NBC: "One Big Happy (Poly) Family"
NBC News website
I'm just back from Atlanta Poly Weekend, a thriving hotel con that Billy Holder, Jeremy Mullins, and Melissa Holder-Mullins have run for four years now. More on that later. This morning the three of them are in a 6-minute video report at the NBC News website about their happy home life with their smart young daughter and additional partners:
Even though they've made the decision to be very, very out in conservative Georgia (remember their excellent long article on CNN.com last October?), it was tough having a camera crew follow them all around the house for two days. I'd say they can be very proud of the result.
Billy writes this morning,
The story is on the NBC News homepage, right next to Eric Cantor getting voted out.
Apparently it won't be broadcast, it's just on the website. The site's tagline: "A polyamorous family from Georgia explains how life can work with multiple partners, without sacrificing the comforts of home."
The conservative site Newsbusters is upset: NBC Puffs ‘One Big, Happy (Poly) Family’ (June 11, 2011).
Updates June 13:
"The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News tore into them yesterday, including clips from the NBC site. Best Fox News line: "The worst part about it is that all the adults are unattractive." Actually, as people on TV go, they were pretty spiffy; the guys are handsome and trim and the gal is cute and expressive. I'm fascinated by conservatives' obsession that we're all ugly. I have two theories. The first is that it's simply projection: to cultural conservatives the subject is gross, so they see everyone in it through gross-colored glasses. But I lean to another theory: The only people who conservatives routinely see openly acknowledging their sexuality are strippers and porn stars. So strippers and porn stars are what people unashamed of their sexuality are supposed to look like. Normal people rarely do.
Conservative host Laura Ingraham decries the NBC report as where gay marriage slips the slope to (June 13).
[Permalink]
I'm just back from Atlanta Poly Weekend, a thriving hotel con that Billy Holder, Jeremy Mullins, and Melissa Holder-Mullins have run for four years now. More on that later. This morning the three of them are in a 6-minute video report at the NBC News website about their happy home life with their smart young daughter and additional partners:
Even though they've made the decision to be very, very out in conservative Georgia (remember their excellent long article on CNN.com last October?), it was tough having a camera crew follow them all around the house for two days. I'd say they can be very proud of the result.
Billy writes this morning,
They came and spent 36 hours with us. Cameras, mics, schedules, being followed to Starbucks and restaurants. It was truly an experience. One that made us all very sure we never wanted to be on reality TV. LOL This was enough.
The producers and cameraman we very professional, caring, and conscious of the people and the story that was to be told. To them I say Thank you. Anna and her team, I am truly grateful to have worked with such professional folks.
The story is on the NBC News homepage, right next to Eric Cantor getting voted out.
Apparently it won't be broadcast, it's just on the website. The site's tagline: "A polyamorous family from Georgia explains how life can work with multiple partners, without sacrificing the comforts of home."
The conservative site Newsbusters is upset: NBC Puffs ‘One Big, Happy (Poly) Family’ (June 11, 2011).
Updates June 13:
"The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News tore into them yesterday, including clips from the NBC site. Best Fox News line: "The worst part about it is that all the adults are unattractive." Actually, as people on TV go, they were pretty spiffy; the guys are handsome and trim and the gal is cute and expressive. I'm fascinated by conservatives' obsession that we're all ugly. I have two theories. The first is that it's simply projection: to cultural conservatives the subject is gross, so they see everyone in it through gross-colored glasses. But I lean to another theory: The only people who conservatives routinely see openly acknowledging their sexuality are strippers and porn stars. So strippers and porn stars are what people unashamed of their sexuality are supposed to look like. Normal people rarely do.
Conservative host Laura Ingraham decries the NBC report as where gay marriage slips the slope to (June 13).
[Permalink]
4 Comments:
I wish that they had talked to the the other members of the family. Seems like they focused on the "main" couple and their (awesome) daughter. I know that there's only so much time, but it made them seem like outsiders.
Hi, this is Lindsey and I wanted to comment on this too.
Overall, I felt the video was fantastic. I had no idea what to expect. But, honestly, as one of the other members of the polycule, I was a little sad that they didn't use more of what Brian and I said. I was present for many hours of filming (Brian less so) and they recorded a lot of what we said but that didn't make it to the piece. However, when you're focusing on family, it's hard to take a lot of philosophical musing on personal freedom, relationship styles and feminism and still have the people involved seem palatable to average society. While I'm sad we didn't get more speaking points, I think I understand why they did it that way.
I didn't really feel that the tore into us on O'Reilly. I thought it was actually extremely mild by Fox News standards. When the worst thing they could come up with was "all the adults are unattractive", and it was a comedian who said that, they were really reaching to try to come up with anything bad to say.
I guess I can say that I made it now, I was on the O'Reilly Factor. I'm honestly disappointed that it was as mild as it was.
Two additional theories on the ugliness thing:
1. If poly people are all ugly, then that implies poly is something done out of desperation by people who can't make "normal" relationships work.
2. Advertising likes to send the message "use this product so that you can associate with these beautiful people and even become one of them." Calling poly people ugly serves the inverse function.
Post a Comment
<< Home