Sexual 'Balancing'

I was watching an episode of Torchwood the other day, for those of you who have never seen Torchwood it's a Sci-fi/Fantasy series made by the BBC that spun-off from Doctor Who.  One of the main characters is Captain Jack Harkness played by John Barrowman.  Captain Jack is Gay - well actually his sexuality is depicted throughout the series and throughout Doctor Who as being quite fluid, although the majority of his intimate relationship revolve around him and other men.

The current series is called Torchwood: Miracle Day and revolves around the idea of a strange manifestation that affects the entire Human Race and as a result Death is stopped.  No matter how people would die they just don't.

I won't name names for sake of preventing spoilers for those who haven't see; however there was a scene in which Captain Jack had an intimate encounter with a man he had a relationship of sorts with.  The fact that they had sex on screen in itself was not odd.  What was odd however was what happened next.  The very next scene involved another main male character having a sexual encounter with a woman.  Now again this act in itself isn't odd the timing however is - that is 1 Gay sex scene immediately followed by 1 straight sex scene.

Now if ever there was an example of something being shoe-horned in [no pun intended] this would be it.  Now in context given that Torchwood is a BBC programme this isn't exactly shocking.  The BBC is quite notorious for its regulations and guidelines on branding and any form of opinion basically.  If you have ever listened to any Radio show such as the Chris Moyles show you will be familiar with the phrases of Producer Aled which are dropped in all the time "other brands are available", "it's okay because you've mentioned other brands" and to a lesser extent "as long as we cover both sides" relating to opinions on topics of a Political nature.

The BBC however although at this moment being the most prevalent in my mind is not the only broadcaster slash production company that has these guidelines and even now I have to refer back to a Gay Movie Review I recently wrote about a Movie called Shelter, in which the same "sexual balancing" can be highlighted.  Straight sex and relationships being brought forward when they weren't really relevant to the storyline at all.

I am all for equal representation in the media but I think that Politics in General, Gender Politics and Sexuality Politics should not play such heavy roles in deciding content.  They interfere with creativity, ponder if you will my Politically Correct "Balanced" version of Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears entitled "Goldie Locks, Brownie Ben and the 4 Bears":

Once upon a time there were two children walking through a forest.  Their names were Goldie Locks and Brownie Ben.  Goldie Locks was an innocent little girl with long curly blonde hair and blue eyes.  Brownie Ben was an innocent little boy with short brown hair and green eyes.  They were walking through a forest playing games when they happened upon a House.  Inside the House lived four Bears.  Grandma Bear, Grandpa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.

Grandpa Bear and Grandma Bear were happily married and had one daughter Mama bear.  Mama Bear was a single Mother and was left alone to raise little baby bear.  That day they were sitting down to breakfast.  Grandpa Bear and grandma Bear were having toast with scrambled eggs and bacon.  Mama Bear was a vegetarian and she was having a nice breakfast of Orange Juice and toast spread with strawberry Jam.  Baby bear was eating Cow and Gate baby food, other brands were available and indeed Mama bear would vary her purchase every now and then.

They ate their breakfast and then decided to go for a walk.  While they were out Goldie Locks and Brownie Ben had stumbled across the house.  They came up to the door having smelt the delicious food.  They knocked three times but no-one answered. They decided to be on their way as no-one was home and it would be wrong to enter someone's house without their permission.  Indeed the door was locked, to get into the house the to children would have to break in which would have been a very naughty thing to do.  So they strolled on upon their way and left the house in peace.

The End

Heterosexual married couple with a child.  Single parent with a child. No laws broken.  Equal representation of dietary habits.  Baby's gender not specified as it would be making a statement upon which gender a single parent should best hope for.

As idiotic as the above sounds, having never been to a script reading or writing session for television this is what I would imagine these meetings to involve. At what point does Political Correctness interfere with creativity?