A couple of days ago, Christian and his new boyfriend Lee shared a kiss in EastEnders, the BBC soap. The gay kiss generated 145 complaints from viewers.
"I am appalled by the display of homosexual kissing before the watershed shown on EastEnders. This is disgraceful whilst young children are watching and sets the wrong example," said one. Another said, "I had to explain to my seven-year-old son what was happening. He now thinks he is gay because he kisses his dad."
Hmm... If your child is thinking along those lines, then maybe you should look at your parenting skills. Mind you, allowing a seven year old to watch EastEnders - and then having nothing better to do than write in and complain about it - says a lot. Oh, and I'd recommend not using tongue during those father-son kisses - that's bound to confuse the little one.
The BBC had this to say: "EastEnders aims to reflect real life, and this means including and telling stories about characters from many different backgrounds, faiths, religions and sexualities. We approach our portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as we do heterosexual relationships. In this instance, Christian is enjoying the first flush of romance and we've shown him being affectionate with his new boyfriend in the same way any couple would. We also aim to ensure that depictions of affection or sexuality between couples are suitable for pre-watershed viewing. We believe that the general tone and content of EastEnders is now widely recognised, meaning that parents can make an informed decision as to whether they want their children to watch."
Daily Mail readers and people with nothing better to do also complained about the show's depiction of Muslim characters during Ramadan (110 complaints), the current child abuse storyline (200 and rising), and Max Branning being buried alive (137 complaints). People weren't too pleased to see Dawn Swann chained to a bed by Mad May and threatened with an anaesthesia-free enforced Caesarean (80 complaints). Personally speaking, I feel slicing her open and plucking the baby out would have been the best thing for the silly bitch. But that's just me.
This is quite disappointing to hear. I usually give Europeans credit for being more open-minded than Americans.
ReplyDeleteEspecially that parent complaining about her 7 year-old questioning if he's gay because he kisses his dad. She just as bad as the Americans we have here blaming televison for their incompetence as parents. If they weren't so inept as parents, they would have had their 7 year-old watching Nickolodeon or The Disney Channel at that time. Or better yet - bedtime, young ones.
Ka-os, you so funnay.
ReplyDeleteTré, to put it in context, EastEnders is usually watched by around 7 million people. 145 complaints, apparently, is high, but it's still a vocal minority.
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