Swingtown is Appalling

I picked up a NY Times for Kate to go along with her hot chocolate and scone Mother's Day morning treat. We thumbed through the sections together (I paused on the sports article about the Pats) and landed on headline Arts & Leisure story titled "Take My Wife. Please. I'll Take Yours."

Swingtown (Youtube trailer here) is the latest scintilating tv show to come out about sex, drugs, and lots of "love" (read "sex"). The couples swing. Great idea for a tv show, right?

CBS certainly thinks so. That is why they are launching the show this summer at their Thursday, 10 PM slot. "We wanted to give people something fun and fresh in the summer," said Nina Tassler, the president of CBS Entertainment in the article. Imagine Boogie Nights meets The Wonder Years, the producers say.

....

This. Is. Appalling.

At a time when the sex = pleasure = happiness myth is being propogated at tremendous proportions to EVERYONE in our culture, the same network which brought us Touched by an Angel is now bringing us a primetime wife swapping show.

Thankfully, the show is on so late that most kids won't see it. Except that it's the summer, when the kids don't have to get up the next morning. Except that 61% have a tv in their room. Except that parents don't seem to care too much about what their children watch.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not only worried about boys and girls getting the wrong idea of what makes a healthy relationship. (However, I would suggest that the Alliance for Children's Rights take a harder look at their more recent award winner.) I'm worried about the "adults" in this country.

This country will live and die based our cultural strength. This strength does not begin at the national level. It's development exists solely in the smallest cultural unit - the family. Why? Because the family is the only group that produces off-spring. It is these off-spring that, as a group, provide support for and distress on our national identity.

When you start swapping wives an enjoying the 'open relationship', you are demonstrating behavior that is both inappropriate for children to witness and damaging to their relational pysche.

Women's Lib has been subjugated by radicals who now state that women should be just as sexually active as men in order to demonstrate their equal power. This is a load of crap. Men and women are different and equal. Talk to any sane psychologist and they'll tell you the early sexualization of our children is a huge problem and that it is particularly hard on young girls in terms of their pursuit of happiness in adulthood.

(For the record, I whole heartedly agree with Women's Lib ideals of equal pay for equal work, the abolition of sexual harassment and violence, and an equal voice and representation at all levels of government. I also believe that men should be less sexually active and remain faithful to their mate.)

Will we watch the show? Hell NO. Personally, I think anyone who spends their Thursday night watching this drivel is a fool.

The women may be attractive and the men may be hard bodies. I would bet that the majority of people who watch the show will be men who fantasize about multiple partners and younger women who think the swinging lifestyle would be cool. Let's all hope these people grow past these delusions to become more rational and grounded members of society.

To CBS: If Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council won't say it, I will - Shame On You. Get this crap off the air.

Comments

[Shannon]

I highly recommend you lift your ban on this show. I am a 25 year old woman and hold a very firm belief that a monogamous relationship is a healthy relationship. With that said, I absolutely love Swingtown. It provides an excellent example on how "open relationships" can end in disaster. Your presumption that this show glorifies swapping is uneducated. Incidentally, the sexual pressures being forced on men and women in this modern society begs for sexual education rather than a continued taboo on the whole subject. Change is inevitable whether you're on board or not.

[Christine]

I LOVE the show.

I'm 34 and single, I wish my neighbors looked like that!

*two thumbs up!*

[kate]

Shannon and Christine,
Thanks for your notes. We don't watch very much TV but we will definitely check out Swingtown. Our reaction to it came from the article in the NYT and the trailer on the internet which bothed made it seem like the show glorified the idea of swinging. After your comments, we will check it out and reevaluate our two thumbs down.
Thanks!
Kate