Bernhard commented during a Nov. 5 segment on CNN's "Joy Behar Show" that focused on the upcoming threesome episode of CW's "Gossip Girl."
Behar asked Bernhard and her fellow panelists, actresses Aisha Tyler and Fran Drescher, what they thought about the Parents Television Council call for CW affiliates to pull the episode which reportedly contains a threesome scene.
"I don't think any kid is going to watch something about sex and then run out immediately and do it. I mean they may be titillated by it, they may find it, oh this is ooh," claimed Bernhard.
Tyler admitted to being a fan of the show and was even more dismissive of PTC's concerns.
"Let me just break a piece of news to everybody here. If you don't know, teenagers have sex. I don't know if anybody - like, they do it, and you know, first of all, we are not encouraging them to do it, but they do," Tyler told Behar and her co-panelists. "And if you hide it and you ignore it and you fake it and act like your kid is not doing it you are doing them and yourself a disservice because kids have sex."
But what Tyler and Bernhard ignored is that depictions like the "Gossip Girl" threesome feed the perception that "everyone is doing it" and create expectations of teen sexual behavior.
"Perhaps the greatest problem is that what's presented on the screen offers a skewed version of reality to many young people you lack the life experience to understand just how preposterous some the content is," wrote Carol Platt Liebau about sexual content on television in her book "Prude."
Very few sexual escapades featured on television show the physical and emotional consequences of early sexual behavior, a point Fran Drescher was the only one to make on Behar's show.
"In the episode is there a downside to these kids - is there some kind of a lesson?" the actress asked.
Nobody could answer Drescher's question, but given the glamorized view of teen sex the show has previously depicted, chances are this episode will show the "titillating" behavior and little of the damage left in its wake.
—Colleen Raezler is a research assistant at the Culture and Media Institute
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
The mentioning
November 6, 2009 - 15:14 ET by Tugboat Philof Sandra Bernhard and "having sex"in the same article made me violently nauseous.
Gun Control - The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.
LOL!
November 6, 2009 - 15:36 ET by stage9That made me laugh. thanks. LOL!
"If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will
be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for
pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner."
— Malcolm Muggeridge
Ugh!!!
November 6, 2009 - 19:20 ET by rockyracoonEeeech a St. Bernard over Sandra Bernhard??!!!
Facts are like kryptonite to the liberal.
They don't get it
November 6, 2009 - 15:15 ET by SpikerIn my young years I was a fan of 90210. That show dealt with plenty of topics related to teens having sex, but guess what? It also dealt with consequences of sexual behavior: unplanned pregnancy, STD's, etc. The programs now are just getting on the "girls gone wild" bandwagon- trashy behavior being promoted as normal and acceptable, and sex as something to do with anybody, anytime, anywhere without physical or emotional consequences. This generation of kids is going to be carrying an awful lot of baggage by the time they reach my age (37).
The following between the
November 6, 2009 - 15:32 ET by mattmThe following between the brackets is what lies between the ears of your typical Behar guest (and host, too): { }
So can we use the same logic as Bernhard...
November 6, 2009 - 15:48 ET by stage9Everyday our kids go to schools and are taught a variety of things - reading, writing, and arithmetic, history, et al. They sit there day after day absorbing the curriculum set before them. They come away from school - readers, writers, and mathmaticians.
According to A.C. Nielsen Co, the average number of hours per year American youth spend in school is 900 hours. The average number of hours per year the average American youth watches television is
1500!
That's what? 60% more than what they spend in school?
Now, explain to me how the three "R's" are more attractive than Hanna Montana or MTV!
They can go to school and learn to read, write and do arithmetic, for 900 hours, but they sit in front of a sexually perverse television for 1500 hours and somehow it has no effect on them?
I'm so sick of hearing about "morality by opinion". Forget opinion, the facts speak for themselves.
"If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will
be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for
pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner."
— Malcolm Muggeridge
These 4 ladies ( I use ladies loosely) were swindled at birth..
November 6, 2009 - 15:53 ET by holeinthehullHoleinthehull
When these 4 females were standing in line to get brains, they thought they said trains and wanted a little one that went backwards.
It is true that water seeks its own level- the hostess and 3 of the most enlightened geniuses on the face of the earth happened to be on the same show at the same time.
What an incredible coincidence, what an absolute privilege to hear great wisdom and insight coming from all 4 of these Einsteins without having to pay for a ticket, stand in line in the rain, to listen to these enlightened souls share with the world all that they have ever learned in the course of 4 1/2 minutes.
What about Kate Gosselin?
November 6, 2009 - 17:08 ET by scarebear83What about Kate Gosselin? Bernhard mentioned something about Kate having 8 children and birth control and education at home. Exscuse me but there is a HUGE difference between teenagers engaging in sexual activities when they're not ready and two married adults mature in their decision to have kids (which by the way, having twins and sextuplets can't really be helped so how does birth control find it's way into this one?).
__________
Shazbot!
Yeah, and in real life
November 6, 2009 - 17:29 ET by RR GOPYeah, and in real life pedophiles rape young girls...right, like they'll ever put that in a movie or something.
Oh, wait a secon...damn!
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
What Is It With Your Obsession Over Dakota Fanning?
November 7, 2009 - 01:38 ET by The7SticksOkay, we've heard your idiotic, WorlNutDaily-endorsed screed several times before. Now can you please stop having your wild fantasies about Dakota Fanning and leave her and her family alone? The way you keep bringing it up that brain-damaged horse says more about what kind of perverted mind that you may have than it does about the reality of the issue. If you ask me, I think you're behaving like a pedophile.
