Smut TV: Hollywood Doubles Down On Their Crusade to Sexualize Your Children
by Charlie RichardsA USA Today story informs us “Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV.”
A few years back, I got a real taste for how silly Hollywood’s obsession with force feeding America a steady diet of filth had become. I sat across from a Fox Family exec, pitching programs for kids. I’d been in this chair many times and the result was always the same: “Thanks. Love ‘em. Won’t work. Let’s have you back soon.”
Why’d the guy keep calling me back in? And why did I keep returning? I’m not sure which of us was most guilty of wasting time.
Finally, one day, I blurted out what should have been asked long before: “What do you want from me?”
“Something like Action” I was told.
Action was a Fox sitcom created by Chris Thompson originally intended for HBO. In it, Jay Mohr played a troubled character patterned after producer Joel Silver. Thompson insisted they leave the foul language in the program, and just bleep it out for prime time.
So you can imagine my shock at the idea of this being the model as I pitched shows for kids. I leaned in and told the Fox exec something he most surely had to know already.
“No parent would let their kid watch a show like that.”
“I don’t care if they watch it” he said without missing a beat. “I just want them to know about it.”
Hide the women and children.
I now realized he’d been calling be back in repeatedly because he knew I worked with Chris Thompson on another sitcom and he likely assumed I had similar sensibilities. Little did he know he was probably sitting across from the most conservative writer in the sitcom hemisphere. I fit in better with the Duggars than I do the Osbournes. I’d rather go to a church potluck than a hip nightclub.
So I’m not surprised to now read the next wave of smut is on the way, and it’s worse than ever. A USA Today story informs us “Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV.”
Mainstream TV is becoming the slums of Amsterdam.
One TV exec called it an “arms race.” Later in the story, Parents Television Council president Tim Winter said “Families are under siege, teenage girls are under siege. You don’t know what the cultural impact will be down the road.”
And they don’t care. They simply don’t care.
Then University media observer Paul Levinson coughs up two moronic clichés in what appears to be back to back sentences. One: TV mirrors society. Two: “If people are offended, there’s a simple remedy: Don’t watch.”
Why is it sleazy sex is the only area where defenders of television say it mirrors life? Why not show more Republicans? Or non idiotic Christians?
And these days, you can’t get television without cable. Telling me I can just turn it off is like me putting acid in half your food and saying you don’t have to eat it.
Continuing the trend toward grade school logic, Doug Herzog, president of MTV Networks entertainment group, said “The line moves every day, so you got to move with it. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”
Yes you can, Doug. And you have before. The cigarette smoking genie has been shoved back in. So has the conservative genie. Oh, and remember the genie that actually was on the side of corporate America? Crammed back in the bottle with a pitch fork.
What’s interesting about all this is that, in television, writers are king. They make the rules. Many times, their power exceeds the network brass. And, let’s face it, a lot of writers were geeks in school. Not all, of course, but indulge me here a bit.
I’ve met the kid who went years without a date and, if not for Hollywood, was destined to live in his parent’s basement.
So now he’s writing the people he wants to be. The life he dreamed of in between chess matches and dermatological appointments.
Today he giggles and twitters his friend “Did you see what I got away with in prime time last night?”
No. But I heard about it.
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152 Comments
As the parent of two teens, it becomes increasingly more difficult for me to pre-screen all of their shows, but I'm still in the fight. To find out this is the goal of some kid show execs is disheartening. Where are the child endangerment folks who are picketing Twinkies and the like when it comes to exposing our kids to actual harm?
I am tired of the continual "Sluts from [Insert City Here] or "Compete Compete Compete in [insert food or fashion here] shows punctuated by advertisements for anti-depressants, viagra and birth control. This is what a cesspool American Television has become.
One of the reasons I gave up tv 7 years ago was the fact that there was nothing on it worth watching… and it has gone dowonhill from there it seems. Kill the tv and maby execs will notice.
Same here. We gave up cable TV about 5 years ago. Haven't missed it a bit. If there is a show we want to watch, we watch it on the internet. BTW, I have 4 kids ages 8 to 16. They haven't suffered in the least.
Send Hollywood a message. Unplug it.
I have a 5 month old, so the only fight now is the fight for my own integrity. As a former (repented) porn addict, my acceptable selections are quite limited. I'm considering pulling the plug on cable TV, and moving to the internet for all entertainment… by the way, my pc is monitored by Covenant Eyes Accountability software.
Why it is sad to hear, it was totally expected that things would get more raunchier. The progressive/socialist hippies from the sixties promoted free love, feminism, and secularism in entertainment. Now, pardon the phrase, the chickens are coming home to roost. Free love and a life of baccanal abandonment is easy when you dont have to worry about religion, so God had to go. Feminism as made women, and our daughters, sexual targets, and torn down men to be more like women. Sort of reminds me of the fall of Rome, turn away from virtue, let the barbarians over the border and engage life like Caligula.
Another "Ski!"
Unplug it. The networks deliberately set to snag the attention of kids surfing between one appproved channel to the next. If there's a really good show, it'll be out on DVD very soon., so no one is ever "deprived" of anything. Cable packages force 100 channels we don't want for the five twe do, so the crappy stuff is being subsidized. What a racket!
We dumped all TV. The kids' language is 100 times more modest than their classmates. Their homework is done on time, they read books, build models, take extra courses for fun, kayak, hike, play sports. It's QUIET in the house – anyone realize how much incessant NOISE TV makes?. All else we get off the internet. TV has become worse than a drag, it's become destructive. There's Millions of of kids who've never been camping, never been at a stream, never walked thru TALL GRASS! Just stuck in front of the TV for years, babysat by noxious electronic sitters who teach depravity as a virtue. See how Hollywood eats its own actors & actresses? They don't even care about those who make money for them, how much less us and our kids?
The last sitcom I watched was when Seinfeld went off the air. (And what a card board tombstone that show had).
I stick to the movie channels, food & travel (when they have the likes of Triple D and No Reservations).
I simply refuse to have my intelligence insulted.
First off, TV does not mirror society, TV creates its own society. Second, I should not be forced to have change any channel because some deviant wants to push his jerk off session into the programming coming onto my television. I am paying for the service and I should be getting what I want; there is already enough deviant programming on the air and they are an over represented minority.
"There comes a time when the general defilement of a society becomes so great that the rising generation is put under undue pressure and cannot be said to have a fair choice between the way of light and the way of darkness. When such a point is reached the cup of iniquity is full, and the established order that has passed the point of no return and neither can nor will change its ways must be removed physically and forcibly if necessary from the earth, whether by war, plague, famine, or upheavals of nature." –Hugh W. Nibley
And the liberals wonder why we call it a culture war. They don't see it as a war, because they are winning.
*sigh*
One heart at a time.
I've always contended that "Life is rated R: parental supervision is ALWAYS advised" And the Charlie Richards' article shows just one reason why. I watched one program on The ABC Family Channel that managed to sneak in plenty of PG13 material. Why? Because they can.
For those of you who keep claiming that Hollyweird is first and foremost about the bottom line, about what sells, you probably still think the big newspapers aren't liberal, and the Democrat is the party of the little guy.
