I remember noticing in the two or three weeks after 9/11, the media were focused on the stories of husbands and wives, parents and children saying goodbye to each other when the victims realized they were about to die, and the many photos of the survivors holding pictures of their loved ones related by birth or marriage. Even though one of the "Let's Roll" men who rushed the high jackers was gay, you hardly read a word about gayness, gay marriage or gay rights for weeks.
That's what it took for the media to "reset to the default" -- that family is blood.
Great point.