Tuesday, March 31, 2009

HOME AND AWAY's Lesbian Kiss Sparks Controversy

The Australian reported on Friday that Channel 7 had bowed to pressure from conservative groups and censored a lesbian kissing scene from an episode of HOME AND AWAY.

Dozens of women protested at Federation Square about rumored censoring of the kiss, but Channel 7 denied tampering with the scene involving Esther Anderson and Katie Bell (Charlie and Joey). Channel 7 spokeswoman Susan Wood said: "Some viewers were in support of the storyline and some were concerned."

The show is broadcast in Australia at 7pm and is officially rated PG and attracts a young audience of around one million viewers. Australian media reports that ratings have slipped by one hundred thousand since the controversy around the storyline began.

Australian media commentator David Knox said that the PG ratings did not discriminate between gay and straight content. "It's sad that in 2009 a kiss is considered more threatening to advertisers and family values than stalkers, serial killers and kidnappers, all of which sustain Summer Bay story-lines on a regular basis."

A fan site for the show has now published the following note supposedly from the show: "A source on the show contacted us today to set the record straight, that the articles are completely unfounded and that the kiss will be airing on Tuesday night as originally planned."

No comments:

Post a Comment