Then University media observer Paul Levinson coughs up two moronic clichés in what appears to be back to back sentences. One: TV mirrors society. Two: “If people are offended, there’s a simple remedy: Don’t watch.”
Please explain why not watching TV is a moronic cliché? Even if current programming doesn't deteriorate further, the current level of squalor is unacceptable. And Hollywood morality is a classic example of entropy at work.
Yup, I've pretty much given up on Primetime TV altogether. I go on the net for shows that I enjoy, like 24 and Lost and older shows via HULU. Screw regular TV. It's a filthy pit.
My wife and I gave up tv years ago and haven't missed it. We do tons of other things in our spare time (usually active things like going for walks or playing sports together or even playing videogames) and if we do end up watching something then it's through netflix or I'll just buy it at the store. I have no desire to pay cable companies for anything other than my internet access…something I could arguably do without if it weren't for my online gaming (which at $15 a month is infinitely cheaper than cable).
Good for you guys- I grew up in an area that wasn't serviced by any cable provider. We watched plenty of movies, but the TV was off after the evening news was over. Can't say as though I missed anything.
When I was in Jr High/High School my folks signed up for dish network and my younger sister spend most of her days glued to the TV. (Mostly Disney Channel tween shows). There is a marked difference between her concept of reality and mine. You'll never convince me that TV doesn't rot your brain.
Regarding your "put acid in half your food" comment: television is not sustenance, nor is partaking in it necessary for survival, so the analogy is not a good one.
I'm with davidj, darski, P&R, and probably more than half the readers of this site – I've not owned America's Altar, flatscreen, bigscreen, or otherwise, in over 6 years. Even so, I've watched all of LOST, Babylon 5, and a few other series, and I'm working on Stargate SG-1 right now, almost halfway into season 4. (I'm still amazed each episode about how the writers of SG-1, mysteriously, show respect for America and her armed forces…and, utterly mindbending and groundbreaking for Sci-Fi anymore, they also treat HUMANS as good people. I can't believe I ever even remotely liked any of the Star Trek series, which was basically Marx and Zinn set to SciFi.)
The best thing about not owning a TV, is the lack of commercials advertising, each break, what piece of propaganda or paid advertising will be playing on the 5:00, the 5:30, the 6:00, and the 11:00 news that night masquerading as news. No political ads. (Despite that Hulu does play ads for Kiva, whose ad Bill Clinton appears in, endorsing it, so it must be a corrupt organization that lets you launder money and support terror….but I digress, oh, and despite that Hulu has an inordinate amount of GREEN propaganda in their advertisements….I can turn off the volume for 30 seconds to avoid some union eight-steak-eating fatty tell me how he's looking to protect the environment and stave of Global Warming, or some evil chemical company telling me how virtuous they are because one of their chemical products is used to clean oil off cute little ducks….still I digress…)
TV is not FOOD. Recommended Daily Allowance is quite close to ZERO.
Charlie, the problem as I see it is that the enemy is right in front of you (me) but you (I) can't see where the allies are. They, the allies, are out there and have been a little more vocal as the war escalates but at the end of the day, if you don't compromise, you don't work. If you don't compromise you find yourself in the baron No Man's Land of unemployment where you'll find the majority of your (our) allies.
I've heard that there's this revolutionary new technology that will allow parents to censor what their children watch without being in the room. I think it's called a V-Chip. Every heard of it? Every TV built since the year 2000 has one. You can block out whatever you find objectionable, and others can watch all the gratuitous sex and violence they want. It's a win-win!
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“Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV.”
But I don't want to see people f*cking each other – I want a f*cking good story! This blows. I guess I'll have to go back to books.
I have recently discovered an outstanding cure for this. I've several aquaintences (sic) who bypass this. 2 nights week of Judo, two nights of week Aikido two nights a week of Karate, home after for home work…. no TV.
They are bright, confident and seem well adjusted. From them " Old Guy" is respectful….
Ahh, the old If you don't like it then don't watch or the equally idiotic Just turn it off
Smarter people than me have already addressed this but I'll take my shot.
Yes, I can turn it off but as Michael Medved commented, "…saying don't watch is like saying if you don't like smog then don't breathe…"
Robert Bork in his book Slouching Towards Gomorrah wrote that you can't "turn off" the culture , people and environment that have been coarsened and twisted as a result of this crap.
two things here…
One, obviously is the money aspect. 'sex sells' is a viable economic concept in Hollywood. They've know that since Theda Bara. No suprise there.
Second, and far more onerous, is the marxist design on destruction of the Family. key to that is the so-called 'liberation' (children's rights Hillary calls it) of children.
Liberating them fro their parents is what it means. And sexualizing them early serves several purposes. It
makes them less dependent on their folks (condoms, abortions) and it also serves up a tasty pallette of nubile young sex partners for the humanists in power to sample.
They are both bad- and the second reason is disgusting as well…
As pointed out by everyone, there are alternatives out there, so if TV is such a wasteland, ignore it. That being said, while reading this all I could here when reading this article was:
"Waaah…I'm a lousy writer that can't get work….waaah."
Hack attack!
This would be why I never watch tv anymore. I haven't even turned on my television in over a year. If I want to watch one of the few shows I know I can trust, I watch it online or buy the dvds. Otherwise, I don't bother. I haven't had cable since I was a child. Somebody on the block where I grew up was putting in a fence, and accidentally cut the cable line while they were digging post holes. My family realized we didn't miss it at all, so we never bothered to set it back up, and now that I'm an adult, I just don't bother with it.
One TV exec called it an “arms race.” Later in the story, Parents Television Council president Tim Winter said “Families are under siege, teenage girls are under siege. You don’t know what the cultural impact will be down the road.”
These poor kids are under attack by people like you that do not understand simple sentence structure!
Are mine the only "I quit watching TV, and perhaps you should too" comments that the moderators won't allow?
Used to be I just got multiple down-dings saying what ten other people on this thread have gotten up-dings for…now my comments just get deleted.
Oh well, ten other people said it – same thing as I – and the moderator, I guess, somehow missed that.
[...] While spineless parents fiddle Smut TV: Hollywood Doubles Down On Their Crusade to Sexualize Your Children [...]
Is anyone else tired of explaining to their 5 year old why a man would want to take Cyalis or Levitra, or Viagra or any other boner pill? My son and I were watching a football game at 2 in the afternoon and every single commercial break has at least one of those drugs advertised.
I switched on Phineas and Ferb……
You know, probably the best thing that came out of going to college was that it broke me of the TV habit. Where I went to school, they kept us busy (with work – *gasp*) and I noticed from summer to summer I wasn't missing anything. So, I just dropped it and became a reader.
Really, turn it off. You'll be amazed at how much more time you will have.
I can't afford cable, so I want to see complete nudity and X-rated sex scenes on network tv every single day of the week. Even in the newscasts. I want some girl-on-girl action between newsbabes. And in a just society, I would have it.
I think what Mr. Richards' means is that the pat answer is "Don't like it, don't watch," as if that makes the whole problem go away.
Hey, here are some variations:
Don't like Fox News, don't watch.
Don't like Rush Limbaugh, don't listen.
Don't want an STD, don't have casual/unprotected sex.
Don't want to be "punished" with a baby, don't have casual/unprotected sex.
