Ugly Betty Gets Uglier

If I had posted these comments about Ugly Betty last November when last nights rerun originally aired, I would have been a lot more complimentary about the show. That's right I have been watching Ugly Betty.

At first I was watching the show to prove myself right that this show didn't deserve to be on the air. I was convinced that it would be a complete and total mockery of everything good. And I was pleasantly surprised.

During the first half of this season this show actually proved to be a great show about how traditional family values will always prevail no matter what part of the world you lived in. Betty (America Ferrera) managed to always save her boss, her company, or her own family by relying on the values and morals her parent taught her while growing us. These values were either never taught or were easily forgotten by her coworkers in the fashion industry.

I was also further caught up in the mystery surrounding the death of Bradford Meade's (Alan Dale) mistress. Who killed her? Who was this mystery woman that was going to take over Mode Magazine by revealing Bradford's involvement? It was captivating.

It was really looking up to being a great show. However, after the winter break in new shows, Betty got Uglier. Betty Suarez didn't get uglier, just the show.

We find out that the mystery woman was supposedly Bradford Meade's deceased son, Alex(is) Meade (Rebecca Romijn). He faked his own death in order to go into hiding so that he could have a sex change.

What little I know about sex changes, I know that there is no way you can take the offspring of Bradford Meade and Claire Meade (Judith Light), have a boy, and then convert it into something as beautiful as Romijn. It's just not possible with today's technology.

This is where I realized the real agenda of this show. It is an advocacy program for the sexually confused. Two of the supporting characters are gay. Two of the supporting characters are sex addicts. And one of them is transgendered. That's five of a regular cast of eleven have some sort of sexual issues. Seems like a high percentage to me.

This is all couched in the message of fighting for the underdog. We cheer for the success of Betty in her poncho while saving a fashion magazine. We hope for her father Ignacio (Tony Plana) and his plight for legal status in the United States. We have heart for the differences in personality of Betty's nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato). We pine for Christina's (Ashely Jensen) success as a fashion designer.

However, you really lose my interest when I have to accept the transformation of a man into a woman. This is agendized television and I just am not going to accept it.

It is a blatant attempt at trying to change the hearts and minds of American's to greater acceptance or at least tolerance towards the sexually confused, I was willing to bear it for a while, but I think I have had enough.

Labels: Drama, Television, TV, Ugly Betty

posted by Anonymous @ Friday, March 30, 2007