Posted on 06/08/2003 9:14:30 PM PDT by Rennes Templar
You know the old joke, "I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out." Well, the other night, I tuned into a hockey game and smut broke out, all over.
A confession: I don't ever watch 'regular' TV at home. It's not just that the quality of programming is poor (it is), or that I despise the politics of most of those involved in the industry (I do), it is the constant visual and verbal barrage of smut, sleaze and sex – and that's just the commercials.
Having grown up in the '60s I am no stranger to lewd, lascivious behavior, but when it becomes mainstream, something is amiss. Madison Avenue has always used sex to sell to some degree, but over half of today's ads would have been no-nos even ten short years ago.
How did we get here? The easy answer is that we've been in a moral tailspin since the great sexual liberation foisted upon us by the Baby Boom generation. But those of us in the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy can always (correctly) blame it on Bubba. That's right, Bubba.
In the years BC (Before Clinton) did you ever in your wildest dreams imagine that you'd be sitting in your living room with your 75-year old mother watching simulations of and jokes about oral sex? It's now almost a cottage industry. It is said that George Herbert Walker Bush would not appear in the Oval Office without a jacket and tie. Who would have thought that a future president would use TV as a medium to inform a breathless nation of his choice of underwear? We've come a long way Boomer Babies.
And then there's the hypocrisy of it all. Since all things American now revolve around 'the children', certain products and activities are taboo on TV. We are bombarded by tawdry ads for beer, yet no liquor may be hawked. In some cities, toy guns are illegal, but try to watch even one hour of network TV without ultra-violent promo ads assaulting the senses. Young children, who are instructed in the use of condoms in school, are endlessly lectured on 'alternate lifestyles' and watch countless T&A shots in commercials but, please, no smoking as it would set a bad example for the kiddies.
In an effort to avoid the vulgarity and social agenda of network TV, I am an avid viewer of cable news networks and, when wars domestic and foreign cool down, I tune in to sports for a change of pace, usually on local cable stations where the ads are fairly tame. This practice works fairly well until playoff time arrives and your team of choice or a great matchup is involved and the games are picked up by the networks.
Therein begins an incessant parade of soft-porn and scatological fare that until recent years had been deemed fit only for the big screen and never permitted to invade our living rooms. In three periods of hockey I saw more crotches than a bicycle seat. Which would be more understandable if one was tuned to MTV or an R-rated movie at midnight – but not during a prime-time, 'family-oriented' sporting event! Sports-minded talking heads constantly bemoan the late start times of big events, noting always that 'the children' will not be able to stay up till the end. Well thank Heaven for small favors.
This slippery slope of sex has lead to every sixteen-year old boy's fantasy: a never-ending rerun of Animal House. Except that today's TV ads are not nearly as funny and that "fat, drunk and stupid" apparently IS the way to go through life, son.
Is it any wonder that Saddam Hussein and other foreign America-haters thought that our young men and women would be pushovers in matters of war? Thank G-d that most of our young people are no more represented by the mindless slackers and round-heeled vixens who gyrate across my TV screen between innings, than I was by the drug-addled hippies who were glorified in my generation.
When televised sports first hit the airwaves on a regular basis, one could put up one's feet, watch the Friday night fights or the Saturday ballgame and the whole family would sing along to the catchy beer or after-shave jingles. For the next few decades, kids and parents alike could admire the uniquely American Marlboro man, the hard-working Miller-drinkers of the "If You've Got the Time" ads or simply dream of one day occupying that most revered of athletic thrones, the Wheaties box. After a childhood of viewing today's sporting ads, most boys must think their goal in life should be 'hooking up' with a hot babe in a hot tub and learning how to say "whazzup" in three different languages.
To comment on this article or express your opinion directly to the author, you are invited to e-mail Lisa at FabLi@aol.com .
Indeed, American business is excellent in marketing: it pulls off the shelves immediately that which does not sell.
If people were appualed by the commercials, these commercials woudl disappear in a matter of weeks. They are not pushed down our throats: it's the (a)morality of lives we lead that the businesses notice.
Incidentally, the fall of 2000 was supposed to be a turning point: at numerous focus groups, the public demanded "more action" on the networks; people complained that to "get that" they had to turn to cable. Sep 11 interferered with that.
People, including many on this board, are so indoctrinated by socialist propaganda, that they blame everthing on businesses. When was the last time you left a movie theatre because the show was unacceptable? When was the last time you've seen anyone doing that?
Death of religion -- that's what is at the root. As Benett said so well, "Many identify themselves as Christian and go to church, but they are no longer guided by Christian principles in their lives." I am Jewish, and I can attest that in my religion it is the same thing, if not more so.
You, I, and our friends --- that's the reason for the commercials, not some money-counting "rich" man.
I'm sure that I heard this about Reagan, never heard it about GHW Bush (doesn't mean it wasn't so).
Bravo, friend. They wouldn't sell it (for long) if we wouldn't buy it.
We have met the enemy - and the enemy is us.
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