Pass America a tissue.
ABC said more than 1,500 people phoned in to complain about former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert's escapades on stage during Sunday night's performance at the American Music Awards. There were provocative struts with dancers -- men -- then he simulated a kiss with a guy (and liked it).
The network deemed the response "moderate" but the Parents Television Council reported that it had also heard from upset members.
I'm curious who those members are.
Would they be the same parents who are fine with allowing their 8-, 9- and 10-year-old daughters or teens to see Twilight: New Moon? Would their daughters be the ones that were sitting in the crowded theater I happened to be in on opening night; the ones who screamed so joyously when Taylor Lautner, who plays a hunky teen werewolf in the film series, appears on screen buff and shirtless? Maybe they were the ones wiggling in their seat in anticipation of Robert Pattinson kissing Kristen Stewart.
Of the AMA stint, Timothy Winters, president of the Parents Television Council, reportedly vented that parents were "outraged ... they just can't believe the nature of the content, the explicit nature, and how much graphic content there was."
Really? I find that hard to believe.
Not that it's such a glorious thing, but we do live in a day and age, sadly, where more children and teens are exposed to graphic materials, whether it be of the sexual nature or violence. This is the point at which we've arrived at. Where do the parents Winters mentioned actually live?
Questions: Would it be so graphic if a guy kissed a girl? If Britney Spears appeared in titillating clothes, as she once had (dazed, confused -- OK, bloated perhaps), would their be an uproar? Should parents monitor even more the types of programming their young children and teens are watching?
I'm not sure I have a definitive answer -- yet -- but I do know one thing: Little House on the Prairie is not on television any more. So, if you're going to sit inside of a creative raft and journey down a raging river, you probably need to think ahead -- bring a life vest.
ABC Family anyone?
Email Greg Archer at greg@gregarcher.com