Now Seen On TV

by Jason J. Cross
(Brooklyn, NY)

“If God doesn’t destroy Hollywood Boulevard, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.”
-Jay Leno

On August 3rd, 2010, Montana “Chippy D” Fishburne – the daughter of Laurence Fishburn -announced she is going to release her own sex tape. She said it was to help her break into the acting business. She is quoted as saying, “I’ve watched how successful Kim Kardashian became and I think a lot of it was due to the release of her sex tap.”i I guess she chose this path because, you know, she doesn’t know anyone in the business.

As I am about to become a father – and someone who is an author/filmmaker – I am finding it more and more disturbing the path that the entertainment industry is going on. On TV we are flooded with scripted and unscripted shows that do not teach good values. Instead they show sin as if it was okay and a normal way of living.

Your typical scripted show geared towards teenagers have the same plot: everyone is sleeping with and cheating on everyone else. As time goes on, prime time TV is getting racier and racier. “Gossip Girl” had a three some scene – with Disney’s own graduate Hillary Duffii, “Beverly Hills 90210” has a applied oral sex scene between two teenagers, Reality Shows have no problem with nudity – blurred out of course – or people having sex so freely, NBC is about to release a show called “Friends with Benefits,” and a new show called “Harry’s Law,” which has Kathy Bates smoking pot.v

As bad as it is, it is about to get a lot worse. In early July, it was ruled that using the F Word is not too obscene for the air waves. So it is just a matter of time before we will start hearing that word said on our TVs and radios. With cable TV not regulated by the FCC, the broadcasting industry tries to push the envelope to attract young adults and have abandoned the family viewers.

Is this really a bad thing? Some say that children learn about sex and curse words from many places anyway so it is not really a big deal if it is on TV. I don’t understand how people can convince themselves that there is no harm in this stuff.

In an article published in “The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics,” they concluded that, “Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and non-coital activities.”

I have heard it said many of times, that if I don’t like what is on TV just change the channel and in a sense I feel that is what we have been doing. These shows and the curse words on TV are not something that appeared over night. Over the years, the entertainment industry has been just getting a little bit worse and worse. Ignoring the problem is not going to make it go away.

Now there have been people who have fought back with not so stellar results. Looking at the entertainment history you will find that trying to protest or ban a TV show or artist just brings them more popularity and boosts their careers. A good example of this is Howard Stern. The protests and people trying to ban him gave him more ratings and made him a media giant.

So turning the channel is not going to work and protesting is not going to work, so what will? Well I think we should be more aggressive in our entertainment. When there is a show we like, write letters to support it and get other people to watch it. If there is a artist or author (ahem) you like, then be sure to support them and spread the word.

By making Christian and/or family friendly artist and shows more popular, the more of them there will be. If you’re an artist and/or writer, I encourage you to start flooding the market with your work. If you are not then I encourage you to support those who do. We must get aggressive if we want to see any change in what the entertainment industry is doing.

This is my call to do battle!

If you are one of those people who think you cannot put together a good quality story without sex, drugs and cursing, I suggest you sit back down and watch how it is done.

i http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2010/08/03/laurence-fishburne-daughter-sex-tape/

ii http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/entertainment/main5585848.shtml

iii http://www.tvshark.com/read/?art=arc2352

iv http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i47f0e86cdb78f21b28a58a2737966091

v http://www.tv.com/harrys-law/show/79497/summary.html

vi http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/13/2010-07-13_court_rules_fcc_crackdown_on_broadcaster_on_air_curse_words_is_unconstitutional.html

vii http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/e280

Jason J. Cross is an author and filmmaker. See his work at www.foursidesofcross.com