Glass
sgàthan ìnnleachd
- Joined
- 7 Jan 2004
- Messages
- 101
I was replying to a post on another site about TV viewership declining and got really carried away with this rant because I'm really pissed about the new FCC rules that were introduced last week and ClearChannel canning The Howard Stern Show. I've been browsing NTFS since the early XP-erience days and just wanted to see what this crowd's thoughts are on this. Anyway, here's my rant;
I can't speak for every male between 18 and 34, but I haven't watched any television in over a year. I download a few HBO shows but that's it. Between commercials, censorship, and an allaround governmentally approved, tame atmosphere that strives to offend no one and appeal to everyone, even ultra conservative jesus freaks, television is really crappy, at least in America.
Commercials are really bad, and pretty pointless when viewed by anyone with common sense. You should never trust any sort of advertisement, because the purpose of an advertisement is not to tell the truth and allow you to decide what is best, but rather to sell a product. I always look for an independent and unbiased review of a product before making any kind of investment.
As for censorship, it is out of control. The fact that public information is completely controlled by a select few conservative christians is sad, and potentially scary. Here you have a couple of far right-wing religious fanatics deciding what is suitable for every citizen of the country to see and hear. These people even criminalize sex, the single most basic biological function. The excuse is always to protect children. Ever watch a Britney Spears music video? Protecting kids my butt. That crap is marketed directly to kids. What friggin adult purchases a Britney Spears album? Ever been to a beach? What is it full of? Kids and half naked chicks. No one is trying to protect children. The government has no business "protecting" children from TV and radio anyhow. That is purely a parental decision.
The FCC is shaping public information to their content, the way they want it, with no regard for freedom of speech or the American taxpayer. If anyone has listened to the Howard Stern show recently, words like "thrust" and "bukakke" are being bleeped, and for what? People complain about the content as if they are strapped in a chair forced to listen. If you don't like it, turn it off. It doesn't have to be taken off the airwaves so the millions and millions of people who do like it can no longer enjoy it. I don't like American Idol, but I don't call up Fox and demand that the show be taken off the air.
The biggest problem here I think is religion. I don't mean to offend anyone, but religion is very outdated. It has proved throughout the ages to be the single most dividing force known to humankind. It is responsible in some form for every major war in history. We've gone from The Crusades to the current situation in the Middle East and how far have we progressed? Untold amounts of killing, all in the name of "God". Shouldn't the foundation of our lives be logic and reason? I've always thought it funny how people base their lives on a fantastic, ancient text. If you wanted to run a successful business, would you administrate it by following a thousands of years old manual that had been translated some 20 times before it came to you? Do you have any idea how warped a statement becomes after it has been translated just a couple of times? Who wrote the bible anyway? It didn't fall from the sky. It was written by regular people with no grasp of modern science. So why treat it any differently than any other work of fiction? Really, I'm serious, WHY? I don't get it. But then, I don't get much of any of humanity's ideals.
I can't speak for every male between 18 and 34, but I haven't watched any television in over a year. I download a few HBO shows but that's it. Between commercials, censorship, and an allaround governmentally approved, tame atmosphere that strives to offend no one and appeal to everyone, even ultra conservative jesus freaks, television is really crappy, at least in America.
Commercials are really bad, and pretty pointless when viewed by anyone with common sense. You should never trust any sort of advertisement, because the purpose of an advertisement is not to tell the truth and allow you to decide what is best, but rather to sell a product. I always look for an independent and unbiased review of a product before making any kind of investment.
As for censorship, it is out of control. The fact that public information is completely controlled by a select few conservative christians is sad, and potentially scary. Here you have a couple of far right-wing religious fanatics deciding what is suitable for every citizen of the country to see and hear. These people even criminalize sex, the single most basic biological function. The excuse is always to protect children. Ever watch a Britney Spears music video? Protecting kids my butt. That crap is marketed directly to kids. What friggin adult purchases a Britney Spears album? Ever been to a beach? What is it full of? Kids and half naked chicks. No one is trying to protect children. The government has no business "protecting" children from TV and radio anyhow. That is purely a parental decision.
The FCC is shaping public information to their content, the way they want it, with no regard for freedom of speech or the American taxpayer. If anyone has listened to the Howard Stern show recently, words like "thrust" and "bukakke" are being bleeped, and for what? People complain about the content as if they are strapped in a chair forced to listen. If you don't like it, turn it off. It doesn't have to be taken off the airwaves so the millions and millions of people who do like it can no longer enjoy it. I don't like American Idol, but I don't call up Fox and demand that the show be taken off the air.
The biggest problem here I think is religion. I don't mean to offend anyone, but religion is very outdated. It has proved throughout the ages to be the single most dividing force known to humankind. It is responsible in some form for every major war in history. We've gone from The Crusades to the current situation in the Middle East and how far have we progressed? Untold amounts of killing, all in the name of "God". Shouldn't the foundation of our lives be logic and reason? I've always thought it funny how people base their lives on a fantastic, ancient text. If you wanted to run a successful business, would you administrate it by following a thousands of years old manual that had been translated some 20 times before it came to you? Do you have any idea how warped a statement becomes after it has been translated just a couple of times? Who wrote the bible anyway? It didn't fall from the sky. It was written by regular people with no grasp of modern science. So why treat it any differently than any other work of fiction? Really, I'm serious, WHY? I don't get it. But then, I don't get much of any of humanity's ideals.