This One May Offend Some of You

Next to The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives is probably one of the more culturally relevant television shows today. Most would disagree, and the funny thing about it is that they've never seen what the show is truly about. Most have only seen the Monday Night Football commercial with Terrel Owens and Nicholette Sheridan, and instantly thought of how scandalous this show must really be.
What makes this show relevant are the characters and their background stories that they carry with them: one is a stay at home mom who takes her kids ridalyn to cope with everyday problems. Another is a woman who portrays to be the perfect "Martha Stewart" on the outside, but inside her home a disfunctional family dwells where her husband is going ot prostitutes for sexual fullfillment and their son just "came out". Another character is a woman who's husband left her and now must begin dealing with life as it comes to her and her teenage daughter. Do any of these characters sound familiar to you? I could probably think of a few people off hand who come to mind with similar problems as these housewives who struggle to find themselves as the world they know either begins or continues to crumble around them.
I read an interview with Moby where he talks about people finding things on TV today offensive. Like Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction", the Desperate Housewives commercial stirred up so much controversy by people who were extremely offended by it. Moby said in his interview that people who were offended, should be more offended by the fact that "men get paid $15 million in one night for beating the s--t out of each other while inner city teachers only get paid $24,000 a year". Tony Campolo gave a sermon in the mid-late 90's about poverty throughout the world, where he actually swears to which people gasp in disbelief. His reply? "I am offended that you are more offended by a word than by the fact that millions are dying in this world today". Brendan Manning wrote a book called, The Ragamuffin Gospel. In it is a joke where a guy has a headache and can't figure out why:

"Do you go out alot?" asked the doctor.
"No" the Gentleman replied, "i don't smoke, drink, I'm in bed by 9:00, etc."
"I know what it is", the doctor replied, "Your halo is on too tight".

Sometimes I think our halo is too tight, and it may keep us from seeing what is going on around us in todays culture. Please don't think that I am an advocate for affairs and other "morally wrong" things, but at the same time we need to acknowledge the struggles in life instead of bottling them up as these characters do on this show.