Leave TV in Real World
It angers me when I read letters from people who fall back on the Bible to excuse their actions. Henry Fried of Pasadena “challenged†Howard Rosenberg to find passages in the Bible that condone homosexuality (“Listening to the Clash of Symbols,†May 12). I’m sure if one looked hard enough, passages could be found, just as man has used Bible passages for centuries to condone slavery, oppose “race†mixing and relegate women to the roles of wife and mother and nothing else.
The days when the word “pregnant†was taboo on television are over. If Henry Fried and the Rev. [Jerry] Falwells of the world had their way, television would fall back to the “dinosaur†days of the 1950s: happy nuclear families living in nice, suburban households with picket fences and neighbors exactly the same way (read: white).
I’m glad television is willing to explore aspects of the real world and not “antiseptic,†unreal fantasies that didn’t even exist when “Leave It to Beaver†did. Those kinds of shows are great for nostalgic viewing, but that’s it.
Actually, programs like “Ellen,†“Friends†and “Seinfeld†owe their growth to one particular groundbreaking sitcom, a little show in the ‘70s whose lead character was a racist, bigoted, homophobic, sexist, religious-hating, blue-collar idiot. And I don’t remember the Falwells, Wildmons or Frieds complaining about “All in the Family.â€
HOWARD MOORE
Los Angeles
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