This little tidbit has me thinking that things are getting a little ridiculous, maybe not for what happened or that these guys lost their jobs, but just for the fact that this whole FCC thing is getting old.
I read a feature yesterday that I now can no longer locate for linking that explained how the television networks are under a lot of pressure to tone down the raunch on their shows for next season. One of the "casualties" is the Victoria's Secret fashion show (perhaps Bob Dylan can fill in...), certainly no great loss in my opinion. Though I have never watched that show, it has never bothered me that it has been aired. I made the decision not to watch. I don't need the decision made for me.
Through all of this, I want to know why there is no outrage over the violence that is on television instead. Perhaps you think I am contradicting myself by saying that Big Brother is too involved in censoring sexual situations from us as I appear to be showing my distaste for violence, but think this: sex is an issue for all of us in one way or another at some point in our lives. Sure, we don't talk about it, but it's out there and everyone confronts it at some time. The same cannot be said for violence. I have never seen anything sexual on television that caused me to behave differently,but I can't say the same thing about violence. As an example for a time when I was a young kid I used to be terrified walking down the street by myself because I pictured a passing car stopping and someone getting out and snatching me away, or shooting me. Completely irrational? Of course, but where do you think that irrational fear came from? I saw it on television a few hundred times probably.
My parents did a great job at keeping us from watching adult themed television shows when we were young, but it was impossible THEN to keep us 100% isolated from violent portrayals, so I can only imagine how tough it is now for the best parents. Why do we go nuts at an exposed breats but not at the perception of how it was done, exposed against the woman's will? We would never think of allowing a video game of nothing but having sex, but any kid can play games that do nothing but shoot things to their heart's content.
When I am a parent, I am going to be a lot more dilligent about making sure that my kids are not exposed to unnecessary violence. That's not to say that family movie nights will feature pornography, but as a family sexuality is going to have to be addressed at some time. My kids will need to know it, and I won't be doing the best job I can at raising them if I ignore it. However I feel no need to introduce them to the violence that is much more prevelant in the media (and much, much more unnecessary, I would also say), and I would much rather see the conglomerates address the amount of violence that is aired on their television shows and played on their radio stations than fire people who talk about sex, even if they do sound like morons.
The so-called moral groups who blow a gasket about the sexuality of our society while ignoring the violent aspects practice selective ignorance, which is a heck of a lot worse than uttering any f word on an awards show or showing a remnat of cleavage during an overhyped halftime spectacle. What's more important to prevent, your child one day dealing with his or her sexual feelings, or the possibility that they will resolve a dispute with a gun?
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