Bring Back Shame and Prudery (Vanity)

Vanity ^ | 2-6-2004 | Me, Judith Anne

[Judith Anne]

Can people's behavior be changed? Can their expectations of consequences for lewdness be awakened? Most of us don't go around flashing breasts, bumping and grinding, tearing off clothes, or singing sexually aggressive songs...

I'm not a kid anymore...I do feel sorry for little girls and boys today, they have an entire industry battering their brains with soft porn before they even get a chance to learn algebra...no wonder they don't have their minds on their schoolwork...

The blurring of the line between innocent youth and responsible adulthood occurs much much lower on the age scale now...didn't used to be that way. The natural modesty of a child, male or female, is constantly assaulted, not just by a half-time show, but by television, all the time. Kids don't need to see ads about erectile dysfunction, about treatments for Herpes, about feminine hygiene products, about movies whose theme is rape or pregnancy out of wedlock.

Can we change this? Make MTV a PPV channel, for instance (thanks to the FReeper who suggested it? Any ideas?

How do FReepers feel about this? I'd like to know, and my flame suit is ON.

[Indy Pendance]

I was thinking along that line too. It can't be hard for manufactures of televisions to have a programmable television to opt out of channels. Have it passworded so only parents can add or delete channels. A simple computer program should be enough.

[Judith Anne]

There would be an awful lot of 3 second warnings...;-D

[Indy Pendance]

Or that jerk, Howard Stern.

[LWalk18]

Most satellites/digital cable boxes already have a password lock function- parents have to be willing to take the time to block the channels they don't want their kids to see. Of course, if you find yourself blocking every channel,you have to ask yourself why are you paying $50 and up a month for cable at all? It is no sin to limit TV watching period, even all the channels showed nothing but family and religious content.

[Scenic Sounds]

We've put MTV BET and the Comedy Channel on parental block since the first day our first child came home (7 years). Our friends look at us like we're from Mars when we tell them. We're seriously thinking about expanding it. Perhaps we could block every channel, thereby having to explicitly OK each show our children view.

Good for you, Warren. Believe me, you haven't been missing anything worthwhile.

Since the 1980's, popular music has been like a sewer line being emptied into our homes. When I was young, we listened to music with lyrics about love, beauty and social issues. Mostly, it's just filth now.

[newgeezer]

For my basic DirecTV package, I'm FORCED to support MTV because I can't opt out of it.

I know what you mean. But, no one's "forcing" you to do anything. If your convictions are strong enough, cancel your subscription and tell them why.

Or, you can keep supporting MTV with your money. But, don't lay the blame on DirecTV.

[cynicom]

It started downhill into the sewer when the media and left
started assulting people for their "puritanical" beliefs.
Once that was accepted it was open game to see who would go farther.

[jtminton]

No doubt. We don't even have cable. No telling what kind of filth we are avoiding. Not that we don't get enough with the ol' rabbit ears.

[Indy Pendance]

I didn't know that, we don't have satellite or digital cable.

[fml]

We just have to refuse to allow this stuff into the home.

Thats a start. It's also important not to avoid the responsibility of talking to and teaching your kids (any any of their friends who you have their ear) how you feel and think on the subject matter. Being a lazy parent is why so many kids are allowed to emulate what they see on TV and hear on the radio.

[LWalk18]

Newer TV's (like those four years old or less) have a V-chip that I believe works similarly to block unwanted channels.

[Judith Anne]

No, sorry. I'm not giving up my FoxNews and HGTV, the History Channels, Discovery Channels, and AMC. I live in an extremely rural area. When the weather keeps me in, I enjoy some entertainment and news stories.

But I think that letting THOSE channels in shouldn't have to mean letting MTV in. I'm going to email DirecTV about our choices. I bet there are a lot of families that would appreciate a "family package" for their basic choice. I'd even pay more.

[sarasota]

No kidding. My 20 years old daughter hit me with "Get over it" and launched a few well-reasoned sentences to clear things up. Yet that's how hardened she--and most of the world--have become. The slippery slope effect.

[Indy Pendance]

Maybe a solution would be a subscription fee for every channel. Pay a buck a month or whatever to your cable company for only the channels you want, plus a user fee. I'm just tossing out ideas.

[goodnesswins]

I agree with you about the need to change all this, and there are methods by which you can block channels on Cable (I even block Disney - because I want to know BEFOREHAND what any kid who visits is going to be watching).....but, what I'm wondering about is the Closed Captioning Issue....I've heard that the lyrics from the Super Bowl Halftime "show" were printed across the bottom of any TV on mute.....and I've read the lyrics....seems to me THAT is a VIOLATION of DECENCY standards.....I've written to Michael Powell about it, but if others would take up the call, it might help more.

[goodnesswins]

I like your idea....a buck a month, or something...BUT I can just hear it now....the "poor" only can afford 5 channels, while the RICH pay for ALL THE CHANNELS THEY WANT.....LOL.....a little sarcasm included here!

[fml]

Yikes!

Mine are still young enough to be afraid, very afraid, to use "Get over it" to us on the subject. But I think (or hope) they are as put-off as we are by a lot of the current "entertainment" out there.

[Judith Anne]

I did email the FCC chairman. If you sent snail-mail, good for you!

[Judith Anne]

I think that's a good idea.

[hellinahandcart]

I think that commercials should be toned down, too.

'Pod, tell the nice people about the "female arousal pill" ad your nine-year-olds saw on Animal Planet.