I remember when people didn't swear on TV. The worst word you would hear would be the occasional "damn." People wore more clothes too. Humor was expressed without nudity and profanity. Drama was portrayed by actors actually acting, not graphically detailed violence, and bad language.
I remember being shocked the first time I heard the word "B*tch" on TV, and I knew, even back then, that it was just the beginning.
It makes me wonder why TV, and movies too for that matter, need to be so much more vulgar. Granted, I watch a lot of shows that maybe I shouldn't because of their subject matter, but I admit, I think they are funny. I think that "Two and a Half Men" is one of the funniest shows on television, but it's really a horrible show. It places no value on family values and glorifies a drunk who frequently hires prostitutes.
"Scrubs" was one of my favorite shows, but it always bothered me a bit how often they had Sarah Chalke stripped down to just a bra and underwear. I really don't think that was necessary to get the humor across to the audience.
I DESPISE the show "Family Guy," even though I have never watched a full episode of it. I steadfastly refuse to watch it after happening upon 5 minutes of one episode. The episode I stumbled upon was one where the writers of the show thought that it was funny to make a joke about September 11, 2001. It makes me ill to think that someone would think that is funny. And people just willingly accept that this is ok, its normal, its acceptable? I just can't do it.
Lately though the one that has bothered me the most is the new show on CBS with William Shatner. In the very title of the show a profanity is indicated. Why is that ok? Where did the standards go? How soon will network television completely morph into cable television and they won't even bother bleeping out the title?
Why is it that intelligently written shows that don't rely heavily on nudity, profanity, and sex fail, but you can find uneducated people fighting over who really fathered their babies on every single channel? There is always a new reality show cropping up that pushes the boundaries even further. People are constantly lowering their own standards to take part in these shows, or to watch them.
Why is it that my being bothered by these things makes ME a prude? It makes me close-minded, judgmental. I just don't understand that.
There's an old Sunday School song that says, "Be careful little eyes what you see/ears what you hear/tongue what you say..." and I think that we sing that as kids, and we sing that to kids, but we don't take it to heart. We don't protect ourselves from the things that are out there, we just accept that it is the new norm so it must be ok.
I guess that I'll just continue to be an old-fashioned prude. I'll watch the shows that I still deem watchable and if worst comes to worst, I'll pick up those old-fashioned inventions they have called books. I'll use my own imagination and create my own worlds inspired by the words of talented authors.
Well said! Our motto as parents became "if our kids shouldn't watch it, we shouldn't watch it". It's quite a challenge, but I throw it out there because I believe it's true. We haven't had TV for 10 years now, so we have a few DVDs we watch over and over again. The kids love them (Planet Earth, Andy Griffith, Beverly Hillbillies, etc.) Nothing is sacred anymore. I don't trust Hollywood has any intention of keeping my kids eyes and ears pure. They are committed to the exact opposite (just look at the use of cartoons these days!). I'll stop there...it's your blog.
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