SNL Alum Victoria Jackson decided to take her special brand of crazy to Showbiz Tonight this week to speak her mind about the gay kiss on Glee by saying the liberal agenda is Anti-Christ, and implying that the show is trying to get kids to be gay.
Jackson’s appearance looked more like a comedy sketch at first – she opened the interview with a goofy expression, her hair in a ponytail-pouf on her head, her signature high pitched voice set to shrill. You couldn’t help but think she was about to launch into a Weekend Update sketch. But she was far from funny.
She held a bible up at the sky, quoted bible verses, and called the term homophobic “A cute little buzzword of the liberal agenda.” She closed the interview by saying she has gay friends and they ‘love each other.’ (I”m still trying to figure that one out.)
Does Glee make people uncomfortable sometimes? Sure. Even I sometimes find myself shocked at what I’m hearing. But that doesn’t mean it’s portrayal of two gay teens is off base. Once upon a time “I Love Lucy” had to show Lucy and Ricky sleeping in separate twin beds, because the idea of a double bed made people uncomfortable. Cut to today, when the show “Two and a Half Men” stocks it’s half hour with references to masturbation, oral sex, and rotating sex partners. Who gets to decide what kind of relationship is suitable for television? And this is what Victoria Jackson is freaking out about? God help us indeed.
I would agree that sometimes Glee can take all the topics on the show to an extreme. Whether it’s teen pregnancies, rotating relationships or sex, it takes an equal opportunity approach to making bold statements. But just because it touches a nerve doesn’t mean we can pretend that these things aren’t happening – or that everything that makes people uneasy is wrong.
We walk a dangerous path when we expect television to be a moral compass. Could Glee be on at a later hour? Sure… it probably should. But let’s not confuse provocative content with wrong content.