The July 20 issue of TV Guide announced the Disney Channel’s plans to feature a lesbian couple on a 2014 episode of their children’s sitcom, Good Luck Charlie. The article calls the episode “groundbreaking” and refers to Disney as “testing the water” with content that many Americans would label as immoral.
We strongly encourage Disney to not chase the whims of political correctness and instead to simply “Be Disney.”
Disney represents good, fun and wholesome. Millions do not flock to Disneyland so they can experience edginess or groundbreaking politically correctness. No, they go because Disneyland is good, fun and wholesome.
Every parent wants to find movies and television programs they feel good about letting their children watch. There simply has been no greater studio than Disney to deliver great stories for the whole family. It’s no wonder that Movieguide has handed out more Best Family Movie awards to Disney than any other studio. That’s because they are Disney, and Disney is good, fun and wholesome.
Yet it’s a disappointment to millions of Americans that Disney would choose to become a groundbreaker in immorality. New concepts of morality have had a very negative impact on marriage, families, and children. Instead of becoming a leader in political correctness, we encourage Disney to hold on to their title as the leader in good, fun and wholesome.
It will also be good for business, that’s for sure. The research shows time and again that movies and programs that have moral content (though some consider old fashioned) actually make MORE money at the box office and on television than their more raunchier and politically correct competition. That’s because most people want the kind of programs that Disney has become legendary in creating.
We hope Disney realizes the legacy and, yes, the obligation, that they have to the millions of parents around the world that want Disney to simply be Disney.
We will know the future of Disney by whether they elect to air this episode on the Disney Channel or whether they choose to stand with millions who look to Disney to give us the good, the fun and the wholesome.