Has TV Gone Too Far? or Should America Just Grow Up?!

HAS TV GONE TOO FAR? The Time magazine headline leapt off the cover of the March 28, 2005, issue. My initial reaction was relief that Time had not produced yet another of its endless Jesus or Mary covers. After all, when I mailed my subscription payment, I thought I was subscribing to national news weekly, and not Christianity Today. Inside, the Time story detailed how The Decency Police, or, as they are officially known, The Parents Television Council, is attempting to censor what we see on the Boob Tube.My second thought: it’s just a Jesus and Mary story in television clothing. Re-energized by Janet Jackson’s 2004 wardrobe malfunction, and a bumper crop of sexy new series, conservative watchdog groups seek to control not only what they and their families view, but what we see as well. It’s tragic how the land of the free has fallen. How and when did something as natural and wholesome as a woman’s breast, from which many of us received our first nutrition, become indecent? Let children see Iraqi prisoners on dog leashes, or compelled to suck off their same sex cellmates, but don’t let them glimpse, however fleetingly, a woman’s breast. As I see things, the only indecency here is that the wardrobe malfunction ruffled feathers. Women have breasts. They are not indecent. Get over it. Long ago, JFK-appointed FCC Chairman Newton Minow dubbed television “a vast wasteland.” Right now, The Parents Council and other so-called watchdogs, see it as an “indecent wilderness” to be tamed, declawed, and homogenized. I read the Time report’s several thousand words, then took time to digest them. Later, to myself, I said, TV hasn’t gone too far. America just needs to grow up! Parents, if you feel the need to shield your children from indecency, I applaud you. Just don’t behave like children in your effort to protect them. On the other hand, if your true agenda is to limit the choices of your fellow Americans, then shame on you. I want government, and so-called conservative watchdogs, off of my deathbed, out of my bedroom, and I certainly don’t want them messing with what I view or read. That’s why I love living in America. I didn’t want government involved with Terri Schiavo’s life, and I don’t want them censoring Teri Hatcher’s series. The last time I saw my television remote, it had an on/off power button. Members of The Parents Council likely have on/off buttons, also. Clearly, different people define ‘decency’ and ‘values’ differently. Making choices is a right for other Americans and a responsibility for ourselves.” The bicentennial was almost thirty years ago. America’s childhood ended long before we were born. Grow up, America. Act responsibly: Make your own choices and allow your fellow Americans to do the same. Apparently TPC targets including CSI and Desperate Housewives are as popular in the red states as in the blue. Conservatives may be offended, but they’re watching nonetheless. If you are offended, then exercise your right, fulfill your responsibility. Do it in a way that respects the rights of others. Parents, not organizations or government, should protect children from graphic and gratuitous programming. Do use your remote to turn your television off. Do use your television’s V-chip technology to block offensive programming. Don’t turn to government to intervene further in our lives. Don’t support watchdog groups. Don’t attempt to limit the choices of others whose definitions of decency and values may differ from your own. We don’t need TPC, or any watchdog group. Most certainly, we can do without further government intervention. We need common sense, freedom of choice, and the will to use them. Or have they already been sacrificed on the altar of politicians who are bought and paid for by America’s most fanatical element?