Don't want to be without health insurance, don't keep sitting on your lazy butt…get a job.
Wow, this is easy…
If only all the smut was only on the home TV and not on other TVs the child you want to protect comes across in his friends' homes (you DO want to protect children, don't you?).
What you say makes sense, but it is of very narrow focus. The smut is literally everywhere. How does one end up V-Chipping billboards, on-line ads, etc.? When smut pervades the entire culture, a V-Chip won't do. The parent and people like yourself, Sark, must be ever vigilant.
Hmm. Someone apparently missed the point of the article. This stuff is being laced into ordinary shows without, it seems, any kind of monitoring. Mr. Richards is talking about kids' shows, where sex, violence (aka action), and profanity have no business. The solutions offered by others (get rid of your TV) are far more effective to eliminate inappropriate content from your children's viewing, but the bigger point is, why can't the content providers give us what WE want to see instead of what THEY want us to see?
Relish – you raise a good point but, unfortunately, no TV writer can write a show that s/he doesn't want to see. In the movie world, a filmmaker can't make a movie that he himself wouldn't go and watch.
And it's very often difficult to predict what the public will want – that, of course, applies to many other fields as well. But this all goes back to getting more right-leaning people involved in the creative process.
ABC Family started playing racy material at one point and their commercial said, "ABC Family. Adults are family, too!"
If the left ever offers your children a "safe haven," be wary. That's where they can indoctrinate them when you aren't looking.
I hate when someone says, "Don't like it, don't watch it." Makes me feel as though they think I am a child. Isn't it funny how these libs don't take their own advice? You are spot on, Relish.
Okay, people, here's another point of view. I love television! There's so much on that my kids enjoy that we tell them about the lousy tv we had as kids just to tease them.
Our kids learn physics and experimental procedures on "Mythbusters." They see what men do to catch Alaskan king crabs on "Dangerous Catch." Then there's the wonderful Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs," where our kids (and their parents) see all the amazing businesses that Americans create. You think there are jobs "Americans won't do"? Americans will wade in waist-deep poo for money, as long as it's their business and they're the proud owner.
Off of Discovery, the wonderful "iCarly" on Nickelodeon is hilarious, well written, and the most you'll see these clean-cut kids do is a chaste kiss. (Subject to an entire show of angst about it.) The terrific "Ned's Declassified Files" was amazing, witty, and lots of fun. Catch it on reruns and you'll love it too.
Then we watch Food Network shows like "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" where our kids see how small businesses are run by people who love what they do and take pride in their work and their art.
You can find a lot to watch on television, and your life and your kid's lives can be enriched by it. After they get home from swimming practice. And finish with violin and cello and homework.
I try to balance my kid's lives. I can't take them to Africa and see wildebeests flee from crocodiles. Why deny them the experience of seeing it on tv?
Yes, on a personal level you can opt out, search for alternatives, you can make sure you know what your children are watching, or just stop watching tv and do something else. But most people won´t do it, their children can´t do it and the impact on society will make itself felt sooner or later; it will soon overtake your efforts.
Still, these shows are the equivalent of antisocial behavior in public. You can tolerate some of it, you can look away, you can avoid certain areas, but don´t tell me you are not impacted. In any society, when antisocial behavior reaches a certain threshold it changes your life whether you like it or not.
Tv producers will only exercise responsibility (like every other producer has to these days) if public pressure is strong enough. But if it turns out that a sufficiently large majority of viewers or parents or voters does not care, then that´s how we are as a society. We get what we deserve and that´s that.
Hollywood IS about the bottom line – eventually. If they can't sell the crap, they go out of business.
So stop buying. It will take more than a week or a year even, but eventually the folks peddling the garbage will hit the unemployment line and others will tap into a market currently under-serviced.
Turn it off and be patient.
For financial reasons, I no longer have cable and haven't had it for the past three and a half years. From the sound of it, I'm not missing anything.
In this age of being able to get news online, why is there a need for having cable? Send a message to these people that you don't like their product. Throw off the bread and circuses.
And, just because you don't watch a particular show doesn't mean that you still don't pay for that garbage to be sent into your home.
Conservatives need to have the courage of their convictions. I haven't been to a movie since Lord of The Rings. I now prefer to read good literature.
We don't watch anything on the major network channels except America's Funniest Videos, but I've noticed even that show is getting too filthy for my 2 and 8 yr old. They watch some of the kids channels (Spongebob, iCarly, etc…) which are ok… We watch a lot of Disc, Travel, Food, History, Gat Geo, etc…
With all my hundreds of channels there's still many times I can't find anything decent to watch. Good thing we have books to read and a WII to play.
I applaud people's decision not to have a tv, but that doesn't stop it from affecting the society you and your children live in. It doesn't stop it's influence on their friends, teachers, schoolmates, other parents, the people in line with you at the store using profanity in front of your children, the way the teenagers at the mall act and dress, etc….Even if you yourself don't own a tv you still have a concern in what it shown to society at large.
These writers and network guys never learned that just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. Too often I think shock value is used to cover lack of clever, thoughtful writing.
You're absolutely right….it is easy, and making your own choice actually "does" make the problem go away.
The "pat answer" seems to have changed the financial balance sheets of the NYT, The McClatchy Company, Gannett, et. al. Perhaps it will do the same for Hollywood.
Easy solution for parents: Don't watch TV. Not cable, not broadcast, not nothin'. It's not just the shows that are a threat to your kids; it's the commercials, which many times are worse than the shows, as the filth is much more concentrated.
You and your family should only watch movies on DVD, movies you have pre-screened in one way or another. For instance, you can read reviews from a trusted source, you can get recommendations from trusted friends, and you can watch it on Hulu (or other online video site). The only prerequisites are (a) the recognition that most TV is smut and therefore a threat to yourself and family, and (b) the determination to overcome the threat. When there's a will, there's a way. Stop making excuses.
My girls love watching the entire collection of Brady Bunch and Happy Days on DVD.
I am getting I dream of Jeanie next. They can't get enough and watch 5-6 episodes consecutively. They actually have smiles on their faces while watching, not blank stares and their jaw dropped like when I used to let them watch other c r ap on TV.
My comment (back a few) just got "un-moderated".
Thanks.
Absolutely positively correct Thorien…………Gotta say though I don't ever remember seeing a post from you with foul language………Sometimes it's the only way to make your point though…………:)
I am so tired of arguing with my daughter about blocking some channels, and now it's going to get worse ?
Screw the programmers ! Having canceled all of the premium cable channels, what's next ? The crap just shows up on spike or some other narrowcast. What does the FCC exist for anyway ? To figure out ways to get 34 million people to stop listening to Rush ?
Other good TV series are Hogan's Heroes and Get Smart. My two girls (10 and 7) love both, as they are a lot of fun, with clever wordplay, and charmingly clean.
One other thing about television programmers that drives me nuts is their way of defending something that was because it was on "after 9 pm" or "after 10 pm". Well guess what dummies, that's on the east coast and the west coast. Some of us live between the coasts…I know that blows your mind, but it's true…and things here are on an hour earlier!
