Apart from the P&G commercials that have frequently
aired during the Olympic coverage, it has been hard to miss that NBC is pushing
to promote its new show The New Normal.
Perhaps this show caught my eye because I spent an entire day in my
communication class focused on LGBT representation in the media discussing the
word ‘normal’ or perhaps it’s because as a huge fan of Modern Family any show that seems to break the standard
conventions of what a family is grabs my attention. Regardless, I decided to do
some further investigating and found some startling controversy that this show
has generated...mind you before it has even aired! For any one who has somehow
missed the promos for the show during the Olympics watch the short trailer.
According to various articles, concerned mothers across the
United States are joining together to protest the show, which is centered
around a gay couple that hire a surrogate mother to carry their child, and thus
emerges the new normal family in America. The article quotes the pro-family
organization One Million Moms, which is a ministry of the American Family
Association, arguing that the show is “attempting to desensitize America and
our children. It is the opposite of how families are designed and created. You
cannot recreate the biological wheel.” The group is encouraging its members to
contact NBC to alert them of their serious concerns about the show as well as
the sponsors of the show. One Million Moms believes that The New Normal threatens to damage and de-sensitize Americans to
homosexuality in attempts to redefine marriage.
What I find most interesting about the group’s comments is
not their homophobic nature, but rather their clear acknowledgement of the
enormous power that the media has to influence the public. According to
cultivation theory, viewers develop information from television by integrating
it into their perceptions of the real world (Ferguson, Berlin, Noles, Johnson,
Reed, &Spicer, 2005). Therefore I will not argue that One Million Moms is out
of line in their fears or understanding of the power television has to
influence its audience. However, I don’t think that trying to limit television
shows to ones that reinforce heterosexual relationships and censor shows that
challenge that norm is by any means progressive for our society. What I find
even more amusing about this group’s efforts to protest and cancel the show is
that they have not even seen it yet. The creator of Glee, Ryan Murphy said, “
Every person and group has a right to protest something. I find it to be
interesting that they would take a position before they’ve seen it.”
Interestingly enough apparently the show isn’t necessarily entirely pro-gay,
the mother of the surrogate, played by Ellen Barkin, is a member of an anti-gay
group. Rather than promote their own agenda it seems that perhaps the creators
are attempting to give everyone a voice in their new show.
From the time I was five years old I can remember staring at
the television in awe as I watched my favorite Disney Princess being carried
away by her handsome prince charming. The media, specifically television has
done so much to promote and normalize gendered images of men and women in
heterosexual romantic relationships (Ivory, Gibson, & Ivory, 2009). It is
so refreshing and in my eyes progressive to see television shows like Glee and Modern Family that offer positive representations of
non-traditional family units and sexual relationships. On NBC’s website they
noted that “These days, families come in all forms - single dads, double moms,
sperm donors, egg donors, one-night-stand donors,” proclaims the description.
“It's 2012 and anything goes.” The trailer features pro-gay representations
such as the surrogate mother explaining that she doesn’t mind carrying the
child of a gay couple because “love is love” however it also features many
anti-gay comments from the surrogate’s mother. It seems that NBC really is
trying to represent a variety of families and beliefs in their new show.
Regardless, I for one am excited to see the pilot. In case you are interested
the show premieres September 11th at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.