Me, well, I stick to the Sandra Bernhardt pictorial she did in Playboy. She may have a big mouth, but she also has a big... well, you get the idea.
Who was mentioning Dakota
November 7, 2009 - 08:50 ET by rockyracoonWho was mentioning Dakota Fanning? If you are accusing someone of being a pedophile you better have proof to back up such an assertion.
Facts are like kryptonite to the liberal.
The gift that keeps on giving
November 6, 2009 - 18:02 ET by Patrick MichaelFor those who make a living making fun of the media, or those who just really enjoy it, the Joy Behar show is a gift from God. Wheter it is Ann Coulter slapping Joy around or Joy and Ted Danson trying to save the world with narly a brain between them it is always entertaining. All I can say about the current 'drama' is that when Fran Drescher is the voice of reason on your program, then you have a major problem.
Stay Free!!!
not sex
November 6, 2009 - 18:53 ET by Candance MooreBut we can't let teenagers see anyone smoke because they're stupid enough to try *that* if Joe Camel tells them to.
I've wondered about that as
November 6, 2009 - 21:16 ET by NonanonI've wondered about that as well. We're told we can't stop them from having sex which requires both parties to consent to but can stop them from smoking which requires only one parties' consent.
Companies spend enormous amounts of money to advertise their product or service to entice people to purchase it. How are TV shows or movies any different from those ads? The writers surely want people to buy the theme.
Stupid right-wing nut-bagger logic
November 6, 2009 - 22:49 ET by CO2MakerJoe Camel was never on TV. He was a cardboard ungulate of almost Rasputin-like powers of mind control. He only led 12-year-old boys astray who snuck into convenience stores to get chips and take a peek at the girlie mags that weren't behind the counter. Joe Camel was the most-recognized cartoon character among young children, and with his camel-toe assistants, he single-humpedly gave the anti-smoking plaintiffs their $250 billion victory over the evil Big Tobacco.
<g> <-- Internet G-spot
You're Kidding, Right?
November 7, 2009 - 01:41 ET by The7SticksSee, I can't stand you liberals who try to stop us cartoonists as well. The only reason I attack the right more than the left is because the left isn't as active in attacking us. But when you liberal morons do the same kind of mind-f***ing to us, well, then, I'm ready to take the gloves off. I love Joe Camel and Peter Griffin.
-"You're bird intelligence is no match for my people intelligence!"
- Peter Griffin from Family Guy
Sandra Bernhart as birth control
November 6, 2009 - 19:51 ET by rfpzzzzzI keep a couple of pics of Sandra Bernhart around for birth control.
lefty hollywierd
November 6, 2009 - 19:51 ET by LibertydudeWhy do these hollywood lefty <edited for decency's sake> have a forum to puke on our society with their immorality.
Liberty
November 6, 2009 - 20:01 ET by Candance MooreWhat is this, DKos? That filthy language has no place here.
appologies Candance
November 6, 2009 - 20:22 ET by LibertydudeFor me that filthy language,describes these filthy people,
Forgive Please.
so tell me
November 6, 2009 - 20:52 ET by Candance MooreWhen the C word ends up being part of everyday speech, what more shocking filth will you reach for to elicit a reaction?
Candance
November 6, 2009 - 21:05 ET by MrShyIt didn't use to be like this.
Part of it, I'll concede, is well, us just being angrier post-2008, but still.
So, my good friend MrShy, I
November 6, 2009 - 21:08 ET by FeynmanFanSo, my good friend MrShy, I don't agree that being angry is an excuse for that kind of language on NB.
Hope you're having a good evening.
"Reason and persuasion are the only practical instruments against error. To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged" - Thomas Jefferson
Hey FeynFan
November 6, 2009 - 21:11 ET by MrShyNo, neither do I... and thanks! You too. :)
you're absolutely right, FF
November 6, 2009 - 21:12 ET by Candance MooreNothing is an excuse for that language.
Candance
November 6, 2009 - 21:24 ET by MrShyWhat if I'm just using them to make a point? Or I'm clearly being sarcastic? I mean, come on, would I get a pass then?
hmmmmm
November 6, 2009 - 22:01 ET by shawn228Sure sounded like you were fine with it because of the angry part. Nice waffle.
edit
Sounding more liberal everyday
"I think we're kindred spirits."~Mr Shy to Sergeant ROCK
<edited for decency's sake>
November 6, 2009 - 23:43 ET by shawn228Lol, the irony with that sentence on a thread about a threesome is awesome :-)
"I think we're kindred spirits."~Mr Shy to Sergeant ROCK
Oh no a threesome!!!
November 6, 2009 - 23:55 ET by shawn228Gasp!!!!! All I know is what the PTC is doing with the threats toward Gossip Girl advertisors will only make it more popular..
"I think we're kindred spirits."~Mr Shy to Sergeant ROCK
Is there anyone stupider than Bernhard?
November 7, 2009 - 09:21 ET by TheHistorian"A family with 8 children; where is birth control?" Did she ever think that maybe there are people out there who are going to have more than 1 kid like her, and may like kids and large families? Too bad her parents didn't have better birth control practices.
"What experience and history teach is
this - that people and governments never have learned anything from history,
or acted on principles deduced from it."
G. W. F. Hegel