I didn’t see it with my own eyes. As a rule, I don’t believe in
self-flagellation. But, according to the
sometimes-reliable USA
Today, last week’s season opener of the animated prime-time series “South Park” included jokes about pedophiles, abortion and John Denver’s fatal plane crash.
Who says there’s no limit to the depravity of the popular culture?
One plot line has kids finding grown-up pals at the real-life pedophile organization, the North American Man Boy Love Association. Another plot line has a character trying to kill his unborn baby brother.
“It’s all about men molesting young boys and one of the kids having to ‘take one for the team’ so the others can escape NAMBLA’s clutches,” explains co-creator Trey Parker. “Then Kenny tries to abort his mom’s baby by making her a morning-after pill milkshake and using a plunger on her. He fools her into riding an amusement park ride that’s not safe for pregnant women called the John Denver Experience, a small plane that careens through the air and finally crashes into the water.”
Parker continues: “Guess what the censors had a problem with? Making fun of John Denver’s death. Can you believe it? And he’s not even alive to be offended.”
Welcome to family time 2000, folks.
In the name of “tolerance,” what kind of a society are we creating for our kids? Do the producers of this kind of trash have any children of their own? Do they let them turn on the TV? What dangers does this “anything goes” attitude pose? How do we protect ourselves and our children? Where’s the sense of responsibility by those who create and promote today’s entertainment?
I covered Hollywood as a reporter in the 1980s and 1990s. I didn’t think it could get any worse. I was wrong.
Turn on the radio today to any station playing today’s hits. If you can stand to listen for five minutes, I guarantee you will be shocked by the language and the subject matter of the most popular music. Worse yet, turn on MTV for a few minutes and watch those songs performed for you.
You know me as a First Amendment absolutist. Generally speaking, I hate government. I loathe it. I detest it. More specifically, I don’t believe government has any business monitoring or censoring the media.
But pushing the envelope, as Hollywood and the music industry have in the last 15 years, is a surefire recipe for government intervention at some point. Something’s got to give. America is making Sodom and Gomorrah look good by comparison.
Those in the best position to do something about our declining moral standards are the very people creating our popular culture — filmmakers, television writers, Hollywood executives, record producers. If these people do not begin to exercise some self-restraint and good judgment, they are inviting a backlash that may well include government oversight.
You know there has always been filth at the fringes of the entertainment industry. The problem in the late 1990s and the New Millennium is that filth has become mainstream. It is mass-marketed. It’s all a big joke. It’s all, pardon the expression, good, clean fun.
Who’s responsible? Let’s name some names.
A few giant media corporations — including Disney, Fox, MCA, Paramount, Time-Warner, Britain’s EMI, Germany’s Bertelsmann and Japan’s Sony — produce a huge proportion of our entertainment product.
To say they are irresponsible is an understatement of grand proportions. To say they are poor civic role models is grossly insufficient. To say they are cultural criminals and contributing to the delinquency of minors is, well, more to the point.
That’s why many parents, like me, believe these companies should begin exhibiting some taste and setting some standards.
Is that too much to ask?
The funny thing is, I believe, it would be a smart money move for one of these companies to set themselves apart, to develop a niche, to cater to a growing market of disenchantment. It would be a great bottom-line decision, as well as a socially responsible one.