with such topics, called Heartbreak High. It was critically acclaimed for its openness to deal with these issues.
As with anything like this, Lumby and Fine (2006 p. 71) point out "like all activities, television watching needs to be supervised by adults. It needs to be limited in a way that is age appropriate... and adults need to be available to talk to kids about what they have just seen". So, yes, these shows may be controversial, but that is the point. They aim to generate critical discussion about sensitive issues that are relevant to teenagers and bring these out into the open for dialogue between parents and trusted adults.
Elizabeth
REFERENCES:
Lumby, C. & Fine, D. (2006). TV villains: media panics. In C. Lumby & D. Fine (Eds.), Why TV is good for kids: raising 21st century children (pp. 55-96). Sydney: MacMillan
Noveck, J. (2010) Is Glee to racy for tweens? The Seattle Times Sunday May 23rd 2010. Retrieved October 1st 2010 from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2011922968_glee24.html?syndication=rss
Wikipedia (2010) Degrassi Junior High retrieved October 1st 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrassi_Junior_High
The point you make about such programs as stimulus for parent-child discussions is a good one. We seem to forget that there have always been programs that push the boundary of what we consider to be acceptable viewing content. Brooks makes the point in her article ('The toxic 'truth'...') that there have never been days of an innocent childhood, yet people insist on referring to the past as a time of purity and the present as a time of corrupted values. Your links provide us with good evidence that this mentality exists.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, in my reading about Glee, I came across one critique that accuses the show of being too 'sanitised': http://www.newstatesman.com/music/2010/03/stop-believin-glee-song-cast. It seems the moral panic swings both ways. Trilling, the writer, claims that we are "encouraged to accept the myth of flawless youth for far longer than is healthy", particularly with the number of perfectly performed illusory pop songs. In any case, a program that dares to take on controversial material - and does so in an entertaining way at that - is worthy of our attention.
If programs like Glee are not stimulating discussions in the family, they can certainly be used to generate important conversations in the classroom. (Of course, you can always use a blog to start the discussion!)
Greg Howes
Hi Elizabelth,
ReplyDeleteI continually find it extremely worrying when organisations like the Parents Television Council attempt to label television shows as being explicit and unsuitable when in reality, all they are doing is bring important, real issues that are affecting teenagers across the world to the fore. Particularly in regards to Glee, which I think has so much to offer young viewers with themes such as acceptance, and embracing your differences, and yet they choose to focus on the fact that one characters (yes, that's right, one) is gay, and one teenage girl becomes pregnant.
I completely agree with you that compared to shows like Degrassi and Press Gang, both of which I watched regularly, Glee is ridiculously tame. i remember one particular episode of Degrassi that will forever live in my memory in which one of the characters kills himself. i remember the episode so vividly because it was the first time I'd seen anything like that, and it was quite confronting, but I don't believe that i was forever scarred by it, or that there are any lasting effects. i actually think that shows like Degrassi then, and Glee now, deserve to be applauded for dealing so openly with these controversial issues, and opening up the discussion between all members of our community. that is, as you so rightly point out, the whole point.