Action Needed: Take a moment to be salt and light

By: American Decency Staff

The raunchy “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â aired its season finale (and hopefully series finale) Wednesday evening.  Numerous reviewers from the Boston Herald to the Hollywood Reporter have described the show as “smarmy,â€Â “grim,â€Â “explicit,â€Â “obsessed with sex,â€Â “incessant innuendoâ€Â … . The season lasted only 12 episodes, each episode as repulsive as the one before.  The three repetitive themes involved sex, drunkenness/drug use, and mocking Christianity.  As USA Today stated:  “Almost every joke that's not about Chelsea's desire to drink is about her desire to have sexâ€Â and the Boston Herald reported that the show “creates euphemisms for sex and lady parts … completely unprintable in this newspaper.â€Â Click here to send a message to the advertisers which empowered “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â. In regards to the first reoccurring theme, this latest episode, as with all the others, used such crude and explicit sexual references that, if they’re unprintable in the Boston Herald, are certainly unprintable here as well.  Suffice it to say, most would be shocked at the lewd, sexual verbiage and innuendo that aired during this 8:30 pm NBC program. Of course this episode couldn’t get away from the weekly promotion of irresponsible drinking and drug use (marijuana) – telling viewers getting drunk is “funâ€Â and consequence-free.  As Chelsea gets her “Christianâ€Â sister drunk on her birthday, her sister states:  “This is fun!â€Â Chelsea exclaims:  “It’s because you’re drunk. This is how Olivia and I live our lives every day.â€Â Then, of course, are the jabs at Christ and Christianity. When Chelsea is looking at male strippers online to book one for her sister’s birthday, her father looks over her shoulder at the images of the male strippers and tells her:  “Your sister’s a very religious girl.  I say you go with the one that looks like … Jesus.â€Â (The omitted word is a lewd reference that we won’t repeat.) These three offensive themes have been repeated ad nauseam for each of the 12 episodes.  And while Chelsea started in the gutter and stayed there, the ratings quickly sank to the same level – consistently drawing a pathetically small number of viewers and indicating that we as a nation aren’t completely desensitized – yet.  Some people at least don’t find a constant stream of sex jokes as entertaining. Yet while abysmal ratings and reviews have indicated that this show is headed for the chopping block of cancellation – advertisers have blindly continued to empower the raunchy themes of Chelsea.  Sponsors of this episode include Pepsi, Dove soap, Ace Hardware, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Verizon Wireless, and, one of the main culprits is JC Penney.   JC Penney has sponsored a vast majority of the 12 episodes of “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â. JC Penney, in attempting to re-image themselves, is choosing to sponsor shows that might be considered “edgyâ€Â – seemingly thumbing its nose not only at the family values the company was originally founded upon, but also at the families who have supported JC Penney over the years. Take a look at our report here regarding JC Penney. Click here to contact the advertisers of “Are You There, Chelsea?â€Â. Also, please click here to send a message to J.C. Penney regarding their increasing stance empowering shows which undermine our families and attack our faith. Or write: J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Myron Ullman, Chairman and CEO 6501 Legacy Drive Plano, TX 75024 Ph: 972-431-1000 Fx: 972-431-9140 Media Relations Darcie Brossart (972-431-3400) jcpcorpcomm@jcpenney.com ========================================================== To support our efforts please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412. American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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