I find nothing sexy or intriguing about how Hollywood presents woman today…….I'd much rather watch the stunningly beautiful Veronica Lake in an old movie than a half dressed pop tart like Megan Fox any day……….I sound like an old man, but I'm of the school "less is more".
Despite my usual position on TV, which I've gone into ad nauseum, you make some excellent points.
There are many good shows. The problem I have is that when you watch a show, unless you record to a HDD, you are not just getting the show. You're also getting commercials for products that also contain philosophical messages (orgasmic behavior in even a shampoo commercial, etc., IS a philosophical message) and morals-of-the-story (our company is morally righteous, and you can be too, if you buy our "green" products), you're getting the propaganda and paid-advertising of the local evening news even if you don't watch it, since you're getting commercials and teasers FOR those upcoming programs, which in and of themselves are little mini-propa-pieces hammering the repetitions and Pavlovian conditioning all show long, at every break.
Balance is good sometimes, but does the goodness of the "good show" outweigh all the other stuff they throw at you during the same show?
It's like having a REALLY GOOD bowl of chili, and I mean the best chili ever – mouth-watering, ambrosia chili, throwing in a few tiny chunks of dog-doo, and knowingly eating it…because the chili is really, really good.
Throw away your television
Take the noose off your ambition
Reinvent your intuition now
It's a repeat of a story told
It's a repeat and it's getting old
Courtesy of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Yes, you can live without prime time televison. I do. I have plenty of family activities, business interests and hobbies to keep myself away from the TV. Really, it's not all that difficult. It's not like you are lighting up something or injecting yourself. Leave the room. Browse the Big sites and the linked sites for a while. Take up music, trains, cards…anything! Talk to your spouse. Play with your kids, even if it's the Wii. Anything to get a way from the aptly named (for multiple reasons) boob tube.
Exactly on that first part. People say that all the time, who absolutey cannot do without television.
Yup, I can and do "just turn it off", and yet I'm still watching America succumb to its siren song, and be destroyed in the process. Fun. I guess turning it off didn't do jack squat about its effects that I've been complaining about.
Its like living in a city with a crack cocaine epidemic, and when you complain about the effects of the crack cocaine-smoking on the dilapidated city around me, people say to me, "If you don't like it, just don't smoke it!"
Yeah, wonderful, useful advice on how to get my city back. Crikes! The light of logic in this world is growing dim.
If one's parental authority is inadequate enough to be subverted by a damn light-show, it DESERVES to be subverted.
A society that will "crumble" if it's citizens have too much freedom to choose their entertainment, or artists/creators have too much freedom to make it, DESERVES to crumble and ought to be crumbled.
This is not difficult to comprehend: You ARE perfectly free to turn the TV off and monitor your and your children's consumption of it. Is it "difficult?" YES. Is that my problem? No. Is that the private companies who own the networks' problem? NO. They didn't force you to have children, and they aren't responsible for you having personal values that make finding proper viewing more difficult. You made those choices yourself, and they come with certain difficulties. Such is life.
Isn't this article just describing the workings of the wonderful Free Market? TV executives are just out to make money. So?
Okay, here's the deal. Parents need to be responsible for their children, but shielding them from every disgusting fact in the world is impossible. At some point, the best course is innoculation. Do the best you can to explain to them why you will not let them watch certain things-the really horrrible things; and then explain your values to them when they run across something that you missed. Turn off the TV, yes, but TALK to them about it. Totally shielded children can wind up being so naive that they become more, not less, susceptible to bad choices.
The best way to encourage rebellion is to be an autocrat. Look at what is happening in America. Eventually, RIGHT really is right, and it WILL win. I should think that all you professed libertarians would get that. Yes, the fulcrum of the pendulum seems to allow more and more play with every swing, but IT WILL SWING BACK!
As a capitalist, shouldn't you be relying on the market to decide what is successful on television? It is NOT the job of any network, writer or any show in particular to convey any moral messages whatsoever, nor is it their job to keep the innocence of children (guess whose job this is). Their only job, as a for profit organization, is to get as many viewers (and thus profit) as possible. If sex and violence gets them ratings they have an obligation to keep producing this product. Conversely if having sex and violence alienates viewers to the extent where they do not "buy" the product they would have an obligation to stop. If the television executive that rejected the author's ideas is, indeed, incorrect about his assessments of the public's wants for children shows, then the market will not tolerate him or his ideas.
I'm sure this will get downranked but I am just listing the facts here. Unless you want government intervention of some kind, the networks don't have to think about morality, just popularity. Many people have listed shows they view as safe for children (iCarly and Spongebob), and in doing so you have shown the market at work: you "buy" this product because it is safe for children. On the other hand, though, the 8th most popular video game franchise of all time is the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto series. The market is telling the video game industry that there is a public need for media of this sort. Morality never factors in. If a more moral game (or television show) begins to take over market share from Grand Theft Auto capitalism says the industry will adjust and perhaps the amoral games (or shows) will fail.
This article is shifting the responsibility of morality to the television networks when, in reality (justly or unjustly), they have none in this matter until the government says they do. You may blame the networks but you should really be blaming the market (US!). Again, I'm not saying they can't or shouldn't have more morality, just they have no obligation to until the market shifts. Until then you have the right to attempt to control what your child watches, just as you have a right to stop them from running into traffic.
I'm reminded of the line in "Blame Canada" from the (successful) South Park movie, "We must blame them and cause a fuss before somebody thinks of blaming us!!!!"
Get real. You are implying that *nothing* should be out of bounds, morally, as along as there is money to be made. Nobody, no matter how stupid, really believes that.
Besides, part of the "free market" is the freedom to push back. That is what we are doing. So?
Amen! Couldn't have said it better myself.
In my family, we have two "movie nights" each week. In addition, my girls are allowed one "computer game time" each week, which lasts one hour. For the last six months, computer game time has been focused on Spore, which they are still entranced with. Thus we are also teaching our kids to be satisfied with what they have, not constantly wanting the latest game or whatever.
So each member of our family has about 5 hours of "screen time" each week, and what's on the screen is carefully controlled. The rest of the time, they have fun bike riding, playing in the woods, the tree house, lego, board games (some of which they made themselves), homeschooling, drawing, learning piano, and much more.
You're absolutely right. I have a DVR, and we don't watch commercials. So I am having an experience that is different. Even so, sometimes we'll catch a moment or two of a commercial or a promotion for a news show and even that is too much.
Excellent image of the chili, by the way. I was hungry and now, not so much.
This is incorrect. Industry is technically allowed to do anything within the bounds of the law. Only if their morals or lack of morals factor into their profit (i.e. I will not buy from XXXXX company because they kick kittens) will morality become required in their choices if they wish to compete. I know this is extreme but companies have no obligation to behave morality unless the market wants them to.
That is unless you want the government to step in and tell the industry what it can or can't do.
As opposed to people like you, who confuse "hear" with "here?"
grammatical karma is a b-word.
"Telling me I can just turn it off is like me putting acid in half your food and saying you don’t have to eat it." The difference is, you have to have food to survive; you don't need TV at all.
That was exactly my thought – why are food police banning bake sales and vending machines from schools in the name of protecting the children, but letting all kinds of moral filth on the television?
