The Walt Disney Co. has always been a stand-out organization in the United States.
It has always produced excellent family-friendly entertainment and has been able to make people of all ages feel young and heart
Well, this wholesome family network recently shocked the masses with a controversial episode of the popular show, “Good Luck Charlie.”
During the episode the Duncan family plans a playdate for their youngest daughter Charlie. When the door opens for Charlie’s new friend, it could be argued that millions of parents around the country were shocked to see who was at the door.
The Duncan family discovers that Charlie’s friend actually has two mothers.
Disney made history by debuting the first same-sex couple on the Disney Channel on Jan 26. Parents and religious groups around the country are now up in arms at the daring move that Disney made.
Religious publication, The Christian Post, reported that “Some have criticized the network for the move, saying it was inappropriate to bring such political and divisive subject onto a children’s TV program.”
I cannot even begin to describe how angry it makes me that we are still arguing this point.
The gay community is no longer underground and is a vital part of society today.
Conservative advocacy organization, One Million Moms, argued that the “media influences children tremendously.”
What does not make sense to me, is that I do not understand how people are thinking Disney is influencing children with a lesbian couple.
Parents around the country are arguing that this is not something they want to have to explain to their children and that this is something their children do not need to see at a young age
The only thing that children are seeing in this episode is a loving, parenting couple who are dropping their child off on a playdate.
I do not know about anyone else, but I am having a hard time seeing the harm in this.
According to E! online,Disney Channel took extra care to plan its introduction of the same-sex couple to the child masses.
A Disney Channel spokesperson told TV Guide during the early planning stages of the episode that, “Like all Disney Channel programming, it was developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness.”
I could not agree more with this statement.
Something else that is interesting to note, is that, parents are angry that their children viewed this episode on television.
With that in mind, what are parents going to do when their children meet another child who has gay or lesbian parents? Are these angry caregivers going to go to the school board to have the situation corrected at a risk of “exposing” their children to the realities of the world?
I feel that children can only be sheltered to a certain extent. Without a doubt, there are some things that children should absolutely not see, but this episode really shows nothing inappropriate.
The mothers do not display inappropriate behavior but are gracious and welcoming of Charlie and the Duncan family.
They demonstrate qualities of loving mothers and are in no way offensive.
I feel like there is more material on TV that shows heterosexual couples engaging in inappropriate or racy behavior than anything else.
The only thing that parents should concern themselves with explaining to their children is that this is the world we live in today and it is not going to change.
Homosexual couples are not going anywhere, and if we continue to teach our children that this is not something they should be seeing, then the continued hate or uncomfortable feelings toward the prejudice against same-sex couples will continue.
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