PBS was just one of many sources, but it probably helped. A lot of their programs for children include that message. It was particularly central to Mister Rodger’s Neighborhood. Fred Rodger’s was a national treasure.
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I’m told the people of Sweden don’t find the Swedish Chef funny in the slightest.
The Big Blue Marble was produced by Rick Berman, who later produced Star Trek TNG and the 90’s / 00’s trek shows.
Apparently he was not well liked and Star Trek did well in spite of him as producer.
That’s why representation definitely matters.
I grew up in Redneckville, US with a population-of-color totaling zero. Primetime shows with minority or diverse casts (Family Matters, Martin, Ghostwriter, Sister Sister, Hangin’ WIth Mr. Cooper, etc) showed me very early on that people are just people.
I have mentioned this before and few agree with me but whatever. Modern Family is one of the best things that has happened in the media for the LGBT. Seriously watch the show. You got a gay couple having normal relatable problems hetrosexual couples have. Yeah they are a bit flat stereotypes but it’s a family sitcom not Shakespeare.
There are a lot of people out there like me. I only know two members of the LGBT population in person and neither all that well. Everyone around me is straight or in the closet. For people in my situation that show normalizes it.
I think “Will & Grace” was all we had in the 90s on that front.
If you were lucky, that is.
I will not accept this Big Gay Al erasure
Here’s a good video on it. . The whole channel is worthwhile. Goes through queer history and pretty much every sitcom. This one on Seinfeld is good.
That video explained it so much better than I did. Thanks for sharing!
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I’m going to give this W to reruns of next gen and John Stewart.
Compassion likely was taught by many parts of your local community as well as human creative endeavours in general.
I grew up Catholic, and went to Catholic schools, and weirdly was never taught to not love everyone and to believe and trust in science.
I remember seeing a clip of an ItalianAmerican comedian in NY…
He asked the audience if anyone-there had gone to Catholic school…
…some hands went up…
He asked those if they remember the names of the nuns teaching in that school…
…names like “Lefty” & “Knuckles”…
…camera showed people in the audience nodding…
iirc, a nun in the Catholic grade-school I was in, broke one boy’s arm, when she flipped his desk on him.
Catholic school values had nothing, whatsoever, to do with the religion of Catholicism’s root-guru.
The “Residential Schools” that we forced on the Indigenous children, with their super-high suicide-rates, were a whole category worse, too.
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Family friend of ours was chatting with me and my wife and I mentioned I was thinking of a religious study program for the kids*. She turned red and pretty much growled out to us something along the lines: if you put them in a Catholic program I am going to lose it. They beat me. I am not happy with my response of nervous laughing but it was involuntary.
*I am an atheist. If you teach a kid one religion you indoctrinate them, if you teach them more than one you vaccinate them.
