I am certainly no prude and I don't usually judge something until I have seen it, but the BBC seem to be stretching the bounds of appropriateness with its new drama "True Love", to be shown on Sunday at 10.25pm.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...e-student.html
The plot is a sexual relationship between a 29 year old teacher, played by Billie Piper, and her 16 year old pupil. It doesn't bother me that the story involves lesbianism. It is more to do with the fact that the impression I get (at least from the Daily Mail's review) is that this relationship is being portrayed as a tragic and romantic love story.
The reality behind such relationships couldn't be further from the truth. As a teaching professional myself, I can honestly say that there could be no greater breach of a sacred trust than an abusive teacher who takes sexual advantage of his/her pupil. A male teacher in Billie Piper's position would almost certainly be facing a lengthy jail term, and would certainly never teach again. The damage to a pupil involved in such a relationship could be considerable. Having not seen the play yet, I may be wrong, but it doesn't seem to be an appropriate topic for the BBC to be glamorising or romanticising for, lets face it,
the titillation of mostly male viewers.
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