Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
November-December 1996 – “Producers believe the ultimate decision lies in the hands of Michael Eisner, chairman of the Walt Disney Company.” – September 28, TV Guide article on whether the show Ellen will become the first to have a homosexual lead character
Ellen is watched by millions each Wednesday night, but the fourth season of the show may bring a drastic shift in the direction of the show and an even more massive change of direction for network television. According to the September 28 issue of TV Guide, Touchstone Television, a Disney subsidiary, is pondering a story line that would reveal character Ellen Morgan is a lesbian.
Will she or won’t she is the biggest question on the minds of television viewers, but AFA President Donald E. Wildmon says the question is irrelevant. “It doesn’t matter whether Disney and Touchstone keep the character straight or make her homosexual, because they have already accomplished their goal of once again shoving their ‘gay is OK’ philosophy into the national spotlight.”
TV scribes and industry insiders say Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, in light of increasing criticism of his company’s eroding moral base, has to be the one to make the call. Newsweek magazine, in its October 7 issue, said that call has already been made. The magazine reported series star Ellen DeGeneres told a meeting of the show’s writers about the planned story line and that, as Newsweek writers Rick Marin and Mark Miller wrote, “Disney brass had signed off on the idea of Ellen as a lesbian.” The Newsweek issue hit the streets September 30 – the same day Disney chairman Michael Eisner, who would presumably be the shiniest brass of them all, was denying any knowledge whatsoever of the homosexual plot developments on Ellen. Speaking on the CNN program Larry King Live, Eisner said “I don’t know whether she is or isn’t; she is working on her material.” Somewhere somebody is mistaken. Either Newsweek, which has a solid reputation in journalism, printed something it can’t substantiate, or Eisner is saying one thing privately to his employees and another to the general public. One thing became clear during the CNN stint: don’t look for Eisner, if he is indeed oblivious to the whole Ellen scenario, to do anything to stop it because he apparently feels homosexuality in the lead role is nothing to worry about because Americans don’t care. Eisner concludes, “I don’t think it’s that serious of a public policy issue.” Quite a cavalier attitude considering a U.S. News and World Report survey showing that more than half of America worries that media portrayals of gays have had a negative influence on society.
Arthur Imperato, who manages the career of series star Ellen DeGeneres, told TV Guide that the revelation that the character Ellen Morgan is homosexual should not be a shock. “ If you look hard at the whole series, there are a lot of elements over the years that could be laying the groundwork for that story line.” Those elements become even more apparent during the initial episodes of the fall season. Just minutes into the season premiere, the first overt reference to homosexuality appeared. The title character is watching a sales presentation from a real estate agent. During the slide show, the following dialogue takes place.
Realtor: (displaying female doll in front of slide of house): “This could be you walking up to your new home.”
Realtor: (displaying male doll next to female doll): “And here is your husband coming home from work.”
Ellen: “I think that puppet’s in the wrong show.”
Another installment cited by TV Guide has the title character emerging from a closet saying, “Yeah, there’s plenty of room, but it’s not very comfortable.” That line is an obvious reference to the homosexual ‘coming out of the closet,’a phrase used when a homosexual reveals his sexual orientation. Advocates in the homosexual community are waiting anxiously to see if the ABC show delivers the latest slap at traditional family values. “Millions of viewers feel Ellen Morgan is a friend, and this would help normalize homosexuality for millions of viewers,” said Alan Klein of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
Pro-family groups also wait for signs that Ellen is going with the story line because the advanced warning about the planned story provides a line in the sand of sorts. Companies that spend their promotion dollars on the show can’t feign ignorance about where their dollars are headed. “If Touchstone Television is in fact doing this, advertisers will have to make a choice. Either withdraw their support of the show or reveal their true allegiances to themes which gnaw at traditional family values,” said Dr. Don Wildmon, AFA founder.
According to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, two companies have already made their anti-family feelings apparent. Computer industry giants Microsoft and Intel said they would continue spending the estimated $170,000 for each 30-second commercial in the situation comedy. The article added J.C. Penney, Toyota, Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola are all adopting a wait and see attitude before altering their advertising plans.
The season premiere of the show may provide some impetus for companies to avoid wasting their money on Ellen. During a time when the series generated considerable publicity about the lead role’s sexual orientation, the season opening episode garnered a record low rating. Nielsen numbers show the September 18 premiere garnered an 8.9 rating – two full rating points behind the season premieres of its CBS competition, which won the time slot. Ellen’s record low also represents a 28% drop from the season opening episode of last year.
In politics, leaking an idea to the public before actually implementing it is called “floating a trial balloon.” Currently TV viewers are seeing the entertainment equivalent of the trial balloon. If nothing is said about the sexual orientation of the character, Disney will go through with the plan. If enough people who want to salvage what little decency is left on television speak out to all the players in the game, then Touchstone will in all likelihood leave the Ellen character alone. At least that’s the theory studio rivals are adopting. “If the public supports this, they can move ahead with the storyline. If not, they can just shelve their plans and say it was all a rumor,” said one TV exec in the TV Guide account of the controversy. Already, homosexual advocacy groups are in the middle of an organized letter writing and electronic mail campaign designed to persuade the show’s producers to follow through with the outing of Ellen. That means those who don’t want to see homosexuality embraced week in and week out on network television must equal and exceed the pro homosexual show of support. “If the firestorm of religious right protest continues, I imagine the idea won’t be around very long,” speculated former Ellen executive producer Warren Bell in Entertainment Weekly. There’s no guarantee that writing and calling will keep Ellen from taking this path, but if the letters and phone calls don’t come out, the character most assuredly will. 
