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.
You believe that he should be in jail even if what he did wasn’t illegal, am I right?
You think Conservativism means throwing people in jail for doing things that you don’t like, even if they aren’t illegal?
What do you think of the Hollywood AntiChristians?
I did that. With the years he made the nutty assertions. At the link are links to direct quotes and where they came from.
I gave you a link to the reputable site On the Issues. All of Pauls kooky statements are backed with links there. THEY list him as a libertarian. And he is. YOU do your due diligence and go to the link. I backed up what I said. And I actually HAVE been here 10 years and KNOW to verify information.
That's called deflection and it doesn't work. This thread is about Emory who sexually exploited children for a video.
Deflection isn’t helping your case.
Pointing out all kinds of misdeeds and shortcomings done by others does not change the fact that you do not have the moral compass to recognize and condemn porn and pedophilia.
You’re right. I am just having difficulty believing that it could happen here.
You’ve got a serious problem. You support child pornography.
Not buying it. You are VERY into pop culture which indicates that you're young. Your ID has been here 10 years but you're too young.
We’ve covered the other stuff in great detail.
Please just answer my question, what do you think of the Hollywood AntiChristians?
No. It has nothing to do with the subject at hand. You are trying to derail the topic of the thread as you have done all along.
That's a matter of opinion.
Does this make you want to put Timothy Bloom in jail?
Did he exploit children for a sexually vulgar video?
Just answer my question. What do you think of the Hollywood AntiChristians?
You’ve spent enough words on explaining why you won’t answer, why don’t you just answer?
Because nobody is interested in your deflection.
You beg like a kid. You have no idea what "sourced" info is either. If you're really 40 (and I don't believe that) then you're Peter Pan.
Have a nice night.
how’s that? because I don’t think this guy should go to jail for this?
I’m in the music biz, and it helps not to be clueless about the preferences of music buyers. Where did the “sourced” comment come from?
And, maybe, what would be the adult way to me to get you to
1) look at the Timothy Bloom video, and get your feedback
and/or
2) get your estimation of the issue surrounding the Hollywood AntiChristians
Actually, the thread is about how different generations view the same thing.
Video case reflects generations’ great divide
is the name of the article
Please explain why this Ron Paul statement
We’d be as furious as Muslims are, if our land was occupied. (Jan 2006)
is kooky, as you said it was.
GMTA
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