Posted on 02/03/2004 8:49:00 AM PST by Mr. Silverback
Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
Somehow it isn’t surprising how on the morning after the Super Bowl, there was outrage in the air—and it wasn’t just coming from Carolina fans. The MTV-produced halftime show, not to mention the commercials, left even some of the worldliest football fans sputtering. Our own Chuck Colson talked with a non-Christian friend who is usually blasé about what goes on in our culture, but who was furious over the exposure of Janet Jackson’s breast during the halftime concert—if you can call it that—and about finding out way too much about Mike Ditka’s personal problems. “There are kids watching,” she said. And, indeed, she was right.
At CBS, the network that aired the game, angry viewers lit up the switchboard. The NFL is blaming MTV; MTV and CBS are both saying that they had no idea this would happen. Pop star Justin Timberlake, who did the unveiling, claims it was merely a “wardrobe malfunction.” I can tell you that during all the years I spent as a defense attorney and prosecutor, those were the kind of arguments we heard all the time. However, since the promise of “shocking moments” in the halftime show was made beforehand, their denials don’t hold much credibility—particularly because just before Timberlake removed part of Jackson’s top, he sang that she was going to be “naked by the end of this song.”
Tom Shales, TV critic for the Washington Post, was another shocked and horrified viewer. In a blistering column, Shales wrote, “Maybe the Super Bowl will have to move from the broadcast networks to the Playboy Channel if its commercials are going to be so dirty that they embarrass parents watching with their kids.”
To all this, the Christian is tempted to respond, “So where have you been all these years?” Far more graphic incidents occur every day of the week on HBO, Showtime, MTV, and even on some network programs. (Several of these, by the way, are big favorites of Tom Shales and other TV critics who are really upset about the Super Bowl.)
You have to wonder why it is that those who worry that our mere existence offends radical Islamic cultures aren’t doing more to fight this kind of cultural rot? No wonder radical Islamic leaders are able to convince their followers that the West is decadent.
I suspect that some critics would protest, “But this was during the family hour. We never approved of this kind of thing for family viewing.” But once you’ve opened the door to explicit depictions of sexuality and violence, even on pay cable, they quickly become the norm. These are the shows the mainstream media and the more “sophisticated” viewers talk about, which means that they’re the shows every other channel wants to duplicate. They trickle from cable to broadcast network, from adults to teens to children. As adults become desensitized, many lose their ability to discern what’s appropriate for their children. And meanwhile, as overexposure limits the culture’s ability to shock, it has to push the envelope farther and farther to have any impact at all.
I’m glad people are upset about what happened Sunday night. But let’s not pretend we don’t know why it happened. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. And unless we’re willing to work to change the culture, it won’t take long before it happens again.
When the Islamic revolutionaries overthrew the Shah of Iran in 1979, the U.S. embassy was actually the second building they occupied. The first building they sacked was the Tehran offices of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Kind of puts things in a different perspective, doesn't it?
It was a boob...transmitted during an event that the producers knew would be watched by many children...exposed in a simulated act of assault. It's not like people are saying, "How dare they show a woman's boob on Howard Stern's TV replay at 2am?"
I'm getting some enjoyment out of the selective outrage, too, but get a grip man. People are mad because there were little kids watching and because MTV et al is treating us like...well, like a bunch of boobs.
:-)
A breast is a breast is a breast.
Yep, stupidity in action. What was it that Chesterton said..."If you will not live by The Ten Commandments you'll be living by ten thousand commandments."
Commandment Number 999,826: Thou shalt say the "F" word as much as you like unless you're talking about sex. I am the State thy god.
Since it's not big deal, I challenge you to put yours on display.
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