But the problem doesn't go away entirely. I may be able to control the culture in my own home by not watching, but I still have to live in a degraded culture when I walk out my front door. My kids have to live in a degraded culture when they go to school. Every time I have to interact with others, I'm dealing with people whose morality has been coarsened by what they choose to watch on tv.
It's only censorship when the government tells you what you can and cannot watch. When tv execs make the decision to air or not air full frontal nudity, that's not censorship, that's a business decision. Businesses can make decisions that would improve the culture, if they wanted to. Aren't lefties always urging corporations to be good corporate citizens (when they're not villifying them for making a profit)?
You know, the funny thing is that Hollywood felt it necessary to lecture us that the Mid East radicals and terrorists hate us because of the Bush policies. It's actually the filth they put out that outrages them. This trash is making it's way into those traditional countries and they hate us for it.
It is possible to have TV without cable. You just don't watch it.
My wife and I use a pair of bunny ears hooked up to an D-A converter. Our channel selection is very limited, but we don't mind … there isn't anything worth watching on most of the channels anyway.
The idea that we, as consumers, make market decisions with our dollars, seems to have been forgotten.
Yes. You might have to go without your favorite Discovery channel show. Buy the DVDs when they come out.
If the cable network operators refuse to make entertainment that meets your standards, you ARE NOT obligated to continue giving them dollars. That's the trick.
If you don't like their garbage, don't buy it. If cable providers only offer garbage-laden packages, don't buy a package. I won't buy a block of cheese if I see mold on it. I'm not buying a package that has unpalatable garbage in it.
We own a lot of movies, and the shows we don't find offensive, we own on DVD.
As consumers, it is YOUR responsibility to NOT send money to things you don't support. The Hollywood media moguls only bear half the blame. Without a steady stream of mouth-agape indiscriminate consumers, they will have to work HARD for the money they make.
I may have missed the comments or posts which discuss "controlling" what other people watch.
I think many of us would like others to control what they watch, or whether they watch. I also think that many of us would like Hollywood and the TV producers to control what they produce, but I don't think I remember seeing any posts about using the force of government (as you alluded to, I think, in your post there) to control what people can watch.
Sure, the FCC should fine for obscenity (fairly and equally, fines not based upon stardom or political affiliation, but that's been a toothless tiger for decades, so even asking for that is fantasy.
The thinking "around here" is more along the lines of getting PEOPLE to wake up and stop destroying our culture, our nation, and the minds of its citizens – both the people producing television, and the people consuming it. The only "controlling" being done, or even discussed, here is that meager prodding which we provide by choosing not to consume their product, and choosing to inform others about the toxic, deceitful nature of their product.
There isn't a shred of information in that story! Where is any support for this assertion that some assault of inappropriate material is going to be flooding in from networks? ACTION was on a decade ago. Look at the outrage over Janet Jackson's split second nipple shot, does anyone think networks are ready to show full frontal male nudity or gay sex? (Just for reference, WILL & GRACE shot over 100 episodes before there was a single gay kiss between Will and a boyfriend.)
I stopped TV as well some…. You know, I think it was about 7 years ago myself. There just wasn't a darn thing worth watching at all. Now when I occasionally clips from "modern" shows online I can see I haven't missed a thing.
I watched very little television as a child in the 50's and 60's. I was too busy studying or playing OUTSIDE. I never allowed my children to watch much tv, and only then with very selected shows when they were young. We moved to a rural area 15 years ago, and though I would not have had a tv in my home anyway, it has been our good fortune to live in an area beneath and surrounded by tall mountains that prohibit any television and radio reception. We have never even considered a satellite dish.
Like others commenting here, we have enjoyed music CD's of our choosing and watch only old tv shows and old movies. We buy newer movies, too, but only after careful selection. Parents, don't bow to Hollywood; don't allow those sepraved, sick caricatures of human beings to dictate their "values" to your children. Close families with good heads on their shoulders can overcome their societies. It's tough, but they can. Oh -and homeschooling your children helps.
and how does that help with the influence it has on society in general? We can turn it off, not watch it, not own a tv and yet it still affects the world we are living in. Turning it off is a great solution for within your home, but aren't you concerned with the way it influences society at large???
When I quit TV I kept around a flat screen for movies. I ended up getting rid of that as well after a friend suggestion projection. Now when anyone wants to watch a film they all pop over to my place. It's funny how now I think 50 inch flatscreens are tiny. Nothing beats Cary Grant on a 10 foot screen!
(Well, except maybe Legolas, but that's another story…. AHEM.)
OH – Yes! I am so sick of those kinds of commercials – and the feminine hygiene commercials – some things are just better off unsaid!
Can't agree more! With all the great books out there it's a wonder they can't just grab one and do something with it. Instead we get treated with generally crap both in film and TV. (Well OK, for films I make exceptions for sparkly vampires but…)
What good does watching crud do for you? People are being desensitized to violence by the increasingly gory violence in prime time TV. To what purpose? Have you no imagination? Are you so limited that you have to have every little nuance of brain splat in front of your eyes to imagine what happened?
I truly think that today's young adult, who has read very little, is incapable of imagining things. That's what reading does for you. It opens your mind so that you don't have to have some idiot spell it out for you. Read the first paragraph of "The Prince of Tides." Can you see in your mind the landscape as it's described to you? I'll bet you can't.
the 'old school' is a good one on this…
Nothing like a classic seduction. Sean Connery seducing Claudine Auger in 'Thunderball'- we took notes-
and they worked. Even the breezy hippy girls of the 70's were about exploration, and experiencing life's great treasures.
Cut to: Megan Fox. Pretty but brain dead, motivated by left wing politics and money. Hers. Wow. What a turn on- not. Women- and men- are the worse off because of it…
They kiss better in older films. More passion. Today's films mistake passion for "Let me suck your face in a rough way." Or the totally sophomoric "I want you so badly I'm ripping your clothes off right now" method. TOTALLY doesn't do it for me. Older films generally had more class and honestly get my heart going faster than any of the more modern oversexed representations of "love". Really they've lost creativity with the permissibility of sex scenes. (That's a lot of "ility" words.)
"Nothing like a classic seduction. Sean Connery seducing Claudine Auger in 'Thunderball'- we took notes and they worked"………Never have more true word's been spoke. You can learn a lot from the old school masters…….If you lack the looks, make up for it with charm…….To use the crude phrase "charm the pants off of them"……….
having the looks doesn't hurt, though…
But charm is, and always has been the key. A little secret: any girl immune to charm isn't worth going after; she'll prove a humourless scold. But if you get the shy smile…
VaVaVooom…
Market forces are but one way to change this behavior. If no one watched the trash, trash would not be shown on TV. Unfortunately, that may not happen; as you point out, there are a lot of consumers who like the garbage that Hollywood continues to dish out. And if that group of consumers becomes the majority, options to avoid it become more limited.
As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it.
– Dick Cavett
So right………..Look at an old movie like Sabrina (Bogart and Hepburn). Bogie was no beauty by any stretch, yet you believed that Hepburn (another stunner) really "wanted" the old guy…..And they did this all without full frontal nudity or sucking the other persons feet through there mouth………..
Spoken like a true professional dcase………."Nudge, Nudge, wink wink, Say no more"…..
