Wednesday, February 2, 2001
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Wednesday, February 2, 2001 |
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MTV feeds on our children By BILLY MURPHY MTV wants to have their cake and eat it, too. They want to champion every type of moral liberality and be a victor for the freedom of speech, yet they also want to feed off their own young, getting fatter and richer with every bite. Only, their cannibalism continues to wreak havoc on the young flocks of viewers they both attract and devour. I wish them a good case of Mad Cow Disease. There have been more complaints over the years concerning MTV than there are corporate tie-ins in sports. Now the extreme-stunt show "Jackass" has spurred a young teen to light himself on fire, emulating one of the segments on the program. This undoubtedly will lead to the music network quickly producing an "MTV News Special" on the influence of "danger culture" on the teens of today. MTV has become more hypocritical and incestuous in its programing with every passing overdose, sexually transmitted disease or alcohol-fueled car crash. There is a philosophy that the church must first make people feel guilty, before it can be successful in forgiveness of guilt. MTV has taken the opposite route. MTV continually bombards youth culture with the worst images, sounds and impressions and when there is fallout they do a story on it. They try to "help." MTV wants to blow up its cake and eat it, too. It's like sweeps-weeks news shows that do segments on the blight of strip clubs, all the while showing the same lascivious images that they condemn. From the hate of rappers like Eminem to the kiddie porn show "Undressed" to the aforementioned "Jackass," MTV produces more negative light and noise than any channel in history, not to mention the videos. At least the Playboy channel is honest about what they produce. At least "Temptation Island" is forthright in what it does. MTV sticks attractive, hot-blooded guys and girls in lush houses (The Real World) and RVs (Road Rules) 24-7 and pretends that the shows are about people getting along. They are selling sex, pretending it's sociology. But what's worse, somewhere between Madonna strip video No. 1 and Madonna strip video No. 27, MTV started a news division and now reports and "helps" concerning the horrors of our society. MTV not only wants steak, they want to raise the cow, pet the cow and then slaughter it, too. Their sirloin is our children. MTV has the audacity to counter-program and brag on their specials that promote sex and responsibility. They preen over their shows that promote sensitivity to people who are different from us. But how long before or after the "sex and responsibility" show do you run your wet t-shirt promos for "MTV Spring break"? And what is proper etiquette for playing an Eminem song (where he fantasizes about killing his wife, his mother or a homosexual) after you have broadcast the show on being sensitive to others? In the meantime, a kid is in the hospital burned terribly and his friend is being charged with a crime. For more details, check MTV News. I know MTV can't be fully blamed for others' stupidity, but to only gain more from this tragedy by reporting on it is deplorable. Yet, even that could be expected, but to pretend that the network is responsible and caring concerning the youth of today, frankly, it makes me sick. MTV has gotten rich feasting on and fueling the hormones of teens for too many years now to suddenly become "dignified." We can only but turn it off. [Visit Billy Murphy on the Internet at www.ebilly.net.]
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