Today is a tough day. I am just feeling crappy. I have tons to do, I want to change alot of things in my job, but I feel paralyzed by apathy.
This reminds me of how much I need people, I am extremely extroverted, and I work best in teams, so when I am by myself it sucks!!
Crappy day!!
Have you watched TV lately? Have become sick to your stomach with what is being offered? I have become sick to my stomach with what you can find on TV at any given time.
First of all, is it me or does it seem ironic that MTV (music television) no longer shows music at all. MTV then created MTV2, this way they could show their non-music programs on MTV and music videos on MTV2. Well they no longer show music on either channel outside of a couple of hours late in the night. Not only are they not showing music videos anymore, but the shows that they do show are absolutely ridiculous. Let's explore the shows, and their messages. 1. Next - A show that takes 5 guys or 5 girls and puts them on a bus. Then there is one person who gets to basically choose out of the 5 which one they want to "pick". Then if they want to pick the person, who they usually go on a ridiculous date (like dress up as a bunny and find eggs), they get to choose if they want to go on a 2nd "date" or take a small amount of cash. The messages sent to the viewing audience (ages 13 - 25) are things such as looks mean everything (if a person is viewed as not attractive they will get "next'ed" immediatly), being "easy" will get you further in life (kissing within an hour of knowing a person), among other mixed messages that our youth are learning through this show. The show really has no positive message for viewers.
Other shows that are ridiculous and send false and negative messages to our youth: viva la bam, real world, my super sweet 16, date my mom, room raiders, the hills, jackass, laguna beach, and their are others.
My super sweet 16 is a show that chronicles the days leading up to the 16th birthdays of kids from extremely wealthy families. The parties that these kids get are absolutely unrealistic and ridiculous. Watching the way that the kids treat their parents is saddening, and the worst part of the whole thing is that these are the kids that are looked up too. They are the "cool" kids, and our kids are envying them.
The shows and the messages continue, viva la bam, really no positive message hear. Watch young kids waste millions of dollars throughout a season and destroy property like nobody's business. Think of the difference that could be made in the world with all that money. The Hills and Laguna Beach are two shows that glorify looks, money, and sex. The real world is a show that lives of the extreme behaviors of young adults living in the "real world", which includes a million dollar mansion and state of the art furniture and technology. The show always consist of 3 elements: binge drinking, sex, and fights among the roommates.
Just for the record, my rub is not with MTV alone. VH1 is just as bad, comedy central, and almost any other cable channel. The real sad reality is that not only is cable television trash, but this has totally infilltrated our mainstream television. The word "bitch" is regularly used in primetime television. Shows rarely have families that are in tact and promote family values.
Television executives have completely sold out for whatever sells. No longer do we have any dignity in our country when it comes to television or music. The Almighty dollar has overtaken our world. We are willing to show what sells, and no longer are we going to stand up for what is good and positive. Very few shows on TV promote good things.
What do we do? Let us begin by opening up conversations.
What if TV began to promote positive things? What if we showed programs that followed people around not to see how much they can spend on their birthday parties, but because we can see how many mouths they fed. What if we stopped glorifying the waste of millions of dollars for comedy purposes, but we instead glorified the idea of saving the environment. What if we stopped glorifying how many partners a person can "bag", and we began to glorify the person who brought hope to others through serving them.
Let us begin by bringing hope to others.
