discretion
07.24.05 • comment • trackback
The Simpsons has featured gay characters for a remarkably long time. In addition to a now classic episode featuring guest star John Waters (Homer Phobia), the show also has recurring gay characters Waylan Smithers and more recently, Marge’s sister, Patty. Both can be heard from behind the “Closeted” float in the Springfield Pride parade singing, “We’re gay, we’re glad, but don’t tell mom and dad.”
Tonight’s episode saw Springfield legalize gay marriage to increase tourist revenue, with Patty officially coming out to tie the knot (which, of course, does not go as planned).
Before any of this ever played on my screen, FOX ran a disclaimer that read, “THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.” I find the message incredibly sad. First off, the disclaimer isn’t about sexual content or violence, but discussion. Please, feel free to start fearing ideas. Second, FOX originally took pride in The Simpsons’s shockingly adult tone, with not one disclaimer in sight. Now, though, the network apparently feels the need to muzzle what was supposed to be not a gratuitous stunt, but a satirical take on a controversial issue. A single episode about two cartoon people in love and getting married, that requires advanced warning, but Temptation Island, a show whose sole purpose is to feature sexual content and ruin lives, now that deserves three seasons.
Network stupidity aside, the episode had some great writing. Homer insantaneously becomes an ordained minister through an ePiscopal Church because Reverend Lovejoy refuses to perform same-sex marriages on the grounds that “I could no mooore marry two people of the same sex than I could put a hamburger on a hot dog buuuun.”