Last month’s Britney Spears Glee episode earned a show-record 13.3 million viewers and several spots on the Billboard charts. But the response wasn’t all positive.
Some reviewers felt it was fluff from a series renowned for great writing on weighty topics (see this week’s “Grilled Cheesus“). Others were just plain offended.
The Parents’ Television Council deemed the “Britney/Brittany” episode the worst thing on TV that week, a “pandering tribute” to a “toxic teen role model.” Ouch!
Some parents were not thrilled with Brittany or Britney.
Part of the PTC’s beef was that more children are likely to watch Glee than other series, making the content more objectionable than that of all other programs.
On top of bashing the “skimpy outfits,” the group calls the episode an “endorsement of narcotics abuse, public masturbation, and school-sanctioned burlesque.”
The PTC also slammed the focus on Britney Spears personally.
“Considering her stints in rehab, public breakdowns and questionable parenting skills, there is absolutely no way Spears should be considered a role model.”
The scathing indictment concludes with this: “The producers of the show can spare us the old song-and-dance about fallen celebs turning their lives around.”
Really, PTC? Yes, she goes shopping in lingerie, but come on. Baby steps. The Glee tribute was kind of weak, but was this brutal tirade really that necessary?
What do you think? Did you like the episode, or was it just a gimmick? Worse, was it offensive for any of the above reasons cited by the PTC?