Same here. I haven't bothered with cable since freshmen year of college and now (three years out) I find I can barely watch television period anymore. The only reason I have a TV set is to play DVDs.
Turning off the tube was one of the best choices I've ever made.
–j
Part of the solution is to inform advertisers that you will not be purchasing their products because their sponsorship of offensive programs. It's a small but proactive way to make your voice heard.
We also need to encourage and support independent filmmakers who reflect moral values. This worked for "The Waltons", "Touched by and Angel" and "Jericho" when the network suits tried to pull the plug.
Coke Fueled Maniacs
That's how friends in the business have described the people they have to work with.
Add to that the Fox Dilemma – Execs come and go more often than other networks. Each one has their own agenda and show roster they want to get on, hence a good show gets the axe and some piece of crap replaces it – because the exec didn't have a stake in the previous show.
Happens everywhere but from what I hear moreso at FOX
I can say… thats the reason why I try and spend as much time with my kids and there endless pursuit of watching ANYTHING that is on tv…. you can try to keep your eyes on what they see, but it is in there judgement what they want to see and what they will see…. it says something more about there upbringing on what they will choose!!!
Amen bro. I unplugged the cable (had to because after I called to cancel it they left it on for 5 months) about a year ago and it has been awesome. I get more done, spend more time with the kids, and best of all I don't have to fight all the effects of the anit-family messages in my home.
P.S. Threw out all the disney movies too.
Let's recall who watches TV and what ads are aimed at: WOMEN. Women make up around 80% of Sitcom viewers and only slightly less of dramas. Even teen and tween and younger oriented TV is aimed at girls not boys. Just look at the ads. Men and boys only watch sports and stuff like History Channel.
This is due to several factors. First, advertisers (who don't care a whit about anything other than the young female demo, so boycotts are useless) are almost entirely female (and gay) and composed mostly of young hip urbanites who have ill-concealed contempt for middle aged and middle class families. Even though delayed marriage, high divorce rates, and fractured cohabitation means a lot of male purchase makers the advertisers only care about girls/women. The ad buyers and creators are mostly hip, single, urban-dwelling young women who love titillation. So that is what they fund by advertising. Even Gilmore Girls, which was initially created as sponsored-by Campbells Soup "wholesome family drama" quickly injected lots adultery, sex, and consumerist relationships with rich men.
Secondly, the heavily female nature of most TV drives away boys and men. Even Disney XD, overseen until recently by the openly gay Rich Ross, now head of Disney Worldwide, has grown only by gaining girls even though it is explicitly aimed at boys. TV for boys and men is an alien landscape of feminine values: princesses and rich, charming princes, not the sort of "manly adventure" that boys and men crave. [But that the young female ad buyers and creators loathe.]
Third, as Deadline Hollywood Daily noted with an interview with Criminal Minds creator Ed Bernero, nearly all of the programming executives in the networks are female. They want only female-oriented shows and key among that is titillation and "shocking" envelope pushing.
The smutty nature of TV is entirely understandable when you realize that TV is pretty much a female (and gay) ghetto. Men of course have a prurient nature but it is much more visually oriented, story not only optional but gets in the way. Compare-contrast pr0n vs. romance novels.
Nor is this limited to age groups beyond puberty. Sex and the City movie drew a LOT of tween girls who had watched the show on either HBO or TBS re-runs. And could recite all the various hook-ups. Does this drive behavior including unhealthy sexualization of tween girls who simply cannot handle it? [The sex drive takes maturity and discipline to control it, rather it controlling the person of either sex.]
Yes. Boys are bit "luckier" in that TV is a mostly feminine and repellent landscape, with video games and so on having their own problems. But there it is.
[...] And here comes the perfect example of the media’s constant desire to turn our children into sex objects. These are twisted [...]
Because murder is better then consenting sex between two adults!
You can turn it off. We don't get cable. We don't watch TV. I have DVDs of some old sitcoms, movies that I enjoy, and occasionally I add to that. Via the internet, my kids watch some current shows they're interested in (that I could block easily if they were objectionable).
Which brings us to a marketing point. With broad-band cable internet, I can much more easily fine-tune what's available in my house as visual entertainment. What's true for me as a media consumer is also true for you as a media producer. A bit of marketing savvy, some quality productions, and you've got a revenue stream that completely bypasses Fox, Universal, and all the rest. So why not do it?
If you don't like it don't watch they say. You mention about putting acid in half your food. I like to think about it pissing in the pool. These people are poisining the culture not just individuals. My daughter can refuse to watch but her friends and the pool of future husbands are being polluted. It's very ignorant to just say turn it off.
I think it is time to start resurrecting censors. The whole mess we have right now started when the Church withdrew from society in the 1960s after Johnson illegally gagged the Churches by threatening their tax exempt status. Perhaps it is time for the Churches to start being salt and light in this decay world instead of trying to just get along with everyone and not be offensive.
Another reason Ridley Scott is an amazing director: he hates sex scenes in his films.
I guess it's time for us to fortify our DVD/Blu-Ray collections.
Good for you! I love hearing stories like yours. Thank you.
We went five years without a tv. When we started our oldest was 8 and the youngest at that point was a newborn. We took our old tv and VCR back from my parents and decided it would be easier to monitor a video than the TV show. We have occasionally had cable. The company will call and we'll have it free for two months. The last time they offered that we declined. Now we depend on netflix and the internet. And YES, we all huddle around the computer. We have six children still at home and our two favorite shows are: CASTLE-love it, and yes we are Serenity and Adam Baldwin fans. The other is Better Off Ted. Around the computer. And of course there are books and games.
WHO NEEDS TV, NOT US!!!
Lived in "Yurp" for eight years. Got a belly full of their prurient TV programs, ads, and billboards. They like to claim they are liberated. That's BS. They're sheep. They've allowed decadence to become a staple of everyday life and don't even realize it.
It's as thought they don't know their own history, as much as they like to ridicule us for our general population's alleged ignorance about history.
The Roman Republic fell partly due to a general breakdown in moral codes and the pursuit of profits at any price. When they hit rock bottom in that regard (or the pinnacle of such depending on your point of view), Caesar stepped in and the Republic then slid into its Emperor phase. I see parallels, although not exact, with "Yurp's" periodic slides from morality into tyranny. Communism, fascism, socialism, genocide, the list goes on…
Our First Amendment is a right that implies responsibilities. The responsibilities lie partially with the purveyors of media content; but the main responsibility lies with us, the consumers, who should know better than to glorify the crap shoved at the lowest common market denominator. it's high time for more ridicule to be heaped, not upon the purveyors of crap, but on those who suck it up willingly.
Do your duty. Insult someone who yaks about what a great program _______ (insert mindless, program full of gratuitous sex/violence/moral relativity here) was the night before as you gather around the water cooler. You can do it tactfully – or not – your choice – but let them know they're polluting their childrens' minds and greasing the skids for the Ship of State to slide into the swamps of First Amendment abuse.
Ditto for our family. We watch very little TV anymore and haven't for about 10 years. It is a great relief not to have that stress of obnoxious "comedy" and rampant sexuality to worry about.
