All you see on the news is Lindsay Lohan's latest arrest, what psychological scars Britney Spears has managed to inflict on her children, and Paris Hilton getting slapped on the wrist for severe traffic violations. Then you see the same living the sweet life and whoring it up on MTV or whatever. Throw in the crap shows that that channel produces (i.e. Laguna Beach and that crap with the spoiled rich 16 yr olds), and they're being inundated with the message that being a spoiled little whore is socially acceptable. Even the daughters of our President, who by his own account is about as close to God as the Pope, are slutting it up in college. Girls Gone Wild make millions off this sort of thing. (I'm still waiting on someone to release a Girls Get Sensible DVD series where they are broken down crying trying to explain to their parents why they're on TV showing their goods and making out with other girls. That'll be a seller!)
I blame the media. There are plenty of the Hollywood celeb girls that AREN'T doing stupid shit. You never hear about that. Natalie Portman is a strong, outspoken member of FINCA International, a nonprofit group that helps women in impoverished countries start their own businesses. You never see anything about this. If you do, it's just a brief flash on the news or a blurb in an obscure magazine article. You also never hear about her driving her car into a pedestrian, then drunkenly blaming said pedestrian for spilling her cocaine all over the inside of her overpriced SUV. Hilary Duff is an animal rights enthusiast and a member of Kids with a Cause. She has donated $250,000 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. She traveled to a New Orleans elementary school and worked with USA Harvest to distribute meals. In 2005, she donated over 2.5 million meals to Hurricane Katrina victims in the south. Didn't hear jack about this either, did you? Even Christian Aguilera, who is essentially a singing stripper, does a massive amount of charity work, including work for the abused women's shelter in her home town of Pittsburg. So why don't we hear anything about the good stuff?
The news doesn't sell 'good.' Apparently if the news gets low ratings, it will be cancelled or something. Like that would ever happen. News programs should be the one avenue on TV that doesn't have to cater to the ratings crowd. They should just be able to report. But that doesn't happen. Instead, all our young women in this country are hit with a never ending wave of crap that tells them that if they ever want to make it, be cool, be accepted, they better start being little gold digging bitches in tiny shorts.
Once again, I weep for the future.
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Ya know, not to sound like an old prude, but MTV really turned out to be one of the worst influences on our youth culture, celebrating conspicuous consumption and vanity (MTV Cribs), shallowness, the coarsening and cheapening of sexual relations, and the unquestioning promotion of the worst elements of the hiphop culture, which itself celebrates the degradation of women to the nth degree. The values we see represented on that network and others like it are passed on to the dumbass young people we see every day on the street, with preteens walking around dressed like sluts.
But while it's easy to blame the media and they deserve to be castigated for their role, what about the complete lack of parenting oversight. If it's my daughter, trust me, she ain't leaving the house if she's dressed like Britney Spears for a night on the town. Ain't happening. The problem is parents stopped being guardians and instead want to be "friends" with their kids above all else. So we get these little egomaniac brats who have been told they can do no wrong. You can't ground these little monsters, can't punish them, everything has been handed to them - cell phones, cars, iPods -- nothing is earned.
These young kids are totally apolitical clones, best represented by Ms. Teen Dumbass Airhead and the Bimbo-Slut Triumvirate of Britney, Lindsey and Paris. The Sunday NY Daily News, which has turned into an absolute rag that's almost but not quite as bad as The NY Post, had on its cover a headline about Paris Hilton's 6 million dollar luxury pad; a pic on page 2 of Britney getting a speeding ticket, and then a few pages later, to complete the idiocy, something about Lohan's rehab! It's the People Magazine-ing of our culture, and as you say, any sentient, thinking people has to fear for the future of the country as a result.
See, I can put the blame on the parents, but even the good parents can't compete with the social microcosm of school and all the crap that gets hand fed to the kids there. So unless the kid is home schooled and still comes out like a little two-bit whore, I can't really place all the blame there.
I agree that MTV is probably atleast 75% responsible for the decline of western culture, the stigma of being black in America, and corrupt social networking. At just about any point in the day, one is subject to all sorts of lewd and lascivious conduct, and that doesn't even count the span from 2AM to 2:30AM where they still show music.
The Miss South Carolina fiasco is indicative of that state having one of the worst educational systems on the planet. I think they're 3 notches above Mississippi. My g/f moved there recently, and told me that it was only last year that the state repealed it's ban on tattoos, and now the people that show their skin art are deemed "unclean" and "non-hygenic."
This whole country is insane. I realize now that the massive tourist industry that hits the Orlando area is due to the fact that, despite it's giant walking rodents and over priced hotels and restraunts, it is the last foothold of humanity and decency in America.
Good point about Orlando. One of my (many) pet theories is that the Repugnicants would be a minority, fringe third party were it not for that their concerted effort to exploit the mid-America backlash against the "perception" of morally corrupt, hedonistic, godless Liberals. Hence Howard Dean's summation of the GOP platform as the 3 G's: God, Guns and Gays. Hint: they're for the first 2 and against the last 1!
