Posted on 02/21/2011 10:29:38 AM PST by Gena Bukin
Regardless of whether a judge or jury finds Evan Emory guilty of a sex offense for creating a lewd video with schoolchildren in the background, the case has highlighted a cultural divide between the so-called Millennial Generation and pretty much everyone else.
Many of the Millennials — mostly young adults without children — wonder what all the fuss is about. So Emory made a video with Ravenna elementary children in the background looking surprised and smiling a lot. They say since Emory sang a harmless “Lunch Lady Land” song to the children during his actual performance and subbed in lyrics with sexually graphic references afterward, before posting the video to YouTube, that no harm was done.
These Millennials see the video as a joke and comedy, and even if some admit the video was in bad taste, they believe no crime was committed. This kind of thing is on comedy shows and MTV all the time, they reason. And it’s certainly on YouTube, the social networking site that allows anyone to post a video of almost any kind for the entire world to see.
They are outraged that Emory, who was a good student himself at Ravenna and never got into any trouble, is facing a 20-year felony charge of manufacturing child sexually abusive material. They can’t fathom that Emory, if convicted, is facing the possibility of having to be on the sex offender registry the rest of his life when he didn’t actually “expose” the children to anything.
Then there is the opposite spectrum — those who are horrified that someone would find humor in using children as a backdrop for a sexually explicit song. Whether the children actually heard the lyrics or not is beside the point, they reason, because it was the children’s innocent faces that were shown smiling and giggling when Emory’s nasty words were heard by hundreds and perhaps thousands of people before the video was removed from YouTube.
The parents of the children on the video are especially horrified, and as a parent, I can’t blame them. It would make me sick to my stomach to see one of my children placed in a situation like that. Many of them think the charges fit the crime, though it’s pretty clear that a 20-year felony for something like this is way over the top.
Still, the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s office wants to make an example out of Emory so they went after the “big” charge. And Ravenna Superintendent John VanLoon probably echoed the sentiments of many folks when he said: “If you think that’s something funny, you really need to review and look at your personal values.”
Which brings up a bigger challenge in this age of technology. There was a time when you could limit the kind of garbage kids are exposed to — a time when TV programming didn’t allow even partial nudity and there weren’t hundreds of cable channels from which to choose, smart phones, the Internet and social media. Today there is no place to hide and despite the best efforts of parents, kids are influenced by all these contraptions they can access almost anywhere, anytime.
According to Wikipedia, the Millennials have been shaped by the rise of instant communication technologies and are “peer-oriented.” Reality TV, MTV, YouTube and the like have helped to desensitize teens and young adults to the difference between right and wrong.
Many young folks seek the instant gratification and star quality so prevalent in society today. And they seek it without considering the consequences.
Which, at least, might explain the cultural divide this case has highlighted — even if it doesn’t provide a good way to fix it.
Comparing Maurice to this dude is really sick.
Glad to see opinions such as yours are shared by very few. You wouldn't happen to be the prosecutor, would you?
Right on.
What you just posted undermines your judgments that he is a child molester in waiting and instead points to the fact that this was a sick joke and not pedophilia.
I’m fine with the parents suing if they feel they need to for privacy issues, but prison time is ridiculous.
“I like the way you make your body move. C’mon, girl...See how long it takes to make your panties mine...I’ll add some foreplay in just to make it fun. I want to stick my index finger in your anus.”
The camera in the posted video scans the audience of smiling children and every child's face is recognizable.
Fixed it for ya.
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Listen Noob, the pig used innocent children WITHOUT their parents permission for an incredibly nasty video. It doesn’t matter what they heard. The video misrepresented what the kids heard and made it look like they were ENJOYING what he was saying. You DON’T use other peoples children for this kind of trash.
Parents Outraged:
A parent saw the video posting and notified the school. Authorities then intervened. The video has since been removed from the Internet.
Parents of the children were still reeling when they left the courtroom. Their kids’ identities were apparent in the YouTube video.
One visibly angry man expressed his displeasure with Muskegon County 60th District Court Visiting Judge Robert A. Benson’s decision to allow Emory to go free on bond.
“He got our kid on video!,” one angry Beechnau father shouted.
Another upset father, Charles Willick, of 1100 N. Ravenna, told reporters that “it’s ridiculous” what Emory did with the video.
“I’m disgusted by it,” Willick said. “It was totally uncalled for.”
Authorities also learned that Emory had played the same edited video last week at downtown Muskegon’s Club Envy, 441 W. Western, during a performance that Emory called a “variety show.”
Willick said he recently learned about that aspect of the case.
“Obviously we’re not happy about that,” he said.
As part of Emory’s bond, the judge prohibited Emory from posting any more videos on “social networks” or participating in any open-microphone nights.
Emory is also to have no contact with minor children, as a condition of the bond, the judge said, except for those he has contact with at his job at a local restaurant.
E-mail: hpeters@muskegonchronicle.com
Did he talk about molesting them when he sang it? No.
I totally agree with you and am disgusted by the people around here calling this a “joke”. Too bad it wasn’t their little boys and girls he used in the video.
Thank you, beandog.
I’m glad that the parents and prosecutors are going ahead with strong measures.
“the pig used innocent children WITHOUT their parents permission for an incredibly nasty video”
You are correct and the parents should be able to sue him in civil court for those reasons.
This however is not pedophilia.
In a state(Michigan) that is letting murders and rapist and actual pedophiles get out of prison early because of budget cuts, putting this punk prankster in prison is silly and a waste of space for the real offenders.
Again pedophiles don’t broadcast that they are pedophiles on the biggest content driven website in the world for all to see.
Dumb kid, dumb prank.
If it was my child I would ask the court if I could kick the crap out of him.
___________________________________________
You wouldn't happen to be on a sex offender list, would you?
“I totally agree with you and am disgusted by the people around here calling this a “joke””
But it being a “joke” are the facts of the case..
You are being emotional and not looking at the facts.
This dumb ass kid 100% did this as a joke. Those are just the facts.
Was he wrong? Yes...100%
BUZZZZZZZZZZZ. Wrong answer. He used CHILDREN in an explicit video of a song. He made it LOOK like they knew. It is a crime. Children are not props for porn musical or otherwise.
“I’m glad that the parents and prosecutors are going ahead with strong measures”
So Palladin, how much prison time should he get in your opinion?
Noob? You think this is my first rodeo on an internet forum? I may have signed up a month ago but I sure wasn't born a month ago.
Listen closely. Just because I don't believe this young man should spend a significant amount of his adult life incarcerated doesn't mean I'm not appalled by his vulgar, juvenile sense of humor (and not particularly funny or original. Dave Chapelle did it better). As you pointed out, the children were used without permission. As someone else pointed out, this sounds like a civil case between Emory and the parents. I have no problem with this. Charging him with the same crime that is reserved for actual child pornographers is ridiculous though.
I'm reminded of those feminists who believe that every regrettable act of drunken, consensual sex is by definition rape. This insults those victims who have experienced violent rape, something that is a decidedly different experience from bad drunken sex. Calling this guy a child pornographer and charging him as such is no different and just as much of an insult to the very real victims of actual child pornography and predatory child sex offenders.
Look at the signup dates of all the defenders. 2008, 2009......Maybe they don’t know this is a Conservative forum and not a Republican one.
You are new to FR and apparently don't understand what "Conservative" means. Where'd you post before? Kos? DU?
As to the rest of your post, BUNK. You defend him vigorously. He's a pig that used children and exploited them. They are NOT props for his musical porn. And he used them as such.
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