We have old fashioned 'free' TV with rabbit ears (albeit the digital variety now) and my kids have discovered the fun of the "retro station" that carries Buck Rogers, Battle Star Galactica, Emergency! , Daniel Boone Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the Rifleman to name a few. Kind of fun watching all those old shows again.
Most of the time though, the set is off.
Try turning off the public schools. Do your kids go to school?
USA Network is a fina channel.
Probably the only one that continually entertains.
I FOUND AMERICA IN THE BIBLE READ ISAIAH 5:8-25
you are wrong, If they can't sell the crap, they get a bailout.
And werewolves with temperatures. ^__^ Actually, I think they're turning to books more often lately – Percy Jackson and the Olympians, 3 of the Narnia books, Dear John, My Sister's Keeper, The Blind Side, The Lovely Bones, etc. I get the impression they're relying on books more often these days – maybe we're not just imagining things and screenwriters really aren't writing anything better than whiny Postmodernist hate-America crap.
Speaking of which, that's another reason I'd rather keep gratuitous explicit sex scenes off prime-time: "Oh look, group sex… blah… a coupla dudes jerking each other off – seen that how many times before? Hey, a five-some! But do I have the attention span for that, lol? Something else… man, why isn't there anything good on?"
The good news is that everything old is either new again or will be new soon (it just so happens Sodom and Gomorrah are hip right now). A degree of modesty in dress is coming back (look for the articles on appropriate office wear – sadly, there's a need for such articles, but their existence means skankiness hasn't triumphed!); romance is starting to come back, but it's fighting the hookup "culture." I can tell you, plenty of 20 and 30 something women are outgrowing the latter and hoping to meet a guy with balls and class! As long as women don't give in to hopelessness, romance could fully come back into our dating culture. If we win that battle, maybe discretion will be next?
And I bet they can count in Japanese!
Thank you, El Gordo, for exposing the real thinking around here. It's got nothing to do with controlling what you or what your kids watch — because that can be fixed with an off switch. It's all about controlling what other people watch.
No wonder you've got people quoting Bork, who famously insisted that the first amendment only applied to political speech. You guys love censorship — as long as you're the ones with the scissors.
What I always think is interesting about cable is that you pay for it…. and then you get shows that are cut up with commercials. While I've lived in the US for some time I'm originally from Europe and that's something I never adjusted to. Commercials should only be after a show is over, not right in the middle of it.
Anyway, I gave up TV as well. Mainly due to a heavy college load at the time but now I can really see how much more free time I have without TV sucking my IQ.
Oh there's definitely a backlash against the "hookup" stuff and not always from likely suspects. Back in college I was in a student lounge and the TV in there had an interview with an author my age. She wasn't religious but the book had something to do with modesty coming back. (I was only half listening to the first part.) My attention was grabbed when she was treated -awfully- by all the old b**** women that hosted the show. Oddly enough, before I could even comment, the most liberal girl in the room exclaimed "Who the ******** do those old ****** think they are?"
Romance does seem pretty dead here. In fact, I'd say it's more alive in Europe than in the states. (Which isn't saying much, believe me.) Decent guys do exist though so it's important not to give up and lower our standards. Of course…. they also usually fall into 2 groups I've found. Group 1: Already married.
Group 2: Seem OK until you find out deep down they're a mental case. Oh well. *keeps hunting* 
[...] 3. Hollywood doubles down on the sexualization of American youth. [...]
I really wish I could pay for only the few channels I watch instead of having to pay for all the garbage channels. I only have certain channels showing on my favorites lists so that I don't have to scroll over that trash. Having to buy all the channels just to get those few channels is wrong. Yes, I turn off the crap instead of watching it, but why do I have to be punished with the big bill just to get FOX News, HGTV, TCM and the like???
Aww…Top Chef and Chopped are great shows!
And then you won't have to worry about pesky interactions at work, because you'll be known as that a ss ho*e who puts everybody down, and no-one will talk to you anymore!
When I was a kid, my parents were very much onto health foods for a while–no sugary cereals, chocolate, McDonalds, etc. Also set limits on tv watching. So when I went over to friends for sleepovers, I tended to eat rather more than my share of the Sugar Pops, and I overdosed on Saturday morning cartoons. Ban those things completely, and your kids will gorge on it whatever chance they get. And if you have children so obedient they've never sneaked a taste of the forbidden fruit, congratulations, you've either raised the world's only perfect children…or really good liars. In all seriousness, I don't have kids myself, but I do wonder how people these days deal with their children going over to the houses of friends who allow the watching of the stuff you've been assiduously shielding your own kids from?
Precisely. Its coming too.
For some time now I have been secretly convinced there was an evil plot amongst Hollywood elitists to destroy the souls of all humankind, but I didn't say anything out loud cause it sounded so, well, nutty. But now the evidence is in. There is no other way to account for the talentless, trashy filth the elite from Hollywood, Wall Street and Big Government conspire to inundate us with. It's not about making money. They already steal most of our wealth in taxes and corrupt schemes. No, they don't want our money they have that – they want our souls.
Still convinced there is no Satan who conspires to rule the hearts and minds of men?
I have never bought cable. The only things I watch on TV with any regularity are THIS ( broadcast old shows) and South Park (reruns after midnight, LA channel 9). And books are indeed a much better use of my entertainment time otherwise.
Just one more way that America is following down the path of Europe. Twenty years ago when my kids were very little and I heard how sleazy European TV was I feared it would one day be that way in America and thus the day is knocking on our doors. And, for those that say, 'just turn it off" do you also lock your children in your home so they won't be exposed at their friends' or relatives' homes where the adults aren't as vigilant or aware of this attack upon the children's innocence? Get real. This is free TV. Kids WILL BE exposed.
And, WHY do the executives want to do this? Are they all pedophiles seeking to make children more receptive to being physically violated?
I gave up tv 5 years ago quite by accident. I used to watch a bit everyday. Going without it was difficult for about a week or two. But then something amazing happened. I got control of my mind again! I was able to think more clearly, more logically. My thoughts were no longer clouded with stupidity inducing memes. I was no longer distracted by meaningless thought paths that led me nowhere. My conversations and relationships with people became deeper and more meaningful. My emotions became more authentic and less mercurial. All of the other benefits came too: Getting more interesting things done, saving money on cable… But the most amazing thing is that I go the distinct feeling that I had been released from a sort of mental captivity. I truly believe all of the repeated science that proves that tv is designed to biologically influence our thoughts–because I've felt it.
Oh, there have been a few posts… I try to use bad language sparingly (so when I do, it has more oomph!).
Thank God we don't "do" most cable and network TV at our home. I am all for free speech but when a popular children's program had an episode that included the 12 year old boy character falling for a transvestite beauty queen, I banned Disney from showing in our home. I'm sorry, and I don't care who you are, that is inappropriate content for 8-12 year olds.
The Food Network with Man vs Food and the travel channel with Bear Grylls seem to be–for now–okay for children to watch.
Books are good.
I think it is just weird moderating software (or whatever the correct computer term is). One of my comments did not show up for a long time and it had no profanity, objectionable descriptions of people, or anything else questionable. It just happens sometimes. Don't take it personally!
I believe Ridley Scott once said, "Sex is no fun unless you're doing it!"
So you agree with the Taliban? There's a shock!
