Culture
Clips - December 20, 2005
Who
Defines “Family” Values?
The
Family Friendly Programming Forum consists of several dozen major
television advertisers that urge the entertainment industry to
build "a commitment to and understanding of quality family
entertainment." It has just announced its "Family Television
Awards." To be sure, what the Forum has chosen to salute
is far less offensive than so much of what is oozing out of our
TV sets, but is it "family friendly"? You, dear reader,
decide for yourself.
Their
best drama series selection was ABC's "Lost," a gripping
and popular show, but also incredibly violent. Scenes depicting
torture and people being destroyed by explosives, the kind that
leave pieces of flesh dangling on the shoulders of survivors,
are a staple. Maybe for older teens this is acceptable. But
for grade-school children? The Family Friendly Programming
Forum says it is.
They
awarded best comedy honors to CBS's "King of Queens,"
centered on a married couple living in New York. It's another popular show, and often very funny and
innocent. But not always. And that's
the problem: You never know what you're going to get when you
turn it on. One episode this season featured the wife taking stripper
pole-dancing lessons to spice up their sex life. She was always
fully clothed, of course, but there was that predictably racy
dialogue that accompanied the storyline. Does this qualify as
family programming in your book?
…What
do these awards say about the mindset of the TV czars — the producers,
the carriers and the underwriters — and their ability to define
"family" TV? Six major corporations own virtually everything
aired on broadcast television as well as two-thirds of the cable
channels, but it's clear these companies don't have a clue about
what families want on television. Worse still, they don't want
families deciding for themselves what is, and isn't, appropriate
family viewing. That corporate community, along with its myriad
of lobbying firms and front groups, is zestily
lobbying Washington to stop decency enforcement on the public
airwaves as well as cable choice on cable networks. Parents are
desperately trying to shield their young children from horrific
violence, vulgar language and sperm counts. Nothing doing, says
the industry. We
control the vertical and horizontal. We
know what's best for families.
Brent Bozell
Parents Television Council
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/
columns/brentbozell/2005/12/16/179524.html
--
Steamy
Teens in Tampa
More
than the weather gets hot in Tampa, Fla.
A
survey of the Hillsborough County school district has revealed nearly half of
high school students and one in five middle school students claim
to have had sexual intercourse.
And
this is surprising news to many Hillsborough parents.
The
Youth Risk Behavior Survey, compiled in four thick volumes by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, polled more than
5,000 randomly-selected Hillsborough students, finding that nearly
one-third said they were propositioned to buy, bought or sold
drugs while at school. More than 9 percent of male students and
nearly 12 percent of female students said they had been forced
to have sex…
Sex
educators promised that more information about sex would mean,
if not less sex, then "safer sex." The CDC survey reveals
the opposite to be true with younger kids having sex and condom use declining
with age, dropping from 78 percent usage in eighth grade to 61.4
percent for high school seniors.
Leaving
out the emotional and spiritual damage caused by early sexual
activity (which is significant), the physical and societal consequences
of teen sex are considerable. According to a
Heritage Foundation policy paper by Robert E. Rector, sexually transmitted diseases,
including incurable viral infections,
are now epidemic. While we contemplate a bird flu pandemic,
3 million teenagers contract STDs every year, afflicting about
one in four sexually active teens.
Rector writes about research that has shown a correlation
between sexual activity among adolescents and the likelihood they
will engage in other high-risk behavior, such as tobacco, alcohol
and illicit drug use. Pediatrics magazine (vol. 87, No.
2 Feb 1, 1991, pp 141-147) reports that sexually active boys aged
12 through 16 are four times more likely to smoke and six times
more likely to consume alcohol than those who describe themselves
as virgins.
Cal Thomas
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/
columns/calthomas/2005/12/15/179349.html
--
Golden
Mitt
Could
life imitate art? Possibly, if Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has anything to say about it. Romney recently paid a visit to the Golden State to
participate in the meeting of the Republican Governors’ Association
of which he was named chairman.
I
heard him speak at a meeting of the Fairbanks Republican Women
Federated (FRWF), one of the most successful groups of its kind.
His movie-star-handsome looks render him instantly appealing,
at least superficially, in a state like California.
But
Romney's potential appeal to residents of our most populous state
runs deeper than appearances. Although he is increasingly socially
conservative, Romney's background and governing style — not to
mention the fawning profiles that have graced the pages of both
liberal and conservative magazines — suggest he might command
support in California.
For
one thing, the Massachusetts governor is a minority in more ways than one. As a
Mormon and as a Republican in a Democratic state, he can relate
to feelings of alienation from the mainstream, an ability that
will promote at least a perception of his tolerance and openness
— both musts in California. Perceptions matter — again, especially
in California — and anything that may undercut a simplistic dismissal
of him as Yet Another White Man will help. Perhaps unwittingly, Romney uses
phrases like "tiny minority position" to describe his
political situation.
Furthermore,
his ability to run a state successfully despite the overwhelming
political odds stacked against him will stand him well in a state
where another Republican governor faces a similar predicament.
The Massachusetts legislature is 85-percent Democratic; its entire
congressional delegation are Democrats. Romney calls himself "a
red speck in a blue state," which is another way of saying
that he's able to maintain his redness while still working with
the blue around him.
And
indeed the governor's experience as chief executive of Massachusetts
has been largely successful. He touts practical solutions that
he arrived at in conjunction with the legislature, such as reforming
the way the homeless are sheltered — namely, scrapping the wasteful
hotel program and helping them find long-term residences — and
jiggering the educational system to foster progress in math and
science (on a 2005 national test, Bay State students ranked first
or tied for first in math and most other subjects).
Moreover,
while the governor often describes himself as a social conservative
(his abortion position — a promise not to violate the state's
"status quo" — is a matter of some controversy), he
displays a pragmatic side even when it comes to divisive issues
like stem-cell research.
Michael M. Rosen
National Review
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/rosen200512150849.asp
