Oops. :-) I read this excellent interview with Melanie Martinez last week, but I forgot to link to it.

Please, nothing has changed the way I feel about the videos. I think they are hilarious and still a relevant parody on what the kids are taught in school today.

The decision to be in the videos was made by a socially aware adult married actress, albeit a comedic one! Not as a “mistake” or a “poor decision made in college which should now be forgiven.” Definitely not a “skeleton in my closet”! It’s always been listed on my resume. I wanted to act in them because it was a funny smart parody of the abstinence-only teaching in schools that I am against. Not abstinence per se, but the popular federally funded abstinence-only curriculum.

I was just horrified to find someone had come to my blog by searching for “VIDEOS OF 6/10 years old having sex” on Google.

Turned out it was a hit on one of my Melanie posts. :-)

(And now Google has me on record as having done that search. Rapture.)

The New York Observer ran a good article about the Melanie Martinez controversy this week.

The Chicago Tribune’s Nara Schoenberg called me last month about the blogosphere’s reaction to Martinez’s firing, and she quoted me at the end of her article. :-)

Here’s the latest from PBS about Melanie, in response to my letter to Paula Kerger:

Dear Mr. Fitzgerald:

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding PBS KIDS Sprout's decision to
no longer have Melanie Martinez appear as the host of The Good Night Show.
The decision was made by Sprout's management and supported by its Board, of
which PBS is a member. Sprout is an independent cable and VOD service
separate from our on-air service and our member stations.

We regret the disappointment that this decision has caused you and your
family. We appreciate your taking the time to contribute your thoughts on
the matter. We will pass along your comments to Sprout, which welcomes
feedback from its viewers.

We are confident that PBS KIDS Sprout will continue to provide the quality
programming you and your family have come to expect.

Sincerely,
Amelia
PBS Viewer Services

Count the annoyances.

From: "Xxxxxxx, Yyyy (NBC Universal, MSNBC)" <Yyyy.Xxxxxx@msnbc.com>
To: me
Subject: DO YOU KNOW HOW I CAN GET A HOLD OF MELANIE MARTINEZ? TRYING TO S
 ET UP INTERVIEW WITH HER
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:28:05 -0400
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.2 (2004-11-16) on hermes.nyx.net
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.7 required=4.0 tests=BAYES_50,HTML_MESSAGE,
 SUBJ_ALL_CAPS,UPPERCASE_75_100 autolearn=no version=3.0.2

It's Yyyy at MSNBC 201-583-zzzz

Just received this response from Sprout_Network@comcast.com to my feedback on their firing of Melanie Martinez:

> We understand that you are disappointed with the recent changes to The
> Good Night Show, and we too are saddened that we had to make this
> difficult decision.  Our foremost priority is to do what is best for our
> young viewers and those who love them, and we will continue to provide
> the quality programming you and your children have come to expect from
> PBS KIDS Sprout.

Ah, so now they’re telling me that they know better than I do what’s best for my daughters. Lovely.

Update: Edited for findability.

Over 100 news outlets have picked up the Melanie Martinez story, including the Washington Post and the Philadelphia Daily News. Philly’s Howard Gensler wonders if Johnny Depp’s credibility as a Disney pirate is undercut by his cocaine-pushing role in Blow.

And I thought being #3 on a popular Google search was bad…

Now Fark has to get into the act too…

While you’re writing to complain about her being fired, be sure you ask them to recast “Digit” on Cyberchase as well, because of Gilbert Gottfried’s appearance on The Aristocrats.

Update: I got a letter back from them.