Sorry, but I don't follow your church, and I reject your call to have it impose your standards on my life. This is not a dictatorship, religious or otherwise.
You want to live in a country where religious leaders tell the people what they can say, do or watch? Move to Iran.
It must be hard to go through life when you are so afraid of sex.
Does anyone remember those commercials for Hulu that were running over a year ago, featuring entertainers like Seth MacFarlane, Dennis Leary, Alec Baldwin, and that hot-yet-kinda creepy young actress who played the lead on Fox's "Dollhouse"? The "humorous" pitch was that TV was actually a plot by extraterrestrials to liquify the brains of human TV watchers so that they could be sucked out and consumed by the aliens. I think that those commercials were closer to the mark (except for the "extraterrestrials" part) than people realize.
[...] And, finally, how Hollywood sexualizes your children. [...]
Way to be a real man (or woman
)! Humility and courage walk hand-in-hand. Keep up the fight.
Thanks for making the point "wrong one".
When someone doesn't want to be subjected to content they find offensive (and is inarguably not fit for children) it's "controlling what other people watch".
When someone doesn't care that others are subjected to things they find offensive (or feel it's reasonable to completely deny them any participation by saying "just turn it off") they are striking a blow for freedom.
Obviously, it's yours and the pornographer's world. Me and my kids are just taking up space in it.
Very generous of you.
For once, I am not going to delve in to the underlying issue of smut on TV, except to say it is evil. But what I really want to do is compliment Charlie Richards on such a great and superb article. I can't say it better.
I have spent a lot of time the past couple years studying the V-chip professionally. And, guess what? It is absolutely worthless and useless. Simply doesn't work. And in great part, it doesn't work because it relies entirely on ratings assigned by who? You may know. The networks and creators of the programs! The ones who are trying to force their shows on all of us, mostly on kids. It has been proven in numerous studies that the networks deliberately mis-rate their programs to circumvent the operation of the V-chip anywhere from 68% to 90% of the time, depending which study you rely on. They do this to maximize ad revenue, which is lower the more adult the rating. So, they never use the TV MA rating for broadcast shows, even if the content meets that criteria. They lie, and mis-rate it as TV-14 or TV PG. And there is NO over sight! Cable networks like HBO have shown X rated movies and lied and said they are R rated, even though they have not been edited. The V-chip legislation needs to be repealed. It is a failed experiment gone awry.
Also, great point, Nolotrippen. As I stated in a federal court brief, how does the V-chip protect us in public places like restaurants, schools, day care centers, hotels, stores, etc. where there are TV's on and shown to the general public, including children, but yet, we cannot access the TV's V-chip to program it. Also, many shows are exempt from rating and cannot be blocked by a V-chip. Nor do TV's under 13" screen size have V-chips, by law, yet those small TV's end up in the kids bedroom.
I couldn't agree more. I cancelled my cable last month when I realized I was paying $70 a month and then having to block almost all the channels I was paying for.
Couldn't agree more. Get rid of the TV. Buy the shows/movies that you want to see on DVD.
The *only* thing that I miss is pro football. Small price to pay for a decade of increased productivity and more time with the family.
Oh…you will also have more time to satisfy your political news habit.
It is precisely because of the increasing amounts of objectionable content and outright smut on television that I have stopped patronizing cable tv. Even if I were to only watch relatively decent channels, I am still paying for all the rest if I subscribe to a cable or satellite service.
I have, however, found a very good alternative in a television over IP service called Sky Angel. I've been very happy with it.
I would recommend two alternatives for you. First, Netflix is an excellent way to get certain movies and television shows. If you have broadband, you can get a lot of content streamed to your computer or to your television through a media player. The second is Sky Angel which would only work if you have broadband. Essentially, it is television over the internet (IPTV). If the selection of channels they have is to your liking, then I think they are a good deal. Hopefully, we will see more content providers which are friendly to traditional values in the future.
Oh Kristine, you and I could be such good friends with that way of thinking! It's so nice to see another woman who has seen the truth. Excellent insight!
I am a 29 year old female and I have always loved classic films. There is something so swet about hte way couples embraced and went cheek to cheek….gets me everytime. I made my husband watch "It's a Wonderful Life" one time (for me it was about my 89th time) and afterwards he turned to me and said, "Embrace me tightly" in his joking way.
"I've heard that there's this revolutionary new technology that will allow parents to censor what their children watch without being in the room. I think it's called a V-Chip. Every heard of it?"
There's a newer techno fix that's even better!
Dump the cable/SAT subscription. I think it's called "getting a life."
When New Coke failed, it wasn´t censorship either.
You either believe that there is a society worth defending or you don´t. I do. I am not a libertarian, I am a conservative. There is an overlap but it is not the same thing.
But what exactly are you? I haven´t forgotten your earlier comments. You are the guy who wants to jack up taxes on "the rich" so you can use it to act in the best interest of "dumb trailer dwellers" (your words). You want to curtail liberty far more than I do. The difference is that we know from history that your policies have bad results in the real world. We also know that throwing all standards of decency and shame overboard has bad results.
And the thing is: human minds haven't evolved to be able to fully disregard talking, moving people-on-celluloid as being "just a movie" or "just TV". When we see people saying and doing things (even if they're just actors on a screen and we know they're working from a script), our brains accept that artificial worldview into our subconscious as though it were "real".
I'm sure skeptical adults can keep most of that stuff from affecting them; but kids are still building their understanding of the world around them and incorporating the societal values they're exposed to into their own interior "psychic architecture". (Not sure what else to call it.)
People have always tried to keep their children from associating with "bad kids" for this same reason – it's easier for kids to "go along" with peer pressure (= accepting the social values of the group they spend time with) than to maintain the "habits of virtue" their parents try to instill. Philippians 4:8 says in essence "Whatever is good, true, pure, just, holy; think on these things". Because the ideas and attitudes you feed your mind will ultimately influence what you believe, what kind of person you become, and how you behave in life.
Yes,we can choose what to watch and what we allow our children to watch,but who's protecting the children that are going to act out what they see on my children.And those same unprotected children are going to be of voting age in 10 or 12 yrs and pass laws that will change the future of our grandchildren,and our great-grandchildren!We can't just bury our head in the sand and pretend we are not responsible for someone else's child!We would do everything we could to prevent the rape or kidnapping of anyone's child,yet sit back and allow an entire generation to have their innocence stolen and their minds and hearts corrupted by pornographers and artists who have to keep"pushing the envelope" to stay relevant .
A-f*cking-men!
Grah. Am I just an innocent Christian virgin-child, or is watching people screw eachother on TV truly disgusting? I do not enjoy sex scenes. They make me feel intrusive, they make my skin crawl, and I feel really uncomfortable when watching with my parents. Don't even go there. *shudder* I don't care what sexual orientation you are, and I don't care whether it's TV or real-life. What goes on in the bedroom is YOUR OWN FRIGGING BUISNESS! I don't want to know! You can imply, but please don't show me! I feel like a pervert, and I'm female!
[...] or feminist has actually said such a thing to me, so this is actually a parody.And there is this I saw yesterday: a piece by a Hollywood screenwriter listening in shock while an exec tells him to [...]
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