Friday, June 04, 2010

Right-wing ‘media watchdog’ is outraged that ‘Glee’ doesn’t have friendly homophobic characters

From ThinkProgress.org: "L. Brent Bozell III, right-wing scion and president of the conservative “media watchdog” group the Media Research Center, wrote a column today in TownHall to express his absolute outrage at the television show “Glee” for promoting a “homosexual lifestyle.” Bozell, whose “think-tank” is funded by foundation money from David and Julie Koch of the oil conglomerate Koch Industries and ExxonMobil, among other corporate sources, denounced the show for portraying opponents of homosexuality as “vicious school bullies.” Bozell lamented the fact that that Glee’s homophobes were “two brutish football players” who “threatened to pummel the openly gay and riotously effeminate character Kurt for dressing up like a girl”:

“Bill O’Reilly recently hosted a “culture warriors” segment at Fox News where both “warriors” agreed that homosexuality is morally acceptable. That same no-debate mentality has been a regular drumbeat on the Fox television series “Glee,” a musical drama/comedy about a high school glee club in Lima, Ohio. [...] The only characters on the show disapproving of homosexuality are vicious school bullies. In the May 25 episode, two brutish football players threatened to pummel the openly gay and riotously effeminate character Kurt for dressing up like a girl. Everyone else in this series approves, endorses or participates in the homosexual lifestyle.“

While it may seem astounding that Bozell found the urge to whine that “this show has presented gay as the ‘new normal,’” and that “Glee” lacks enough friendly gay-bashers, his complaints are par for the course for his organization, which is considered a mainstream conservative establishment. Yesterday, Bozell’s bloggers tried to drum up an absurd conspiracy theory, accusing Time magazine of printing a picture of the World Cup logo that looks “strikingly like that of the Obama logo