Have a Laugh on Me 11
From slate.com, an online magazine.
By Dana Stevens, slate's "surfergirl" who writes on TV and popular culture
Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005
Today's paper was full of sobering news: there was the death of 37
Americans in the deadliest day yet in Iraq, the growing specter of impending
election-day violence in that country, the 60th anniversary of the liberation
of Auschwitz. But it was when I turned to the arts pages that my
reporter's instinct really kicked in: Apparently, there are two women in Vermont
who like each other just a little bit too much.
In a half-hour episode of the PBS children's series "Postcards from
Buster" originally scheduled to air February 2, the titular animated bunny
visits a Vermont family headed up by . well, we're all adults here, so let's
just say it: two mommies. Brand-new Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings, who just took office on Monday, has already sent a letter to the
producers decrying the episode, which is entitled "Sugartime!" Though, as this
CNN story notes, the show's "focus is on farm life and maple sugaring,"
Spellings has insisted that the seal of the Department of Education be
removed from the offending program, along with any statement suggesting a link
between the two. She also requested that PBS give member stations a
heads-up on the content of "Sugartime!", so they can decide for themselves
whether to air it or not. Finally, she has suggested that PBS return any
government money used to produce the episode, noting sternly that "You can be
assured that in the future the department will be more clear as to its
expectations for any future programming that it funds."
I'm as concerned as the next potential parent about young children's
exposure to tree-tapping hijinks on public TV. So I called Jeanne Hopkins,
communications director for WGBH in Boston, where "Postcards from Buster" is
produced. Ms. Hopkins obligingly granted me an interview, which I reproduce
here in its entirety.
What is the specific nature of the content that the Secretary of Education
is objecting to? What exactly happens in "Sugartime!"?
The animated character Buster Baxter meets real kids. In this episode he
is in Vermont ... [he] meets kids with two moms. The moms are not central
to the story, the kids are. But their family structure seems to be what has
triggered the concern.
Is there any nudity in "Sugartime!"?
No.
Is there any sexual contact between the two women? Romantic contact? Do
they kiss, touch, grope each other onscreen?
No, no, no, no and no.
Is the word "lesbian" or "gay" ever used in the episode?
No, no.
How about "dyke"?
No.
How do we know that the couple pictured are lesbians?
One of the kids introduces her mom and stepmom, and Buster comments that
she has a lot of moms. That's pretty much it. Remember, this is a show from
a kid's point of view, not an adult's.
Is "maple sugaring" actually code for some sort of sexual practice between
women?
Not that we uncovered.
Is the lesbian couple married under Vermont's civil union law? Does the
issue of marriage come up in the episode?
There is no mention of the women's status and marriage is not mentioned.
We know from meeting and talking with them off-camera that they are in a
civil union.
In the Buster theme song, Wyclef Jean sings : "He's got his camera /And
he's gonna explore /All the neat things he's never done before." By
showcasing a lesbian couple in this episode, is PBS promoting a homosexual agenda
by implying that two women living together as domestic partners is a "neat
thing" that children should "explore"?
No, we are not promoting anything. Buster visits kids whose parents are
divorced, too-we're not promoting that either. Buster is exploring the neat
things that kids all over this country do, and experience, and can teach
each other.
As one of Bush's senior domestic policy advisors, Margaret Spellings was
once interviewed on C-Span about some census data that indicated a decline
in traditional family structures. She answered, "So what?" and added that,
as a single mother, she understood that there were "lots of different
types of family." How do you explain Ms. Spellings' shift on this issue since
she assumed office as Secretary of Education on Monday?
We cannot explain, nor would we try.
What do you think is really at stake when the new Bush administration
picks an issue like this to set the tone for the next four years? Is the
government trying to find excuses to withdraw funding from public television?
Or is this just a symbolic bone thrown to the Christian right? What do you
think is going on?
It's not clear to us what this means.
I want to thank all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me your damn chain letters over the past few years. Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of what's left of my heart for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy.
Because of your concern...I no longer can drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer drink anything out of a can because I will get sick from the rat faeces and urine.
I no longer use cling wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.
I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
I no longer use margarine because it's one molecule away from being plastic.
I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get the phone bill from hell with calls to
Uganda, Beijing and Uzbekistan.
I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
I no longer date the opposite sex because they will take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.
I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have the recipe.
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me and St. Theresa has granted my every wish.
Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl in India who is about to die (for the 1,387,258th time).
I no longer have any money at all. But that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.
Yes, I want to thank all of you soooooooo much for looking out for me!
I will now return the favor.
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 1200 people in the next 60 seconds, a large bird with diarrhea will crap on your head at 5:00pm this afternoon and the fleas from a thousand camels will infest your armpits. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's 8th husband's 2nd cousin's 3rd husband's ex-wife's mother's beautician!
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