Is Our Culture Really Coarsening?

Baltimore Sun ^ | 12/19/04 | Richard Walter

[ProtectOurFreedom]

We romanticize and idealize the 1950s. How else to treat that deplorable decade? The era of Father Knows Best and Ozzie and Harriet was also that of McCarthyism, of Jim Crow, of unspeakable kitsch in food, fashion, architecture and design. Music, too, was Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk until sweetly corrupting rock 'n' roll finally liberated mainstream audiences. …

Yet the notion persists that those days were solely sweet, serene and secure. Public discourse was civilized. God -- a wise and kindly old white man with a long white beard -- was not only in Heaven but at long last in the Pledge of Allegiance. …

Today's movies are viewed as uniquely violent, but are they truly so? Conflict has resided at the center of dramatic expression since its earliest days. Oedipus kills his father, and you know what he does to his mother. Medea butchers her children and feeds them for dinner to their faithless, philandering father. By the end of Hamlet there are nine corpses onstage, some poisoned, some run through on swords. …

Americans who occasionally overhear a brutal, violent rap lyric, who inadvertently stumble across some unsolicited pornographic image, ought to rejoice because it tells them they live in a free society. They will never encounter such fare in Saudi Arabia or North Korea. …

Lighten up, America. Take a deep breath. Must the nation go crazy because a pop star mutters a curse word during the Grammys? Does the exposure of a woman's nipple, for a fraction of a second, from 1,000 yards away, warrant paroxysms of rage and government sanction? Why is it OK to expose a man's nipple? It hasn't always been so. …

Chill, my fellow citizens. Will somebody tell me what is the big deal?

[eno_]

It started in the 60's, but took a big turn south in the early 90's with the advent of the Clinton Administration. Certain leading Hollywood figures seemed to think that with "their guy" in office, they had license to start a race to the bottom.

Yeah! Before big media took over the business of license, people had to go out and get a prostitute. Now sex is a spectator sport.

[paulat]

Condescending a-shole and PROUD OF IT!!! ;-)

Well...we all aspire to something...and I congratulate you...you've succeeded!!!!

[fr_freak]

Actually, he's 100% correct. Shakespeare's plays weren't exactly sermons. Chaucer's "Miller's Tale" has provided quite a nice project for smartassed high school kids pushing the edges of acceptable English Lit projects. Benjamin Franklin loved writing ribalditries, and there are even parts of the Bible that would a stereotypical Puritan blush.

Comparing the nature of Shakespeare's and Chaucer's racier writings to today's gratuitous sex and violence is apples to oranges. First, as far as Shakespearian violence goes, it is never without context, meaning that it provides a crucial element of the plot, or demonstrates the depth of emotion, or flaw in the character. Never did Shakepeare dwell on gore for its own sake. Likewise, the subject of sex is treated with some reverance, even in the naughtiest moments. For example, Chaucer would state that "he kissed her nether eye", rather than "he jammed his tongue up her %$@&!", the important distinction being that such a reference, however vague, was capable of titillation precisely because references were never graphic.

American culture is the first truly "popular" culture, based on the tastes of people in general instead of those of a "cultural elite".

This may be true, but it has nothing to do with whether the culture is coarsening or not. 1950's television was popular culture, too, but it wouldn't even show a married couple in bed together. I am willing to bet that the first time broadcast TV did show two people in bed together, average people were a little surprised, if not shocked. And therein lies the problem: once TV netowrks realized that shock value could bring in ratings, they embarked on the never-ending search for the next shock, which, of course, required an ever increasing level of coarseness to achieve that shock.

The better news is the fact that as this "crass" culture spreads the globe, it carries certain concepts from its home. Things like individual liberty, freedom of conscience, entreprenurialism......

Unfortunately, the modern pop culture as represented by Hollywood and other elements of the entertainment industry, also spreads self-destructive (and societally destructive) behavior around the world (sexual prmiscuity and the accompanying pathologies, wanton violence - especially the gang culture, etc.) The same forces we are now exporting are threatening to destroy us here in the US and, quite frankly, their nature gives some credibility to those regimes who declare the USA to be a corrupting influence.

[escapefromboston]

willing to bet that the first time broadcast TV did show two people in bed together, average people were a little surprised, if not shocked

The first TV couple in the same bed would have been "The Munsters". Now that's shocking!!

