First Aired: Friday December 11, 1992
The town's rabbi gets a court order to forbid the religious Christmas pageant from being performed in the school. This leads to the discovery that the teacher set to play the Virgin Mary is in fact a transsexual.
"Now listen to me. I can put up with elephants and exploding cow udders and serial bathers and killing nuns, but I got no stomach for a transexual. It could make me faint." - Judge Henry
I really like the directions this show goes, usually making a swift turn in full stride of a story to tackle something even more alarming. In this episode, it begins with church vs. state as the Christmas pagent is canceled but then turns into a moral situation when a female teacher turns out to have been a man.
The acting all around was very good this episode, especially by the woman who was being persecuted. I find it doubly interesting since I have been hearing about the issue of transexuality and sex changes more often lately, the most recent being on NPR about a city official who was fired due to his pursuit to be a woman. And yet, this is episode was made and dealt with about 15 years ago, a time when such things were consider taboo conversation for a "family show". What I like about when they deal with hot issues on Picket Fences is that they are able to abjectly show both sides of the coin, though sometimes one side will be the more prominent and resolute.
I personally think that the most interesting part was near the middle where Carter confronted the woman, whom he had a short relationship with. She asked if, knowing what he knows now, would be ever consider kissing her again. After a short pause, he says no. As a male, I would have to say I would come to the same conclusion, even though I am open to other peoples personal decisions within the bounds of moral and judicial rights. But this is why I love this show besides the humor and drama ... it makes me think and consider possibilities I would have never thought of before and makes me take stock of my own moral perceptions. Again, another fine episode of this wonderful show.
Score: 8.8 / 10
I really like the directions this show goes, usually making a swift turn in full stride of a story to tackle something even more alarming. In this episode, it begins with church vs. state as the Christmas pagent is canceled but then turns into a moral situation when a female teacher turns out to have been a man.
The acting all around was very good this episode, especially by the woman who was being persecuted. I find it doubly interesting since I have been hearing about the issue of transexuality and sex changes more often lately, the most recent being on NPR about a city official who was fired due to his pursuit to be a woman. And yet, this is episode was made and dealt with about 15 years ago, a time when such things were consider taboo conversation for a "family show". What I like about when they deal with hot issues on Picket Fences is that they are able to abjectly show both sides of the coin, though sometimes one side will be the more prominent and resolute.
I personally think that the most interesting part was near the middle where Carter confronted the woman, whom he had a short relationship with. She asked if, knowing what he knows now, would be ever consider kissing her again. After a short pause, he says no. As a male, I would have to say I would come to the same conclusion, even though I am open to other peoples personal decisions within the bounds of moral and judicial rights. But this is why I love this show besides the humor and drama ... it makes me think and consider possibilities I would have never thought of before and makes me take stock of my own moral perceptions. Again, another fine episode of this wonderful show.
Score: 8.8 / 10
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