I am a huge fan of advice columnist Dan Savage and his essays for "This American Life." His recent commentary on the death of his mother brought me to tears. And I am very impressed with his thoughtful assessment of the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." As a gay man, he remembers the feeling of disconnection he had as a child who never saw on television characters who reflected his view of the world, how he felt, who he wanted to be. And now as a father, he sees his son watching the ostensibly wholesome "Suite Life" and finds it as disturbing a portrayal of heterosexuality as the over-the-top stereotypes of gays he saw when he was growing up. Ten-year-old Zach's fascination with a pretty teenage girl, his advice about how to get "babes" by lying to them, his creepy come-ons, comments like "I'd better practice my kissing" -- Savage says that his son has a "look of concentration" when he watches as though he is "filing things away for future reference." Savage wants his son, a straight boy growing up with gay parents, to see positive models of heterosexual behavior in the media. But "stereotypes are patient," says Savage. "They'll wear you down."
Sponsored by:
Dan Savage Takes on "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody"
Wednesday June 17, 2009
Filed Under: dan savage, gay, heterosexual, homosexual, parenting, television, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Advertisement
Advertisement
Search This Blog
Sort Reviews By
Subscribe
Ethics and Family
Beliefnet's Family Values Toolkit offers age-specific resources to help kids navigate difficult decisions.
View the Toolkit
View the Toolkit
Categories
All Current Releases
DVDs
Shorts
Add category
- "Gothika Rule"
- Actors
- Aria Wallace Unplugged
- Interview: Kaitlyn Maher of 'Santa Buddies'
- The Sexiest Man Alive 2009 is.....
- Advertising
- 'Couples Retreat' Poster Omits Black Stars
- What does 'Syfy' mean?
- PTC Opposes Raunchy Ads from Burger King, Hardees, and Carls Jr.
- After the kids go to bed
- Awards
- Behind the Scenes
- The Real Story: Michael Oher of 'The Blind Side'
- Interview: Vampires from 'New Moon'
- Twilight on Twitter
- Beliefnet Movie Highlights
- Books
- Reading Rockets: Where the Wild Things Are Family Kit
- A Teacher's Inspiration
- Ask Amy Recommends My Blog!
- Breakthrough Perfomers
- Commentary
- Contest
- Five 'Shorts' DVDs to Give Away!
- A Special Treat! Santa Buddies Giveaway!!
- Congrats to the Tinker Bell Winners!
- Cool Stuff
- Warner Brothers Upgrades Your DVD Collection to Blu-Ray!
- A Special Treat! Santa Buddies Giveaway!!
- 'Monsters Inc' Extras
- Critics
- DVD Pick of the Week
- Directors
- Interview: Jared Hess of 'Gentlemen Broncos'
- Interview: Lone Scherfig of 'An Education'
- Interview: Tinker Bell (Part 2)
- Early Readers
- Elementary School
- Interview: Kaitlyn Maher of 'Santa Buddies'
- Five 'Shorts' DVDs to Give Away!
- Contest: Kai-Lan and Mr. Troop Mom
- For Your Netflix Queue
- Great Characters
- Great Movie Moments
- Interview
- Interview: Vampires from 'New Moon'
- I Meet the Volturi!
- Upcoming interviews: Zac Efron and 'New Moon!'
- Marketing to Kids
- MPAA Makes Unannounced Change to Trailer Content
- Stop Marketing of PG-13 Movies to Young Children
- A Terminator Costume for Little Kids?
- Movie Mom's Top Picks for Families
- Rocky and Bullwinkle Celebrate their 50th Anniversary
- Five 'Shorts' DVDs to Give Away!
- The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
- Neglected gem
- Parenting
- Disney Admits that Baby Einstein Does Not Help Babies
- Ludacris at the National Press Club
- Parental Guidance on Web Videos
- Preschoolers
- Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!
- Contest: Kai-Lan and Mr. Troop Mom
- Interview: Tinker Bell (Part 2)
- Quiz
- Quote of the Week
- Quote of the Week: Jeff Daniels
- Quote of the Week: Dana Stevens on Michael Cera
- Quotes of the Week -- 'Seven Pounds'
- Rediscovered Classic
- Special Effects
- Spiritual films
- Spoiler Alert
- Knowing
- Which is Dirtier -- 'Land of the Lost' or 'Hangover?' (Spoiler Alert)
- 'Star Trek' and 'Terminator Salvation' -- Spoiler Alert Discussion
- Stars
- Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Taylor
- Happy Birthday Lucas Grabeel
- William Holden Salute at Lincoln Center
- Teenagers
- Trailers and Previews
- 'Avatar' Trailer -- Watch Sunday's NFL Pre-game Show
- Michael Moore on God, Faith, and Capitalism
- Upcoming Film Searches for God
- Tribute
- Tweens
- Understanding Media and Pop Culture
- Writers
- Interview: Jared Hess of 'Gentlemen Broncos'
- Tribute: Larry Gelbart
- Interview: Marc Fienberg of 'Play the Game'
- Movie Criminal Mistakes
- Tallgrass Film Festival
- Comic-Con 2009: Interviews for 'Alien Trespass' and 'Boondock Saints II'
- Comic-Con 2009: Costumes!
About Movie Mom
Movie Mom's Archives
Movie Mom's full archives of more than 1,400 reviews (including her 200 best films for families) and 400 blog posts is now on Beliefnet for searching.
Movie Mom is a registered trademark of Nell Minow.
Copyright 1995-2009 Nell Minow. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 1995-2009 Nell Minow. All Rights Reserved.
That is a lovely thought, and I share your wish that the blessings of grace and faith be widespread.
Unfortunately, this problem extends much farther than the one show discussed here. Parental controls are no help at all in filtering shows that subtly (or not so subtly) influence our children (boys and girls) in such negative ways about relationships and their roles in society. I try very hard to monitor my 11 year old's tv time and watch with her when I can, but even shows that seem innocent on the surface can carry messages I find disturbing in this way. It takes hard work and vigilance to counter messages that seem so pervasive in tv and advertising. Thank goodness I can count on MovieMom to help figure out what's in films.
Thanks so much, Nancy. What keeps me going is the parents who are so careful and protective about what their kids absorb from the surrounding media. Your comment means the world to me.
I think he is overreacting to the show...i dont think disney channel means to like "turn kids straight" it's really just the character. for comedic purposes really. As a kid of his age it actually seems realistic portraying his character to boys my age. we dont live in the cootie era...
Thanks, Wow. I love the idea of not living on the cootie era! But I don't think that means that predatory sexual precocity is a good source of humor for characters of any age.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.