Tuesday night's episode of Glee tackled a rather hot topic: sex education in high schools. It covered everything from abstinence-only to more comprehensive sex ed programs, from the age-old assumption that opposites attract to the fact that people of the same gender do, too.
Gwyneth Paltrow, as Holly Holiday, takes on the school's sex ed class, and tells the students that while abstinence is ideal, it's “not that realistic,’’ and that “information is power.’’ Here, here!
Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley) gives his son Kurt (Cris Colfer) pamphlets about sex, and talks to him about it. He says, “You’ve got to know that it means something. It’s doing something to you, to your heart, to your self-esteem, even though it feels like you’re just having fun. … When you’re ready, I want you to be able to do everything, but when you’re ready, I want you to use it as a way to connect to another person. Don’t throw yourself around like you don’t matter. Because you matter, Kurt.”
The Parents Television Council is pissed, as usual, but it's not over the message. It's the delivery they have a problem with. For example, they’re not liking scenes that show Paltrow and some of her students ripping their shirts open while singing Joan Jett's “Do You Wanna Touch Me,” or when Paltrow talks a student out of making a sex tape because it would be considered child pornography. Regarding the latter, PTC’s Dan Isett asks “Exactly what kind of message is that?”
We’d say it’s a pretty good one, actually. Rock on, Gwyneth.
Gwyneth Paltrow, as Holly Holiday, takes on the school's sex ed class, and tells the students that while abstinence is ideal, it's “not that realistic,’’ and that “information is power.’’ Here, here!
Burt Hummel (Mike O'Malley) gives his son Kurt (Cris Colfer) pamphlets about sex, and talks to him about it. He says, “You’ve got to know that it means something. It’s doing something to you, to your heart, to your self-esteem, even though it feels like you’re just having fun. … When you’re ready, I want you to be able to do everything, but when you’re ready, I want you to use it as a way to connect to another person. Don’t throw yourself around like you don’t matter. Because you matter, Kurt.”
The Parents Television Council is pissed, as usual, but it's not over the message. It's the delivery they have a problem with. For example, they’re not liking scenes that show Paltrow and some of her students ripping their shirts open while singing Joan Jett's “Do You Wanna Touch Me,” or when Paltrow talks a student out of making a sex tape because it would be considered child pornography. Regarding the latter, PTC’s Dan Isett asks “Exactly what kind of message is that?”
We’d say it’s a pretty good one, actually. Rock on, Gwyneth.
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