Glee is definitely not a show for kids, and by no means a “family show.” I repeat: Glee is not a family show. Its topics are usually focused on teenager challenges, and more often then not these include adult subjects, homosexuality, pregnancy, cheating, students in love with their teachers, and more. The Parents Television Council doesn’t seem to mind about the explicit nature of the show. They only react to pictorials published by GQ:
“It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia. Sadly, this is just the latest example of the overt sexualization of young girls in entertainment”
It’s probably just me, but I don’t see pedophilia in the featured image. It’s nothing more than a show-biz pose. Besides, the actors are over twenty, despite the fact that they play high-school-aged characters. If you ignore their real age, and only focus on the age of their characters, this is still not pedophilia. Or else, all teenagers who have sex with each other would be pedophiles.
PTC President Tim Winter’s mind is apparently focused on the wrong issues.
“Many children who flocked to ‘High School Musical’ have grown into ‘Glee’ fans. They are now being treated to seductive, in-your-face poses of the underwear-clad female characters posing in front of school lockers, one of them opting for a full-frontal crotch shot. By authorizing this kind of near-pornographic display, the creators of the program have established their intentions on the show’s direction. And it isn’t good for families.”
Without his statement, quoted above, the whole GQ pictorial deal would be nothing but another series featuring popular characters in sexy poses. You also have to consider Glee’s audience. Teenagers are already familiar with “racy” pictorials and other stars with more than “sexy” images. Yes, there are some racy depictions of Lea Michele, but Cory Monteith doesn’t look “sexy” in any of the images (even if you consider the cover and the image where he carries a very summary dressed Lea Michele on his shoulders).
But the PR focus today is Dianna Agron, who surprised the world by publishing a formal apology on her Tumblr blog:
“In the land of Madonna, Britney, Miley, Gossip Girl, other public figures and shows that have pushed the envelope and challenged the levels of comfort in their viewers and fans…we are not the first. Now, in perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions, I am sorry. If you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention. And if your eight-year-old has a copy of our GQ cover in hand, again I am sorry. But I would have to ask, how on earth did it get there?”
I would also like to ask, why on earth does a eight-year-old watch the show in the first place, considering the usual plot topics described above. But this is a different story.
What Dianna Agron did is PR award-worthy. She didn’t distance herself from the pictures, she just made it clear, for everyone, that they portray a role and not a person. She didn’t have to apologize, she did nothing wrong, yet her action denotes class. She is not only talented, but smart and humble, qualities very rare today. So the bottom line, if your children did see those racy pictures, you’d better start educating them about the difference between movie roles and real life.