"Arthur" Celebrates Mr. Ratburn's Gay Wedding

Parent Cafe
141

While I appreciate @HeartofDixie chiming in here and I don’t want to gang up, I think the “love the sinner, hate the sin” thing is not tolerable. First, it labels someone a “sinner” and thus inherently bad. Then there’s the whole thing about “hating” a characteristic about someone that they have no control over.

Ultimately I don’t think there is a middle ground for people whose religion tells them that homosexuality is a sin, even though so many of these same people give other sins or other sinners a pass. I think this all comes from a place of fear and that even a small passing reference to a gay person in a cartoon is felt to be threatening. Until these folks understand that we are all in this together and there is no war on religion, but rather a crusade for tolerance and acceptance for all beliefs, then we are going to continue to see stuff like Alabama PBS stations censoring things like this. But I do think times are changing.

142

Earlier this evening, I included the following point in one of my posts:
Shouldn’t gay children see themselves represented by characters on TV and in books? By including all types of people in a TV show, it demonstrates to all children that they belong even if they are not all the same as one another.

Thinking about this further, I am reminded of the Tony Award winning musical, Fun Home, which I was fortunate to see, and is based on a true story. Part of the story focuses on Alison Bechtel’s discovery of her sexuality as a lesbian. There is a point in the show where Alison, as a child, sings a song, called Ring of Keys, when she first encountered a person who seemed like herself and with whom she identified. The child sings the following lyrics:

Someone just came in the door.
Like no one I ever saw before.
I feel…
I feel…

I don’t know where you came from.
I wish I did
I feel so dumb.
I feel…

Your swagger and your bearing
and the just right clothes you’re wearing
Your short hair and your dungarees
And your lace up boots.

And your keys oh
Your ring of keys.

I thought it was s’pposed to be wrong
But you seem okay with being strong
I want…to…
You’re so…

It’s probably conceited to say,
But I think we’re alike in a certain way
I…um…

Your swagger and your bearing
and the just right clothes you’re wearing
Your short hair and your dungarees
And your lace up boots.

And your keys oh
Your ring of keys.

Do you feel my heart saying hi?
In this whole luncheonette
Why am I the only one who see you’re beautiful?

[Spoken]
No, I mean

[Sung]
Handsome!

Your swagger and your bearing
and the just right clothes you’re wearing
Your short hair and your dungarees
And your lace up boots.

And your keys oh
Your ring of keys.

I know you
I know you
I know you

Thinking further, imagine a child in a wheelchair who sees a character on Sesame Street just like him/herself in a wheelchair. Imagine a Muslim child who sees a character on TV wearing a hijab. Imagine a child with two daddies who watches Arthur and sees two men getting married. Imagine a child who feels different about their gender or who they like and they see someone like themselves on a TV show. It must feel empowering to know they are not alone and they belong and are depicted along with everyone else in a story on TV.

143

MODERATOR’S NOTE: Since discussion of religion is not permitted by the Terms of Service, please avoid the subject. Any more posts involving religion or religious beliefs will result in the thread being closed.

144

Ring of Keys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pNMSTjhyz4

145

There are so many situations that we encounter with our children where they meet the unexpected. Here’s an old man who walks with a cane, here’s a family wearing traditional clothing (Amish, Hasidic, Muslim), here’s two men holding hands, here’s a lady who looks like a man or is it a woman, here’s a deaf person, here’s a whole bunch of people who don’t look anything like you, here’s someone who looks just like you but is nothing like you.

I’m glad my children got to see and experience as much as possible, and that cartoons were only the tiniest part of that. Although my daughter and I tried sushi for the first time because of an episode of “Doug.”

I’d say that if you don’t want your children to experience these things, you shouldn’t let them watch any television shows unsupervised. I think the burden should be on you, as that type of parent.

146

MODERATOR’S NOTE: A subsequent post after post #142 mentioned religion, so this thread has been closed.