| Is TV corrupting
our minds?
No
By Deana Karstaedt
"Big brother
is watching you." When George Orwell wrote this in 1984, he must
have foreseen the battle over television censorship. Today, some
critics want to impose Big Brother on viewers everywhere.
Back
in the early days of the television, kissing was rare and talking about
sex was unheard of. But now, with such topics discussed at the dinner
table, shows are revealing what was once taboo.
In recent
years networks such as ABC, CBS, and NBC have been dropping in the ratings,
losing out to cable stations like MTV and HBO. Networks have lost
millions of dollars for one reason alone: censorship.
While
cable television is exempt from "decency" laws, the networks must comply.
Consequently, to gain popularity the big three producers have pushed government
regulations to the limit and therefore, have been scorched by censors.
The fact
is, over half of Americans believe that the entertainment industry is within
its constitutional right of free speech when presenting material that some
view as objectionable or offensive. The real complainers are those
conservative critics who are forever heckling writers and producers.
"They
can turn the show off if they don’t like what they are seeing," Steven
Bocho defends, Bochco is the producer of NYPD Blue, a crime drama that
has been cited numerous times for strong language and partial .
Bochco
is not alone in his beliefs. Many of those in the entertainment profession
know that it is the individual’s decision what to watch, not the government’s.
If a child is one of those individuals, it is the parent’s responsibility
to determine what is seen on television.
Some
parents, however, are unable to handle this obligation. They would
rather rely on a specialized computer chip called the V-chip, a processor
which prohibits an individual from viewing certain shows.
Of that
group of parents there is a smaller group that believe the chip is too
expensive. An inexpensive replacement for the V-chip is widely available
it’s called the OFF switch. If these so-called "concerned parents"
would monitor their children’s viewing, then such devices wouldn’t be necessary.
One day
these children will find themselves in their parent’s places. They
will then argue that each generation considers the next to be more obsessed
with sex than the one before.
"It’s
a generation gap that will always be with us, " David Hiltbrand, senior
editor of TV Guide, explains. "Today’s writers are younger than ever
before, and that’s reflected in the shows they created. Generation
Xers are more open to controversial topics than their elders were."
Generation
X, the group of young twentysomethings, is responsible for shows such as
Friends, Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210, all of which have been
cited for controversial subjects and explicit sexual situations.
However, those debatable topics are viable because they relay strong social
messages about AIDS, racial issues, teenage pregnancy and countless others.
Made
for TV movies have also been cited as being all sex and no substance.
When ABC, CBS and NBC produced three individual versions of the Amy Fisher-Joey
Buttafuoco story, critics blasted these movies.
Censors
accused the networks of selling sex to earn ratings, but what these "pro-censorship
prudes" failed to mention is that the affair actually happened, and the
networks were only showing the tragedy of the situation.
If networks
succumb to these critics, the world will be monitored by a select group
of censors. Individuals will not longer control their own viewing
time. People will have to watch the same programs which will convey
only the thoughts of the authorities. Soon the entire population
of the earth will be told what to believe and when to believe it.
And to think, it all stated with editing out one little scene… |
Is TV corrupting
our minds?
Yes
By Lisa Detar
"Next
on Ricki Lake: ‘I hate my mother because she dresses too trashy.’"
This advertisement of the show causes channel surfers everywhere to drop
their remotes. What has happened to Americans today that allows them
to be so captivated by smutty talk shows and sexually saturated soap operas?
Daytime
TV has gone way beyond creating such shows as The Price is Right, which
happens to be one of the only pre-PrimeTime game shows left on the major
networks (CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX). Instead, more talk shows have been
created than ever before along with innumerable soap operas filling the
TV slots.
In the
1950s kissing on television was daring and talking about sex or anything
related to it was practically unheard of. Society thought the way
Elvis Presley shook his hips was horrifying so censors demanded that he
only be shown from only the waist up when be made his appearance on The
Ed Sullivan Show.
Now the
cameras feed on half-naked people in bed together and feature talk show
topics such as "My boyfriend slept with my sister." Consequently impressionable
children who view such programs begin to think our whole culture revolves
around sex.
Many
censors today concern themselves with the violent acts seen by children
on TV, and for this purpose the V-chip was created. The V-chip is
a device that blocks out violent acts on television. While it works
against the brutality on TV, it overlooks all the sexual scenes kids are
exposed to.
Practically
everything seen on television centers on intimacy. Even commercials
for soap, perfume or deodorant involve beautiful people wearing (or not
wearing) provocative clothing.
For example,
the advertisement for ici perfume shows a women in a sexy, red,
satin dress lying down while a man kisses her neck. The commentator
says, "Put it where you want to be kissed." Most of the population
realized if women wear the fragrance it’s not going to attract men like
flies. However, perfume companies feel compelled to advertise cologne
in a sexual way.
Television
hardly depicts reality. A recent article written in the February
issue of Sassy magazine shows that producers of certain talk shows twisted
their guests stories and encouraged them to exaggerate to spice things
up. Many were put on display for the audience to judge harshly.
Today’s
Prime-Time shows are just as poor. He title NYPD Blue leads people
to believe that is a crime drama, which is supposed to be. However,
NYPD Blue has been hassled by the censors numerous times for it’s acts
of sexuality and . The same goes for ER.
ER stands
for Emergency Room which has nothing to with sex. However, one episode
involved Dr. Greene and his wide in a room at the hospital being intimate.
One of them accidentally pushed the call button causing medical workers
to rush in to see what was going on. This scene had nothing to with
the plot but was incorporated into the show anyway. Unfortunately
this program is just another soap opera with a deceiving title.
Thought soaps and talk shows have a reputation for raunchy and overdramatized,
TV sitcoms aren’t far behind. TGIF, which features Family Matters,
Boy Meets World, Step by Step and Hanging with Mr. Cooper, is supposed
to be family oriented, but sexual innuendoes in the dialogue make it inappropriate
for elementary age students.
While
Prime-Time TV doesn’t pose as much of a threat to children, day-time television
needs a drastic change. Producers tell the parents to just simply
turn the TV off if they don’t like what they or their kids are seeing.
However, guardians who work may use the television as a babysitter because
they are too busy doing paperwork, chores around the house, etc.
The world
of TV has come so far since its creation in the late 40’s. It’s moved
from banning shaking hips and kissing lips to allowing half nakedness.
What will be next? Will TV turn into an indecent display of pornography
in the years to come?
Censorship
is needed today more than ever so Americans don’t have to witness obscenities
everytime they push the "on" button. |