This Show Made Fun Of Selena Gomez’s Kidney Transplant; Are We Raising An Insensitive Generation?

Students in the show Saved by the Bell reboot made fun of Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant. What about the responsibility of media?

#RespectSelenaGomez has been one of the top trending topics on Twitter for a couple of days. Fans of singer and actor Selena Gomez trended it to express their anger and resentment over the TV show Saved By the Bell reboot mocking Selena’s kidney transplant.

A scene from an episode of the show has two students speculating about the identity of the donor, one insisting it is Justin Bieber’s mother while another says that it was singer Demi Lovato. In another scene, there appears to be a graffiti on the wall which reads, “Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?”

Selena Gomez has a kidney transplant in 2017

In 2017, Selena Gomez revealed in an instagram post saying that she underwent a kidney transplant after her lupus diagnosis. In the post, she also thanked her close friend, actor Francia Raisa, who donated her kidney to Selena.

After the recent incident, Francia Raisa stated that some of the cast and producers have apologized and she appreciates it, but she also acknowledged that “the apology from the network should acknowledge the donors who could have been offended by this. It’s not about me, it’s acknowledging the great role donors play.”

And indeed donors play a huge role. The decision to donate an organ of their body comes after a lot of thinking and deliberation, this selfless act must be respected and appreciated

Irresponsible media?

People and organizations who hold a huge power of influence and reach should be aware that their words and actions, good or bad, affect people. In this case the said lines in the show are offensive to donors who make a huge sacrifice. The lines also come off as insensitive for survivors of kidney and /or other organ ailments as well.

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And it certainly is very irresponsible for pop media consumed by the youth to showcase this attitude as being Ok, as it can affect mindsets.

Organ donation is a serious matter, all over the world. With the reach of such programmes, they need to watch what they show.

In countries like India, gender inequality too exists when it comes to organ donation – according to a pan India study, only 19% women account as organ recipients while they account for 78% living organ donors; though many women admit that they were pressured to donate.

Entertainment platforms with a universal platform should be mindful of the kind of content and message they convey. Kindness and thoughtfulness over ignorance should be propagated because the world needs it more. The more kind we are, the better the world will become.

Image source: Instagram

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