Entertainment Industry's Harmful "Ingredients"
by Alex Saitta
July 2, 2007
Media's Harmful Ingredients:
Many of you have read Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is being sued because of some of the ingredients (trans fats) in its chicken. KFC has since taken those harmful ingredients out of their foods, as their commericals of late have mentioned.
What about the harmful ingredients of violence, promiscuous sex and drug use, the entertainment industry is putting in their products and feeding our children? When are those going to be taken out?
Now-a-days, for uttering an ethnic slur, a person is publicly flogged or fired from their job, if not, they are sent to a month of sensitivity training. Yet, Hollywood is being given a free pass. Not only is the entertainment industry offending decent people, but it hurting our children.
Breakdown Of Families:
Because we have more single parent families, both parents are having to work, or parents are more into themselves than they should be, too many children today have more unsupervised time. If they spent that time watching re-runs of “Ozzie and Harriett”, they’d be fine. Instead they are watching TV, movies, playing video games and listening to music that is showering them with harmful lessons like, party 24-7, talk with 4-letter words, dis-respect authority, violence is the way to solve your problems, have sex now, and the gay life-style.
Here’s an example of a video my wife rented and we watched together. It was centered around a family of four, where the uncle and grandfather had just moved in. The grand-father spewed 4-letter words in front of the seven year old daughter, and targeted them at the dad, mother and uncle Also, he also prided himself on having taught the daughter her talent for an upcoming child beauty queen pageant -- a strip-tease act. The uncle had tried to commit suicide, and explained why at the dinner table (with the teenage son and seven year old daughter sitting right there). You see, he was in a homosexual relationship, and his gay-lover left him for another man, so he slit his wrists. The teenage son wore a shirt that said, “Jesus was Wrong”, he refused to speak to anyone and wrote notes on a pad to communicate, including, “I hate everyone” especially my family”. Of course the dad was portrayed as a loser and non-leader, and generally the parents were the dumbest ones of them all.
The movie received 3 1/2 stars, so it is safe to say this multi-million piece of garbage is typical of what Hollywood is producing today.
Media Lessons:
Now the entertainment industry is glamorizing gambling, with all its new poker TV shows. Another terrible lesson for children. The adult acceptance of things like gambling on TV, along with all the violence in the movies and sex shown on the internet is a step in the wrong direction, because children are watching.
Children lack the experience and emotional development to navitgate through all the adult issues thrown as them. Drinking it all up in our polluted culture, too many children repeat what they see in the media, movies or surf on the internet. Many children fumble these adult issues and it hurts them in life, and at times those around them.
Where Are Elected Leaders?
Why isn't this issue being debated in the U.S. Congress, or talked about on TV shows, by the likes of Oprah, Rush Limbaugh or Hillary Clinton?
The solution to the problem is beyond changing the channel or stopping your children from going to PG-13 or R rated movies. The fact of the matter is, the entertainment industry has polluted our culture. Its toxins are all around us and can't be escaped or hidden from.
So you don't have cable TV, or Play Station 2, and you monitor your children's use of the internet and the music CD's they buy, it doesn't mean your family is immune. You see, little Johnny down the street has been raised on a diet of shoot’em up video games and action heroes bludgeoning people to death, so when Johnny has a bad day and decides to act out what he's been watching, your child may end up a victim any way.
Why are we allowing Hollywood to feed our children violence? Why, so we can have more innocent victims? So we can fill up the jails?
What is the benefit of allowing TV to peddle drinking and drugging to our children? What, so our children will end up in rehab or AA?
Why are we silent as music companies teach young men that women are nothing but ho's, to knock up, and drop flat. What is the benefit of feeding them that? So we can extend the welfare lines or fill up the child support courts even more?
Why aren't we objecting to the 4-letter words the entertainment industry is feeding our kids? What's the benefit, so they will know how to curse-out their teachers, friend or future employers?
What is the benefit of allowing TV producers to serve our children all gambling shows?
Most all of us know -- violence, drug use, gambling, promiscuous sex -- is harmful stuff, it is screwing up our youth and will sink our country in the long run. Yet, so many of us are silent on the issue. It is like we are on a ship, called the USA America, and someone is boring holes in its hull and we are just quietly standing by as it happens.
Something needs to be done. Call talk radio, write a letter to the editor or email your U.S. Senator and urge them to say or do something about this. Debate is a step in the right direction. Action by a majority of U.S. Congress and the President to tighten “indecency” laws and strengthen their enforcement would be two steps in the right direction.
As the fines mount, no doubt, the entertainment industry will claim the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives them a right to poison our children in this way. OK, let them file suit. Then the Supreme Court will decide if peddling violence, drug use, and gambling is protected by the freedom of speech clause.