Photo Courtesy of Lifetime Television
Last night the team at Drop Dead Diva once again tackled a
sensitive issue with humor and grace. In the episode “Prom” they took the story
of Mississippi teen Constance McMillen straight from the headlines. The
courageous young woman is known for suing her high school after they barred her
from going to the prom with her girlfriend. And the Diva episode in her honor attracted a slew of high profile guest
stars including Wanda Sykes, Amanda Bearse, Lance
Bass and Clay Aiken. In a recent conference call interview, Aiken talked about
why he wanted to be a part of the show.
The former American Idol contestant explained why he signed on to Drop Dead Diva’s “Prom” episode, “Let me
put it this way, simply because the storyline is something… that resonated with
me… Being a part of this episode was exciting for me.”
In addition Aiken said he believes
that beyond this episode, the show is truly unique to television. “The message
of the show is different than anything that's on TV. It really tells a story
that resonates with so many people. It talks about the importance of how image
should not be as important as often times we make it in society. And it does
that while being really funny, so it's not preachy at all. It gives a really
positive message without preaching, and that’s really hard to find on TV.”
The crooner continued, “You find
shows that don’t give a message at all or they do have a message and they
preach to you so much that you don’t really want to watch them. And this show
has a great premise and a very positive message and you don’t feel preached to.
You're entertained and you laugh the entire time.”
Clay said he hoped that people
learned something from last night’s Diva
episode. He acknowledged, “The very obvious lesson from this particular show,
from the script itself, is that there are teenagers, they're children, I have
to call them children… [There are] teenagers and young people in this county
who are being persecuted against, who are being discriminated against for
things as silly as who they wanna go to a prom with, who they want to go to a
dance with. This isn’t anything salacious. It isn’t anything inappropriate.
They just want to go to a dance with their girlfriend or their boyfriend,
whoever they are.”
He continued, “That's the lesson on
the surface and I think that's hopefully what people will take away from it is
look at the arguments that are being made. That allowing this girl to go with
her girlfriend to a prom is in violation of the Defense of Marriage Act, which
is the best argument I think they could find, and it's pretty preposterous. So
I think that that's the message on the surface.”
Aiken was happy to be one of several
stars who appeared on the show. He remarked, “What the show hopes to do and
what the producer wanted to do when they cast myself and Amanda Bearse, Wanda
Sykes, Lance Bass in the show. I think their goal was also to have an
underlying message for teenagers who are gay and maybe being bullied right now,
which was to take a look at the fact that this is a small subsection of folks
in this county who are in high profile positions in the limelight.”
He acknowledged that the group
represented a beacon of hope for young people who are struggling. “Look at how
we've had an opportunity to be successful — myself, Lance, Wanda, Amanda in our
different ways. An underlying message that the producers hope to get across to
these young people who may be watching or to these people who are gay or may
not be comfortable with themselves right yet, was to see that there are people
who are gay and lesbian who are living happy productive lives being very
comfortable with ourselves.”
He summed it all up saying, “There
are two things that can be taken from it. One, for an audience that may be gay
and may be struggling with it or who may be gay and may be being bullied. And
another for a larger audience that just needs to see that there's
discrimination being perpetrated, if you will, against kids for some of the
silliest reasons that they can dream up.”
If you missed last night’s episode
you can check it out on MyLifetime.com and catch the series when it airs on
Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. Central on Lifetime.
For more Pop Culture stories read:
I saw the show and it was excellent. It really resonated with me because my gay grandson was able to take his boyfriend to the prom and no one tried to interfere.
ReplyDeleteClay Aiken isn't just a former American Idol. He is a UNICEF Ambassador since 2004, he starred on Broadway in Spamalot for a year, he is a New York Times Bestselling author, he is a multi-platinum recording artist, he is a frequent live performer on Tour and TV and he is the recipient of many awards both in music and as a humanitarian.
ReplyDeleteHope Clay Aiken will return to DDD, he did a good job.
ReplyDeleteClay Aiken is a person who wants to make a difference...and he surely has. I really enjoyed his role on Drop Dead Diva. He is one handsome man...and a great actor.
ReplyDeleteAnd he's Hawt!
ReplyDeletehow can i watch DDD in Europe?????
ReplyDelete