An interesting debate broke out on my Facebook page today. I posted a status saying that Adam Lambert and his ilk have no right to be mad at ABC for their decision to cancel his appearance/performance on Good Morning America tomorrow (CBS was stupid enough to bring him on their morning show – a ratings stunt and nothing more). The debate raged on about everything from homophobia to double standards. It was a good discussion for the most part. Now, I’m no homophobe but I have a problem with a sex act being depicted or actually performed on national broadcast TV during prime time. THAT is what I have a problem with.
Award shows, for the most part, are nothing more than two-three hour long publicity stunts and popularity contests. They’re also venues for someone to show off their “artistic value.” People, I have a wake up call for you: Just because someone calls something art doesn’t mean that it’s worthy of displaying in the Louver. In fact, a lot of what people refer to as “art” today is flat out garbage and filth. Someone who performs or simulates a sex act on broadcast TV during prime time is no artist. Yet, we’ve come to accept such garbage to the point that nothing is done about it. We’re so complacent that we just go on and expect someone else to do something. Well, people, these days need to end right now. It’s time we stopped sitting around and start acting up. Yes, acting up. I don’t mean we should be out to incite riots or bloody revolution but we need to let the networks and the FCC know that we are tired of having to shield our kids eyes when it should be safe for them to be watching TV. No way should we have to explain to our daughters why someone was “sniffing the guy’s pants.”
The truth is, there’s no such thing as talent in mainstream music, television or even movies now. It’s all popular because of shock value. If a celebrity needs ratings, face time or wants to hype up their upcoming CD release they’ll “leak” a sex tape or act like they’re getting a hummer on national TV. Do you think it was an accident that Adam Lambert did this stunt and that his CD came out today? When Janet Jackson had her infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl, she had a single out the following Tuesday. Accident? Right, sure. Lady Gaga… don’t get me started on her. She can no more sing than I can… actually, I think I can sing better than she can. She relies on her freakish appearance and stunts to sell CDs.
Radio and TV shows thrive on this kind of junk as well. Howard Stern is a filthy joke. The fact that people actually pay (and extra on top of the regular subscription fee at that) to listen to him is beyond me. If I want to hear about strippers or non-stop fart jokes, I’ll hang out in an NFL locker room. Law and Order, one of my favorite shows, also is guilty. I recently saw a rerun episode that opened with a man and woman very obviously having sex. I can’t believe that they show this junk in prime time.
FCC? Hello? Are you there?
Do you see my point? We are a hype society and, unfortunately, a lot of people buy into it. I’m sick of it. I want to be able to let me (future) kids watch a show without worrying about having to explain the birds and bees to them at age five. I want an artist to succeed without having to sell out and create some kind of scandal for themselves. Most of all, I just want common sense to be common again. All of the junk that happens today is flat out annoying, which is why I feel so disconnected from mainstream culture for the most part. Am I the only one who’s sick of all the junk?
Jonathan
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