A Country Full of Prudes

As I recently told everyone – on of my favorite ways to waste time is watching stuff on BBC-America. This past Saturday, I found myself engrossed in mini-marathons of Dr. Who and Torchwood. This being season finale weekend for both shows, I had some catching-up to do.

During the course of my TiVo assisted afternoon, I got to see a lot of the character, Captain Jack Harkness. Jack is a popular character in the British sci-fi. He first appears as a companion in the venerable Dr. Who. But after becoming immortal – ends up getting a spin-off on the campy Torchwood. Decidedly American, this charismatic and undeniably handsome, Jack is the modern day hero who runs around Cardiff keeping the world safe from aliens in the 21st century.

Jack, in every essence of the word, is the epitome of a clean-cut America hottie. Think Errol Flynn mixed with George Clooney. As a Torchwood fansite describes him, Jack is “lethally charming…good looking and utterly captivating.” Wearing a WWII officer’s wool coat over his suspenders and button down shirts, one gets the image of a traditional hero. Nevermind that he spends his time chasing aliens – Jack works to make things better, cares about his friends, and is ultimately on the side of good. On the show, he and his crack staff of dedicated and loyal people stand in defense of humanity against evil extraterrestrials. They don’t have super powers, but they’re a picture of modern day heroes you could look up to.

If only they weren’t all raging bisexuals.

Okay, I’ll be fair. Many of them had same sex kisses over the last two seasons because they were possessed by spirits/aliens or under duress while saving the world from Weevils, avoiding an Abaddon, or running from Cannibal Villagers (Oh yeah…The X Files have nothing on this show!). However, there still is a serious same sex relationship and sexuality is not a problem they shy away from. And while I adore this show, I came to the realization that fact is fact.

A different kind of hero...sort of.

My campy and ultra-cool little British import would never fly as an original U.S. series on network T.V. Why? We are a country of Prudy McPrudersons. Forget everything about gay or bisexual characters…we are afraid of seeing any intimacy of any kind.

I know some people would argue with me regarding that opinion. There are many who would argue that there is too much sex on television American television. But in comparison to Canada and most of mainland Europe, we are decidedly still very shy about what gets shown on television.

This is the same country that made Lucy and Ricky Ricardo as well as Rob and Laura Petrie sleep IN SEPARATE BEDS! When Ellen DeGeneres decided to have her alter ego come out, her network slapped a parental advisory message before the show. Janet Jackson flashed us a covered nipple during Super XXXVIII, the FCC wanted to fine her and ban her from television completely. And to top it all off, I often hear from people who have been abroad that European television is filled with loose morals and could use a dose of ambiguity.

What about the intimate nature of sex and sexuality do we fear as a country? Groups of people will tell me that sexuality is something that is unnatural. We are meant to hide these things. But when you view history, most of the great civilizations had this “seedy” underside where people actually enjoyed their sexuality and weren’t ashamed of it. Check it out – at the very least, watch a few episode’s of HBO’s epic Rome.

While I think we’re prudish, I don’t believe that we should remove all the lines and have some random free for all. That’s what we have cable for, right? I completely agree there is a time and place for everything and there is such a thing as “too much, too soon” for youngsters. But as a society, we could probably loosen up a bit.
By limiting ourselves so, we cut out a lot of experiences and lessons we could be learning. For a discerning viewing public that demands to be shown the truth – we always seem to hide the situations and relationships that we are most ashamed of. And when does one learn but from your own (and other’s mistakes). Entertainment has a golden opportunity to be our era’s version of morality plays. Instead, we’d prefer to create “reality” by making people embarrass and debase themselves competing for cash prizes.

Advocate groups are constantly hammering the entertainment industry to provide solid and adequate role models in television and movies. But why limit that to only heterosexuals? A person’s orientation is a big part of their character and there is a large section of the population that deviates from social norms. Characters like the aforementioned Capt. Jack Harkness do better than they do harm.

The man fights evil, what do I care that he’s currently dating a guy?