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Rant & Rave
DO you find that we live in a culture of blood, gore, vulgarity and sex? Are you appalled when little kids come out of the R-rated movies that are so prevalent? Do you wonder what causes all these school shootings? Have you ever thought about why all these things take place? Do you blame the media or popular rock bands for your world's troubles? The fact of the matter is there is no one to blame except yourself. Society wants to
be led astrayWith time, society's downward spiral to the gutter will become more potent and will take people as far as they will let it. And I am one to stand back and watch, neither embracing nor attacking.
Many people like to blame society's problems on the media. They don't understand how someone could go into a school and murder people. They tell their children to avoid movies with that type of content and then rush to see them themselves. When they find the music their child listens to is not up to their standards, they throw it away and then complain that music is the cause of their child's problems rather then talking to their children about what they like about the music.
THE truth is that the media would have nothing negative to report if not for the violent and indecent acts that take place almost everyday. In most cases, in order for a TV show or a movie to work it has to make income. We can infer that if enough people hated what was being shown, then the show would not work and thus would not be shown. This could effectively put an end to the problem of unwanted violence and sex.
Yet, on the other side of the coin, and this is where we are now, if this show or movie drew enough viewers to rake in money, the producers would know that this is what the people want to see and make more of these sex/violence-filled programs.
Instead of looking at this simple explanation, most people seem to think that these programs are just thrown out to the public for no reason. So these ignorant people raise their voices and complain about the media, about the press, and about the music, rather then looking at themselves.
If people were to avoid watching what they claim not to like, it would have a larger impact than watching and complaining.
Society has been going downhill at least since the '60s, when singing, "Let's spend the night together," was a totally radical thing to say on television. Now, in the year 2000, you can say "s--t" on cable TV, though you can't print it in the family newspaper.
TV series from the 1950s seem totally tame and almost boring when compared to 2000's flashy, sex-filled sitcoms and reality shows being shown to children. Older people complain that it's the younger generation eating this up, but it isn't my generation that is producing this material.
By watching all of this, the scariness of death is reduced. The sacredness of sex is all but thrown out. While this could be a benefit in some extreme conditions, it is the catalyst for changing society. When these people grow up and are put in positions of power, they won't hesitate to look at things taboo now. I predict that in 10 years, age limits will be dropped in movie theaters and full nudity will be shown on any channel.
Complaining that there is too much violence or too much sex is pointless. If people really believe this is true, violence and sex wouldn't sell.
Rather than standing on a pedestal and judging what is right and wrong for society, you must simply do the right thing.
Mark Smith is a senior at Kaiser High School. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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