The Unfortunate Normal

Beginning this year in Glee’s third season, we finally met Rachel Berry’s parents: two heart-warming individuals who care deeply for their daughter and look out for her best interests, given the fact that she’s still in high school and is planning on marrying her boyfriend before graduating.

Back in 2011 on Grey’s Anatomy’s seventh season, we got to see two doctors come together in marriage after the birth of their beautiful daughter, given the fact that the mother was in a horrific car accident and gave birth in some pretty intense circumstances.

 And since 2009 when Modern Family first premiered, we’ve come to love a certain set of parents who have an adopted daughter, given the fact that at times they can get pretty hysterical when it comes to raising her.

What do all of these now famous and well-known TV couples have in common? Well given the fact that they all have their own extreme circumstances and some have some very complicated storylines, what it comes down to is that they are all same-sex couples committed to not only their relationships and marriages, but to the beautiful children that they are raising.

Given that it’s 2012 and this topic is so main stream, it’s a bit disappointing that the new NBC comedy The New Normal that is embracing this same-sex scenario has been yanked from NBC’s Utah affiliate KSL-TV. No, let me re-phrase that: it’s absurdly annoying, heartbreakingly disappointing, and very infuriating to me that they are allowed to do this.

Whether it’s religious purposes, personal preferences, or whatever other reason that may be present, I respect anyone’s decision to not want to watch the show. If there is something that they don’t agree with morally, that is their decision to not watch it. But to take that opportunity away entirely, not giving people the choice to either watch it or not? That sounds a little communist to me in my opinion.

What aggravates me the most about this cowardly decision is that this seems to be the only NBC program they have deemed inappropriate for their Utah viewers, the majority of which may in fact be conservative families with moral and religious obligations. It’s a harmless comedy that is embracing a new generation of modern families, a “new normal” so to speak. It’s a concept that was supposed to be familiar enough to not weird people out.

Why is it that a show like this is banned, yet they are still allowed to air sexual abuse and rape on Law & Order: SVU, pre-maritial relations on shows like Smash, Parenthood, & Whitney, and the amount of language, violence, and thematic elements in shows like Hannibal & Grimm? I have nothing against these shows whatsoever. In fact I happen to be an avid watcher of a vast majority of these. What bothers me is how they defend their decision by stating, “From time to time we may struggle with content that crosses the line in one area or another. The dialogue might be excessively rude and crude. The scenes may be too explicit or the characterizations might seem offensive.” (Jeff Simpson, CEO of KSL’s parent company, Bonneville International)

Jeff Simpson

You could argue that Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock is an offensive characterization at times.

You could argue that the majority of the dialogue on The Office can come across as excessively rude and crude.

And of course let us not forget that everyone can certainly argue that more times than not, the scenes on Law & Order: SVU are way too explicit.

So why the big deal in banning a show that brings more light to same-sex couples who are committed to raising children in this day and age? They have yet to even see the show themselves and they’re making this decision a bit pre-maturely.

It sounds like a lot of sheltering. It sounds as if they are controlling what people can and cannot watch. They could certainly put a disclaimer before the show as a viewer discretion. They can certainly encourage their conservative viewers to not support the show if that is their choice and they want to make a statement. But please give people the chance to make their own informed decisions as to whether they want to watch the show or not.

It’s a sad situation and one that is very unfortunate. I for one hope that one day I will be happily married and raising my own children. I want to raise my children to respect others for their differences, to show kindness and compassion to families that may be different from their own. It’s a sad thing to hear that having an opportunity to shed light on same-sex parenting in a positive, light-hearted, and hilarious manner is tossed out of the way in order to protect a certain group of people. I thought we all were pretty much on the same level that communism was not a big success?

Again, allow me to reiterate that I do not judge them for taking this action. Much like the Chik-Fil-A fiasco a couple weeks ago, that is their right to share their beliefs. What they don’t have the right to do is take the viewing opportunity away entirely from audiences who may actually be interested in watching the show for themselves and making their own decisions. Not everyone in Utah is ultra conservative and scared of seeing the reality or our society today played out on TV (and I’m not talking about Jersey Shore of The Real Housewives, those are far from reality).

I’m talking about the modern families and new normals in our world today. I’m talking about giving the same-sex couples demographic and population a chance to be represented fairly along with everyone else on television today.

I for one will be campaigning hard for this show. Being a huge fan of Ryan Murphy and knowing the big success he brings with his shows (Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story), I’m excited and hopeful that this show is equally successful in more ways than one!

HOLLA!