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Hollywood Producers Need to Get it Right or Get Out of Business
I
admit it… I have always enjoyed watching both TV and
movies. I grew up back in the “dark ages,” in a time
when ignorance was bliss. It was a day when I never had a second
thought about turning on the TV at any time to any channel. No
matter what you watched, it was clean, decent, and wholesome, with
shows like Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, Bonanza, and Lassie. In
those days, no one ever heard of movie ratings. The only thing
you ever worried about was Humphrey Bogart lighting a cigarette a
little too often, or getting into an occasional fist fight. How
things have changed! For me, the changes on entertainment media
between the 1950’s and the first decade of the twenty-first
century are like the difference between daylight and darkness.
Today, the filth, not just on movies, but on prime time television, is
absolutely unbelievable.
In the summer of 1998, my wife and I became guardians of two of our
nieces when some of our family members were going through troubled
times. We knew the girls had been used to seeing and doing some
things in life that were very unhealthy for them, psychologically and
emotionally, and we wanted our home to be a safe haven for them.
At that time, we had a very basic cable package on TV, including the
major network stations, PBS, and CNN. However, much to our
amazement, those girls managed to find shows that used terrible
language, sexual innuendos, and filthy themes that glorified sexual
contact outside of marriage. Some of the “situation
comedies” they watched were truly deplorable. I never would
have believed that such awful programming would be available on prime
time major network television. We wound up getting Christian
satellite television, just for the purpose of allowing our nieces to
find safe and enjoyable content to watch at home. I was thinking
that before too long, the networks would realize they had gone
overboard, but from what I have heard, they have continued to get even
worse. However, despite all of this, Americans continue to insist
that they don’t want it!
Not too long ago, Zogby International took a poll and discovered that a
vast majority of Americans want more religious values and references to
the Bible on television and less sex and violence. This is true,
not of merely 55% or 65% or even a mere 75%, but it is true of a
whopping 85% of Americans polled! This occurs at a time when TV
producers are not only increasing a steady diet of sex and violence,
but they are also banning many expressions of Christianity, even from
advertisements. In November it was announced that the ABC network
pulled the plug on advertisements for Assembly of God churches.
The large and respected conservative Christian denomination had already
purchased a 30 second spot which was to run 600 times from November 13
through 26 at a cost of $12,000 promoting the campaign “God Gives
Hope” when ABC corporate gave them the ax at the last minute.
Their only reason was that it was “against their policy to
advertise for religion.” The Methodist denomination had
already suffered termination of a contract from Reuters’ news
networks in their attempts to advertise their “Open hearts, open
minds, and open doors” slogan, which didn’t even mention
the names of “God” or “Jesus.” Meanwhile,
NBC recently decided that they would cut the mention of Scripture and
God from all broadcasts of “Veggie-tales” which is an
enormously popular animation for children teaching moral values through
Bible lessons. Consider the fact that these producers are
rejecting any forms of religious content or even advertising, in light
of all of the hatred, sexual immorality, and vicious violence that
their networks air prime time on a nightly basis! All of this is
true despite the fact that 85 % of Americans want more religious
reference and less sex and violence on broadcast television! I
believe it is time that we Americans show a little outrage for a change!
A report came out in late November that Stephen Spielberg complained
because of what he called “irresponsible television.”
He got angry about some gruesome violence on “CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation” and when he was watching his favorite show,
NBC’s “Heroes,” he had to order his children out of
the room because they literally showed someone getting cut in
half! When the time comes that Hollywood mogul Stephen Spielberg
believes television is getting too bad, I am convinced that it must be
rotten at the core!
I am grieved at the soul when I think about our kids and grandkids who
grow up feeding on this garbage on a daily basis; yet, for the most
part we have a tendency to just “live and let live.”
We don’t realize that the Columbine style murders and massacres
take place largely because of the evil sewage that constantly fills the
minds of our kids through network TV. We need to get busy, get
angry, and get vocal about turning off the garbage and speaking out
against it. If we don’t, we will eventually lose our kids,
our culture, and everything that is good and decent in
society. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is
good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (I
Thessalonians 5:21-22).
James Sanders
Pastor,
sandersjc@yahoo.com
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