[fr_freak]

The first TV couple in the same bed would have been "The Munsters". Now that's shocking!!

Really? Egad, I think that would shock me now if I saw it.

[escapefromboston]

Nobody wants to see The Village of the Happy, Nice People

I believe "family" movies (AKA the village of the happy nice people) generally do ALOT better than the more "adult" themed films.

[escapefromboston]

I believe it was the Munsters because no one could imagine them having sex. So it was okay.

[Capriole]

What exactly is condescending about referring to "rural parts of the country"? How else, what other words, would you prefer be used to refer to parts of the country that are not urban or suburban? Speaking as someone raised in a rural part of the country, the descendant of wonderful farm cooks, I can't for the life of me figure out what's wrong with saying that the best cooking is sometimes done in rural America. Or are we just not allowed to mention rural parts of the country, period?

[durasell]

Okay, let me get this straight:

A)Few like political correctness that limits forms of expression.

B)Everyone hates the flotsam and junk that accompanies free expression.

That doesn't leave much room to maneuver.

[paulat]

Nope...she was being condescending. I think I referred to rural folks by talking about the "crik." Did you read all of the posts?

[durasell]

Inspired, I have begun re-writing Hamlet to portray a village of happy people...

To be, or to be—I really don’t have any questions:
It really is nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of pretty fair fortune
So why take arms against a puddle of troubles
And by opposing them, soak my soaks. To sleep--
I sleep pretty well-and by a sleep to say
We dream of high school girlfriends
And the heartache of a manual transmission
That flesh is heir to on a Saturday night day. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To sleep
Perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of 600 count sheets what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whipped cream and scones of time,
The snooty waiter's wrong, the small tipper's contumely
..yada yada, yada…I think I’ll marry Ophelia and buy an SUV

[Capriole]

Nope...she was being condescending. I think I referred to rural folks by talking about the "crik." Did you read all of the posts?

Yes, I did. And I pronounce it "crik," too, not "creek." Still scratching my head.

[EGPWS]

We romanticize and idealize the 1950s. How else to treat that deplorable decade?

Your ideology Richard Walter, has been exposed by your ridiculous statement.

[jonestown]

durasell wrote:

Okay, let me get this straight:

A)Few like political correctness that limits forms of expression.

B)Everyone hates the flotsam and junk that accompanies free expression.

That doesn't leave much room to maneuver.

---

A)Lots of folks, both liberal & conservative, like political correctness that limits forms of expression.


B) No where near 'everyone' hates the flotsam and junk that accompanies free expression.

The Constitution leaves a lot of room for the rest of us to maneuver, if we insist.

[gogipper]

Yours post is one I can agree with. Lots of our "culture" is now sludge. Creativity is gone.

There was also an aspiration to higher culture at the lower levels, for example I am sure I learned more about Shakespeare from 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' than today's kids learn from any of their drek cartoons.

Did you ever notice how well spoken the contestants were on 'You Bet Your Life' the Groucho Marx quiz show?

[gogipper]

While I agree that ours is a culture that is powerful and spreads around the globe, I wanted to share an observation. I once vacationed in Hollywood and saw different game shows and talk shows handing out tickets on the street. I noticed that a very high proportion of those who took the tickets looked like street people, druggies etc. I can't help wondering if a "biased sample" like this in these shows has led to a false image of "our popular culture" to those who make the entertainment product?

[hinckley buzzard]

Yes, I can still recall the quote from the ignorant NY kid who had his 15 minutes of fame for calling Beethoven "an old dead punk." It was, IIRC, in the late '60's, but the significance is that even then, it made national news.

Now, it would be so unremarkable that no one would even notice.

[El Gato]

McCarthy was correct!

Yes he was. Most of what is termed McCarthyism, was a product of the House Unamerican Activities Committee, which Senator McCarthy had nothing to do with.

[El Gato]

Cocaine will do that to your brain; the feeling that everything is okay, nothing is a problem, everybody is happy.

Actually that sounds more like pot, Mary Jane, IE. marijuana. Cocaine is more like taking a horse tranquilizer (although that would be PCP, IIRC)

[El Gato]

I believe it was the Munsters because no one could imagine them having sex.

I dunno, Yvonne DeCarlo was pretty hot in her day. Although it could, barely, be argued that the day had passed by the time she was cast as Lillian Munster. However, I don't know as I would agree with that proposition.