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Televitz Review: 'Nick News Special Edition: My Family is Different'
by Raina Wilhelm
June 19, 2002
Despite hundreds of thousands of emails from concerned parents, Nickelodeon
aired "Nick News Special Edition: My Family is Different" at 9 p.m. Eastern,
Tuesday, June 18th. This special focuses on same-sex parenting. Since I live
in a fairly small, conservative city, the story was front-page news in my
local newspaper. However, I couldn't help but wonder how many parents were
unaware that such a show was being aired on their children's favorite
channel. How many innocent White children were watching this homosexual
propaganda without the knowledge of their parents? And just what were they
seeing? I decided to tape the show to watch after my children were in bed so
I could review it for VNN. The show was hosted by Linda Ellerbee and
featured the oh-so-unattractive blob that is Rosie O'Donnell, along with a
gay school principal and Gay Firefighter Tom. Ellerbee introduced the show
by saying, "The following program is about tolerance...it is not about sex.
It does not tell you what to think." And then they proceeded to tell us what
to think.
The show started out with Ellerbee, O'Donnell, and the aforementioned queer
men lounging around on red furniture with a multi-cultural crowd of kids.
Ellerbee explained that some kids have heterosexual parents but a growing
number have homosexual parents and that "homosexuals are people who love
people of the same sex in a romantic way" while heterosexuals are those who
"love people of the opposite sex in a romantic way."
We then met Sarah, the daughter of "two moms," both stereotypical dykes;
dumpy, overweight and extremely ugly. Sarah laughed as she recounted how
she sometimes calls for "Mom" and gets two answers from both ends of the
house. Sometimes kids ask Sarah if she's also gay, says this plump 12 year
old who, sadly, will probably end up as ugly and
dykish as her "moms." The entire segment featuring Sarah and her "moms" was
chock-full of wholesome images: a school bus, bike ride, American flag, etc.
Imagine for a moment that you are a small child who has been taught to
respect the United States flag. The fun represented in the bike riding is
meant to give homosexuality an element of excitement,
while the school bus represents security and familiarity to small school-age
children. In subtle ways such as these, children are being led to believe
that homosexuality is familiar and not foreign,
that it is fun and exciting; in fact, it's downright American!
The gay principal of Oak View Elementary school in Maple Grove, Minnesota,
and Gay Firefighter Tom were introduced after Sarah's story ended with a
touching scene of the two perverted "mothers" groping and kissing the girl.
If Mr. French, the queer principal, still has a job tomorrow, Maple Grove,
Minnesota, should be very ashamed of itself. Tom the Gay Firefighter was
introduced as a 9-1-1 "veteran" and wore a firefighter's T-shirt. Linda
Ellerbee took a poll, asking how many of the children had heterosexual
parents and how many had gay parents. Only three children had homosexual
parents: a young girl who insisted that hers was a normal family and that
they all love each other very much, a comical-looking negro with cornrows,
and a very effeminate little White boy with two mothers who I hope will be
rescued by his father, grandfather, uncle...anybody who can straighten the
poor kid out.
Rosie O'Donnell jumped in to say that she felt "different" and "ashamed"
when she went to junior high because she missed her dead mother and she
didn't want anyone to know. She said she can understand
not wanting to be "different." Linda Ellerbee asked the children about
"hate" words. Did they often hear words like, "fag," and "queer" on the
playground and such? They all answered yes. A little Muslim girl, who looked
either drained of most of her blood or extremely
powdered for the television lights, said kids shouldn't use such words as
they are mean words. The camera flashed to the fag principal who was smiling
and nodding.
The funniest moment in the whole show was when Rosie O'Donnell said that,
sexuality aside, to stand idly by while someone abused someone else by
calling them fat, ugly, retarded, or stupid was condoning the
behavior...watching her fat, ugly, retarded, stupid mouth saying
that had me in stitches.
Ellerbee announced that, just as gay people have the right
to be respected, so do other people have a right to their own opinions. That
was the introduction to the Jerry Falwell segment; as he begins speaking, we
see the cover of the Holy Bible. He did a lot of ass-kissing while weakly
protesting that homosexuality is wrong, according to the Bible. Jewess
Winnie Stackelberg of the Human Rights Campaign made an appearance right in
the middle to urge tolerance. Falwell's segment, thankfully short, ended with his statement that hatred, malice, and violence are just plain
wrong.
The few times that the two White, self-proclaimed Christian boys spoke,
stating that they believed homosexuality was sinful, they were treated with
icy indifference, and Rosie was glaring and clenching her teeth at the one
she was seated next to. So much talk of tolerance, so little
action! Yet, even these boys were pressured into admitting that no one
should be treated "different." Overall, considering the pressure they were
under, they did a fair job of sticking to their beliefs. A little
dark-haired girl also declared her opinion that it was wrong.
Linda Ellerbee asked a few more questions of both the children and the gay
adults, and I found out that, according to the queer principal, Maple Grove,
Minnesota, accepts him just fine. I also found out that Gay Firefighter Tom
isn't just Gay Firefighter Tom -- he is also a dad and enjoys kayaking. Rosie
revealed that her 7-year-old son wishes he had a daddy, but that she
comforts him by telling him he will be a daddy someday. There were so many
repetitive appeals to "just be nice" and "show tolerance" from some of the
children that I almost fell asleep before getting through the whole
half-hour show.
If you're a parent and you were under the misconception that Nickelodeon was
a "safe" channel for kids, it may not be too late to do something with your
new-found knowledge. Watch the shows your children watch. Pay attention to
the things they pay attention to. When you find objectionable material, and
you will, you have a responsibility to protect your children from it.
Depending upon the age level of your child, you can either slowly phase
objectionable shows out, or have an honest talk with them explaining that
the channel airs shows that are contrary to your family's beliefs, Racial
truths, Nature, God, etc. If shows like this are any indication, you had
better do something to ensure your children turn out sexually and racially
healthy.
RAINA WILHELM
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