View From The Outside # 1 - Desperate Times

I understand that racism is still a problem in this country, in this world. I do. And I sympathize. We need to do something to change the way we (as a people) think. Our public figures should be reprimanded for using speech that promotes racism and bigotry, whether they’re on a campaign stump or a comedy club, certain things just aren’t okay.

That said, there has to be a line somewhere.

Last week, on Desperate Housewives:

The episode showed actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asking during a medical consultation to check “those diplomas because I want to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.”

It seems the Philippine Government immediately took offense and demanded an apology. When they got one, the decided that it wasn’t enough. They wish to lodge a formal protest with the US Government.

“I am mortally offended by the statement because it betrayed the racial prejudice and denigrates the excellent performance of world-class Filipino doctors in the US,” said Senator Miriam Santiago, whose sister is a doctor working in Los Angeles.

Now, just in case you’re hung-over (this is Sunday, after all) and haven’t fully grasped where I’m going with this. The Philippine Government wants the US Government to do something about a statement made by a BLOODY FICTIONAL CHARACTER!

We’re not talking about somebody’s role model here. This is Desperate Housewives. It contains adult humor and characters that, well, don’t really deserve a lot of respect. Teri Hatcher’s character, while not the worst of the lot, is no ball of virtue. The dialogue in question is entirely in character for her to utter.

So, what’s the fallout here? Is this going to be another area where we push our characters further outside the bounds of reality in deference to the gods of political correctness? Like that smoking thing. Cause, you know, everybody I know quit smoking when the characters on TV and in movies did.

Maybe we should censor all bad behavior from the characters that are ostensibly good guys? Don’t let them do anything a perfect role model wouldn’t do. We can give all the bad stuff, drinking, smoking, drugs, extra-marital sex over to the bad guys. And we can make them all wear black hats, just so we can identify them easier.

The good guys can wear white hats. Maybe carry a bible or something. That should reduce the need to think for ourselves while we watch television, don’t you think?