I would really, really like to give you a sliver of good news coming out of the state of Alabama. We need good Alabama news so badly .
Unfortunately, I do not bring tidings of joy. Please don’t shoot the messenger here— I want good news as much as anyone.
Alabama is…um…not doing great these days.
You know those flashback scenes in the Hulu show The Handmaid’s Tale where there are all these subtle hints dropped everywhere that society is headed in a terrifyingly oppressive direction?
Alabama’s like, years ahead of those subtle hints.
The state’s freshest victim is beloved aardvark Arthur Reed.
Remember Arthur ? “Having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card” and all that jazz?
The widely loved PBS children’s show is, believe it or not, still running and releasing new episodes.
It was announced last week that a new episode would feature Mr. Ratburn marrying another man.
It would have changed my entire perception of self to see this kind of positive representation when I was watching Arthur as a kid.
However, several Alabama television programmers do not feel the same.
Alabama Public Television has refused to air the episode.
“Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone” will not be aired in the state of Alabama.
Alabama Public Television Director of programming Mike McKenzie stated that they have no plans to release the episode now or in the near future.
“Although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards, parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision,” he explained.
“We felt it would be a violation of trust to broadcast the episode.”
“We also know that children who are younger than the ‘target’ audience for Arthur also watch the program,” he continued, “The vast majority of parents will not have heard about the content, whether they agree with it or not.”
Do you think that this censorship is well intended, or just another addition to Alabama’s attempts to silence the stories of minorities?
h/t: Buzzfeed News
