Much like the frog that doesn't realize it is being boiled to death in a pot of water that slowly becomes hotter and hotter, Americans have been slowly poisoned to the point of unconsciousness when it comes to pornography. The erosion of our nation's moral compass has been increasing incrementally as well as exponentially. In the last few years, the lines between what is considered disgusting, and simply indecent, or "within normal limits of acceptability" have blurred to the point that no one says a word against the tremendous constant onslaught of pornographic content embedded in every form of media, leveled against, particularly, but not exclusively, females.
Take, for example, a recent ad campaign for the latest Sherlock Holmes film. An nude actor sits tied to a bed, with a pillow in front of his genitals. Is there no boundary of decency followed when advertising a film? Why is it acceptable to have a scene as part of the ad that displays a naked man, in an age when there is ever-increasing awareness of the far-reaching perpetration and ramifications of child sexual abuse? Why is there no outcry about the subliminal message sent by this, one that implies a grown man naked on a bed, exposed (almost) to anyone???
Isn't it time that we, as a culture, take a fresh look at the obscenity that surrounds us, labeled variously as freedom of speech, and art, when what these images and portrayals really do is pollute and pervert the minds that view them and put at risk the most vulnerable members of this society?
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Patty, I agree with you that the erosion of America’s moral compass has been increasing at an alarming rate, but I’m not sure that we should be going directly for the things labeled “freedom of speech and art.” I think the enemy is much lower on the entertainment totem pole than that. You mentioned the pillow placed tantalizingly on the male crotch in the Sherlock Holmes film; this is where so much of the pornography is allowed to grow; it is potentially pornographic, putting the burden of the badness on the viewer, whose imagination is fired up, while the filmmaker is able to get away with his sleazoid image because “nothing is showing.” This was the vibe that powered The Jerry Springer Show: Springer would present a man and his wife, and then he would bring out his transgender “girlfriend,” who he had been cheating on his wife with. The fighting and wrestling that followed provided the worst sort of titillation by unavoidably showing various body parts, accompanied by manic cursing, which would be bleeped out, leaving the viewer to fill in the empty spaces.
ReplyDeleteThrough film and television, young teens are encouraged to wear clothing that is inappropriate to their age and this puts them into situations that they just can’t handle.
The things that are made available to young people and children must be more closely monitored, rather than letting things keep going until they explode. For example, for a number of years a culture has been building up around High school proms that could have no good end. Girls’ dresses were getting smaller, limos were getting longer, and post-prom arrangements were becoming more and more complicated. While everyone else in the universe were floundering about in the, rough waters of pubescence, letting Prom frenzy get completely out of hand a Catholic boy’s High School on Long Island had the nerve to put the brakes on at their school. In just this way, Adults must take responsibility for protecting our children. We can’t wait for some legislative process that is never going to appear. It must be started on the ground floor; take care of the babies first, and do that all the way up, until they can make their own decisions. I don’t want some jack-booted fool marching in and telling me what I may and may not read or watch. I’ve gotten a bit old for that.
Brendan lOONAM