[PLUG-TALK] Media smut...

[Michael C. Robinson]

On Wed, 2003-09-03 at 12:57, Russ Johnson wrote:
> Paul Mullen wrote:
> > So turn your TV off. Better yet, get rid of it entirely. Short of having
> > something to view rented videos on, there are few compelling reasons to
> > even have a television cluttering your living room. You'll be amazed at
> > how little you miss it, and how much newfound freetime you have.
>

I agree, but what about the social issue that free television
has gotten so bad?  Naturally, I've found I didn't watch much 
television even before I got upset with the current round of 
junk and worsening fare.  Frankly, the big brother show and 
temptation island should be illegal because they are glorifying 
the exploitation of people.  If the experiment ruins lives, the
producers are all the happier.  This is accepted because someone
is funding this a and b those who don't approve aren't making
it stick by convincing enough people to tune out.

If a large enough boycott is achieved Hollywood 
will have to stop this reality/exploitation craze.  
Would it be possible to get 75% or even %25 of the 
television audience that's still watching to turn 
it off for a month or more?  This would possibly 
hurt the current sponsors enough to kill 
reality/exploitation television.

If you think there are no consequences 
to the behaviors demonstrated by many of 
these reality programs, you more than anyone 
else if your watching them need to turn your 
television off.  If society as a whole 
unwinds, those who turned it off 
early but didn't encourage others to do 
so as well have missed a critical 
opportunity.

It's attitudes that are of the greatest concern 
with these shows: their long term affect on 
attitudes about sexual morality, proper social 
interaction, etc. are not healthy.  People 
watching shows most often accept them as 
entertainment.  Evil coming from within, a wise 
person will be selective whenever possible about 
what comes in from without shaping his/her climate 
for making moral decisions.

It would be nice to be able to watch one or two 
shows a week and have them be without smut commercials 
and the smut shows that's on there now.  It's sad if 
we are a free media society that not one station can 
be trusted anymore to set adequate limits concerning 
reality/exploitation television.

PAX exists, but it is way too boring in my opinion.  
So far, technologies that would modify shows are not 
only limited in their ability to improve entertainment 
value, they are rejected by numerous producers on 
grounds that their "art" must be preserved.  I hope 
there's enough left in us Americans that we'll avoid 
complete deterioration from within.
  
If terrorists are a lesser dangerous to us than our 
own activities, we should be ashamed enough to change 
those activities.