Gossip Girl Threesome Strikes Fear Into Parents

The Parents Television Council is threatening to declare war on CW Television Network affiliates who broadcast next week’s Very Special Threesome episode of Gossip Girl. In a letter to stations, PTC chief  windbag Tim Winter blasts the scheduled storyline as “reckless and irresponsible” and claims the show is “expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers.”

The head of the political action group says CW affiliates that air the episode will be “complicit in establishing a precedent and expectation that teenagers should engage in behaviors heretofore associated primarily with adult films.”

Winter then makes it clear that local affiliates have the right to preempt programming that doesn’t meet the interests of their community. And he warns the stations that they will “bear the financial burden of an FCC fine” should the government declare that next week’s episode violates decency laws.

Of course, Winter and his group hasn’t seen the episode in question. He’s only read press reports about the hour, including an initial online posting by Entertainment Weekly that stated the episode would feature “three major characters having sex. At the same time. In the same bed.  Together.” CW insiders confirm the Nov. 9 show will end with three characters in a tryst. The network isn’t commenting on the upcoming storyline or the PTC missive.

There are so many things wrong with this cry for attention from the Parents Television Council.

First, is the claim that Gossip Girl is “expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers”.  That’s not what Nielsen ratings say, the median age of the Gossip Girl audience is 27. Taking all of last week’s broadcast primetime shows and the top cable networks, Gossip Girl ranks a whopping 68th in the Teens 12-17 demo.  Teens last week were more enthralled with The Wizards of Waverly Place (#1), Game 4 of the World Series (#2), Hannah Montana (#5), The BET Hip Hop Awards (#6), and WWE Raw (#9).  I would think that the PTC would be more concerned about the last two programs.  Ok maybe not the last one, since they fought the WWE in U.S. District Court, lost, and had to cough up $3.5 million in damages.

Second, what century is the PTC living in?  So what if a handful of stations dump the Gossip Girl episode next week?  Its readily available on iTunes.  Somebody will break copyright laws and have it up on BitTorrent about ten minutes after the show ends on the East coast.  Preempting a program on broadcast  television will not stop it from being seen– this would have worked 20 years ago.  Are they urging that their members try to shutdown the internet and confiscate all iPhones and iPods so that the words ménage à trois aren’t overhead by their kids?  Will they then “protect” their kids from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter chatter about sex?

Third, why is it that conservative are such hypocrites?  They want little or no government control when it comes to health care, business, etc.  Except when it comes to social issues.  Then they want to legislate how people behave or in this case they want the FCC to step in and examine if community decency laws were violated.  That sounds like a great use of government time and resources.  The PTC has spent the last 14 years hunting down f-bombs in live broadcasts, decrying every episode of Family Guy and Nip/Tuck, and trying to punish any mention or hint of deviant sex –for them anything not in the missionary position done once a week between a married couple.

Lastly, Gossip Girl is not art.  If you want art on TV get a subscription to cable and watch HBO, Showtime, FX or AMC.  That said there are far more vulgar and disturbing things on television than Gossip Girl.  Take any one of the reality shows on MTV or VH1: Real World, Road Rules, Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love Money, Daisy of Love, Real Chance of Love, Charm School, etc.

Those programs are not populated by fictional characters spouting lame dialogue, they are “real” people debasing themselves for fame.  Rather than nursing a Victorian obsession with foul language and hints of skin the Parents Television Council should campaign against reality programming if they really want to clean up television.  Better yet turn off the TV and leave the rest of us alone, we’re not frightened by the occasional f-bomb or a fleeting nipple on TV.  It won’t cause our worldview to crumble and put us in psychotherapy for years.

Here’s the full letter from the PTC, with my smart ass comments:

By now you must be aware of reports in Entertainment Weekly and elsewhere that the November 9th episode of the teen-targeted drama Gossip Girl will feature major characters in a sexual threesome.

To include a story line like this on a program that is expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers is reckless and irresponsible. I appeal to your highest sense of decency, respect and common sense in urging you to preempt this episode.

Television is profoundly influential in the lives of children, especially when it comes to sexual decision making – it has even been described by one researcher as a “sexual super-peer” – signifying television’s power to amplify, many times over, the peer-pressure teens are already feeling to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.

Teen are already feeling pressure if they took one of those so called virginity pledges.

When television portrays attractive, popular teenage characters as sexually active, it sends a powerful message to young viewers that they, too, should be sexually active and in fact, there might be something wrong with them if they aren’t.

So if the unattractive, less popular cast members were getting it on, the PTC wouldn’t have a problem with it?

Teens are aware that television influences their behavior. According to one survey, a third of youths 12 and older say the media encourages them to have sex by making it seem like “everybody does it.” At least half a dozen studies in the past few years have documented a strong correlation between exposure to adult media content in childhood and early onset of sexual activity among teens. Viewing of sexual media content has even been found to be predictive of teen pregnancy.

Here’s a strong correlation for you: Bored teenagers want to have sex.  Teens with overbearing parents want to have sex.  Teens that are ignored by their parents and seeking to fill an emotional void want to have sex.  I think that covers pretty much all groups of teenagers.

As one researcher who has seen these effects first-hand observed, “Children have neither the life experience nor the brain development to fully differentiate between a reality they are moving toward and a fiction meant solely to entertain. Children learn from media, and when they watch media with sexual references and innuendos, our research suggests they are more likely to engage in sexual activity earlier in life.”

We’ve observed that the PTC neither has the life experience nor the brain development to understand that banning a Gossip Girl ménage à trois will not magically make their teens forget about sex.

Gossip Girl routinely depicts teenage characters engaging in promiscuous and consequence-free sexual behavior, and that’s bad enough. But will you now be complicit in establishing a precedent and expectation that teenagers should engage in behaviors heretofore associated primarily with adult films? Behaviors that not only increase health risks, but which are emotionally and psychologically damaging to participants, as well? I certainly hope not, and I’m sure members of your community and parents of children who watch your network expect more of you.

May I also remind you that it is the affiliate, not the CW network, that will bear the financial burden of an FCC fine should any of the content of the November 9th episode be found to violate broadcast decency laws.

Finally, you must ask yourself, how does airing this program serve your obligation to serve the public interest? In a declaratory ruling last year, the FCC affirmed affiliates’ ability to preempt any network programming that is “unsatisfactory or unsuitable or contrary to the public interest.” The record on this is clear: contracts between networks and their affiliates may not legally prevent preemption of programming that does not meet LOCAL COMMUNITY standards. As a station manager you not only have a right, but an obligation to preempt programs like Gossip Girl that fail to meet that standard.

Local community standards?  Well there are 210 individual television markets in the United States, I’m sure the more than a few of those communities will be okay with Gossip Girl.  Citizens in those communities might object to having some busybodies telling them what they can watch.

Please be advised that the PTC will monitor this episode very closely. Our members will not hesitate to contact local and national advertisers; and if this program violates broadcast decency law, rest assured that our members will contact the Federal Communications Commission.

Sincerely,

Timothy F. Winter