Posted on 07/18/2014 3:57:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
For those who predict the coming collapse of Western civilization, there's always MTV for proof. At this year's Television Critics Association summer tour in Hollywood, MTV put on a panel discussion for the press with the cast and creators of a forthcoming series called "Happyland." The female star of the show, actress Bianca Santos, announced the new MTV motto: "Incest is hot, and we're going to have fun!"
Lisa de Moraes at the website Deadline Hollywood reported on the pilot episode of this "soapy teen comedy" -- remember that this is a show for teenagers. This show, "exploring the underbelly of a popular theme park," includes a clip of Santos making out with the amusement park's "new hottie" only to discover ... he's her brother.
The assembled TV critics and reporters asked the obvious questions. "So, why the twist? Why the brother and sister making out thing? How does that relate to the other things (in the show)?" And, "Without getting too heavily into spoilers, where does this go after she realizes it's her brother?"
We all know the answer to No. 1. The incest "twist" is MTV digging ever deeper for their precious "edge" until they've dulled the shock of every perversion. The show's creator, Ben Epstein, boosted the notion that this was like a fairy tale of the handsome prince sweeping a maiden off her feet, and he just adds the "MTV edge to it, and makes it all weird and crazy." That's when Santos blurted, "Incest is hot, and we're going to have fun!"
But, mercifully for the rest of us, for once, the critics weren't happy with this plot. "She kissed him and they are siblings. That does not sound complicated. That sounds horrifying," one TV critic proclaimed.
"I understand you're all trying to get off the incest thing," another TV critic noticed. "No, please, bring it back -- we haven't had enough," one of the actors (unnamed in the de Moraes report) shot back. The critic replied, "Look, I didn't put it in the pilot," noting the series is described as a comedy, but "I don't think there's a funny 'Flowers in the Attic.'" (That's a 1979 novel about teenaged siblings locked in an attic who fall into incest.)
At that point, the executive producers, well-known gay activists Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, tried to cast doubt on the "edge," insisting that it's possible these kissing characters might be brother and sister, and they might not. "They basically kissed ... nothing sexual happened," Zadan argued.
But the show's star Santos kept babbling joyously about the "holy crap" moment when the kissing-sibling plot is revealed.
In an interview after the session with The Hollywood Reporter, show creator Epstein kept trying to dig out of this MTV stunt. "Even though there is an incest component, I think the show is not about willing incest participants. How Lucy responds to this information, what she does with it, that's going to carry us into the next couple of episodes and into the series itself."
In other words, the shock of an "incest component" is cynically designed to hook viewers into the show. "The show is not about 'I want you so bad, but society won't let us happen.' ... It's really about telling dramatic stories that are real and compelling and keep us invested in these characters ... It's a great hook to bring you in, but you'll stay past that."
It's too bad horrible plotting devices like this can't just get rejected in the germinal stages at MTV headquarters before the show is made. But MTV will keep pushing social norms to the "edge" and beyond, until there is no "edge" left to exploit.
As the icon of talk radio, Bob Grant used to say, “It’s sick out there and getting sicker’”
Incest..thats how Liberals are made.
The problem with trying politicize reality TV is that even the reality TV shows that conservatives like to watch are made up of/based on lowlifes. That is the nature of reality TV.
The real issue is prescriptive versus descriptive.
Do you want the art form(in this case a TV show) presented to you(the viewer) prescriptively or descriptively?
Do you want the show to present to you "the way people should be"(prescriptive) or "the way people actually are"(descriptive)?
Shower Rangers?
Link to the full-text Free Republic thread.
So let’s see: we’ve got incest here, and there was a story on pedophilia in Europe earlier this week. All we need now is something to cover polygamy and bestiality and we’ll be able to conclude this as a brave new week for degeneracy.
Some people consider the idea of two men screwing each other’s butts to be equally disgusting.
Welcome to the Obamanation, where only conservatives are condemned.
That's because the emotional reaction generated in the viewer by shock is much easier to create than an emotional reaction generated by actual comedy or drama.
But, as you say, it's a wasting asset, and the territory available to exploit with this technique gets smaller every year.
George C Scott directed a movie about this subject back in 1974. THE SAVAGE IS LOSE.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072114/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1
Of course, Woody Allen had been living that lifestyle for years!
And here, apparently, are the executive producers:http://cdn-media.hollywood.com/images/l/ZadanMeron_620_082312.jpg
A couple?
“Incest..thats how Liberals are made.”
Some of them, but this OB/Gyn has something to say on this subject.
Patient: Doctor, can I get pregnant from anal sex?
OB/Gyn: My Dear - that is how Libtards are conceived.
We’re democratizing Caligula. How delightful.
Just dump your TV, do it. It has enhanced and strengthened our family in some many regards.
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