Also see your point about parents being helpless against the bombardment of mass media and pop culture, which as we all know have been exploiting the youth culture for all it's worth ever since Elvis first shook his pelvis on national TV. It's probably harder than ever to be a parent nowadays.
The public education system is a shambles, and it's equally hard to be a teacher these days. My sister teaches junior high in a "bad" neighborhood, and does little more
babysit these kids. Funny how after 7 years of No Child Left Behind, SAT scores are worse than ever. The complete dumbing down of America runs rampant and continues unabated. Who does that benefit? Well, the dumber the better if you're an army recruiter, for one! The fewer career opportunities, the more poor and minority kids sign their lives away on the dotted line.
I'll stop now before I depress you, me and everyone else!
The NeoKhans that have taken over the media face of the Republican party have really damaged it's credibility. I can't even consider them actually conservative, because by definition they should favor tradition and gradual change, and that's not what we're seeing or hearing from these cats anymore.
And yeah, the education system in this country is laughable. And you can't blame the teachers. The funding is ridiculous and the standards set for these kids are so low, but it doesn't matter because they don't feel like trying. They're all going to be the 'next big thing.' That's why shows like American Idol are so damn dangerous for kids to watch. They don't understand that out of literally MILLIONS of people, one makes it. They just see the end result and think it can be them. Or the kids in the school yard that can sink a decent 3 pointer and has some good defense skills think they're in line to be the next Kobe. There's almost no grounding in reality.
I do agree about the media being lazy and sensationalistic. When you think of the fact that a child has been exposed to however many hundreds of thousands of hours of branding and phony images of "affluence" by the time they're eighteen, it's a wonder any of them turn out halfway normal. The truth is that the images, memes and tropes that flow from the "dreammakers" of Hollywood and the rest of the Image-Factory flow virtually nonstop into all of our brains; the young are merely the most obviously affected because they are so acutely tuned into the mediasphere. Corporations know very well that their goal is to form a "realtionship" with the "consumer" (read:zombie) and the earlier in life, the more powerful and lasting that relationship tends to be. Any kind of movement that arises organically from the bottom-up is quickly co-opted; absorbed, watered-down and then regurgitated back at us. Just look at what happened to punk rock. It's so difficult to find anything that has real meaning...everything is trivialized and reduced to a quick, saleable image. They even did it to news!
As far as hip hop, they're plenty of quality rap out there; music that is valid and socially aware and most important of all REAL. Hip hop has been destroyed by the "music industry"....what was a vibrant, roots-oriented music that celebrated verbal wit, rhythm, and fat-ass funk and R&B based licks has somehow morphed into what is sold on MTV and BET. BET in particular ought to be ashamed, as they seem to feel no obligation to the black community; they've been one of the worst offenders when it comes to cheapening hiphop and rewarding the dumbest, basest instincts. It's all about titillation....as Bill Moyers said, "Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate, you create a climate of expectation that requires a higher and higher level of intensity."
I'm particularly upset about what passes for punk these days. It's no longer full of anger and anarchy, political strife and the desire to 'stick it to the man' while uniting 'the kids.' It's all shit. I blame Green Day for that. I think they blame themselves as well.
Serge, I would blame Green Day if they were churning out apolitical, formulaic, mindless music, but American Idiot at least is an earnest, honest attempt at a concept album on what it's like to live in George Bush's dumbed-down America, where psuedo-patriots drive around in Humvees with those annoying support the troops decals. Now, are they a bit cartoonish? Yes. But so were the Ramones. Of course, Green Day probably made more money in one year than Da Ramones made in their whole careers!
To a certain extent, you can't blame them for their own popularity. Even the remaining Clash members have sold their songs to companies like Jaguar and I believe Verizon. It's tough to know what punk even means anymore, although I think we know it when we see it.
A punk band I really dig is International Noise Conspiracy. From Sweden, they're a bunch of sloganeering lefties, but the songs just jump out at you and kick much ass. Max, I think you'd like the elements of soul they weave into the full frontal rock attack. But Armed Love, which I think is their latest, is definitely worth checking out if you like punk.
In fact, in keeping with their lefty principles, Int'l Noise has a great Website where you can download a bunch of songs for free. Another good modern punk band, Rancid, has a great Website where you can download MP3's from each of their albums. Good deal. Another generous band, although not a punk band, is the Old 97's: same deal, 2 MP3's from each album. I don't know about you 2, but i'm all about free music!
I'm familiar with International Noise Conspiracy and Rancid, and I see Green Day's 'American Idiot' as an attempt to apologize for 'Dookie.' I'm in no way saying punk is dead. I'm saying that people who are listening to shit like My Chemical Romance and branding it "punk" are misguided. This site here (http://www.improperazzi.net/) is something I see as a case in point. First off, I'm upset that they used an awesome name up for this site, that is full of mascara wearing pretty boys trying to look like they're in deep thought while wearing their glittery t-shirts. (which is only acceptable if you are a member of the New York Dolls)
I am the designer of IMPROPERAZZI and I see your point about the mascara wearing pretty boys, etc. But in case you didn't notice... aside from the models my designs are 100% punk rock. More so than most any other designs around. Any arguments or debates hit me up at improperazzi@gmail.com. Jonny
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