Boy, this one's a stretch, even for those prickly prudes at The Parents Television Council.
Now the PTC is upset that the actors from "Glee," most of whom are deep into their 20s, posed for a racy photo shoot in GQ, a magazine for men who are well past the age of parental influence.
Still, the TV watchdog organization has its panties in a bunch over a bunch of panties (left) in the pages of GQ — and their line of reasoning goes something like this:
1. A bunch of kids who used to like "High School Musical" now like "Glee"; therefore, "Glee" is a kids' show.
2. Though the "Glee" cast consists of adults, they play kids on TV, so the kids who watch them also think they're kids because, as we all know, real American kids are stupid.
3. Some of these nonthinking "Glee" fans might stay at their uncle's house and flip through a GQ (bypassing columns on sex and liberal politics) to discover the "Glee" spread, pushing them down the path to hedonism, godlessness and voting Democrat. Or something like that.
We're connecting dots here, but each dot can be found directly in the PTC's statement. Highlights include:
“It is disturbing that GQ … is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia … "
"By authorizing this kind of near-pornographic display, the creators of the program have established their intentions on the show’s direction. And it isn’t good for families … "
"Unfortunately, it seems ‘Glee’ is only masquerading as family show and is far from appropriate for young viewers."
(There is no mention of the dozens of murdered/decomposing hookers on CSI and its many variants, but apparently that's OK because wisecracking detectives with family values always get the bad guys in the end.)
GQ editor-in-chief Jim Nelson managed a soundbite about the whole flap:
"As often happens in Hollywood, these 'kids' are in their twenties. Cory Monteith is almost 30! I think they're old enough to do what they want."
Sanity, almost restored.
