OPINION:
Truth in advertising is good. That’s why it’s time for Viacom, the communications giant chaired by Sumner Redstone, to change its name to Vilecom.
All the major networks are awash in sex, profanity, violence and attacks on religion. But for sheer creepiness, Viacom wins, hands down.
Let’s start with Nickelodeon, Viacom’s “kid-friendly” network. Nick’s website has a link to AddictingGames.com, as the Culture and Media Institute reports. There, tykes find Naughty Classroom, Naughty Babysitter and 29 other Naughty titles. Also, Booty Rider and You Da Sperm! One game, Perry the Perv, is about a peeping Tom.
Kids click on icons to strip women down. Naughty Park, for instance, says, “Those three naughty boys are at it again! Help them use Bees, Worms and Puppies in sneaky ways to get a hot jogger undressed!”
Is it any wonder that 8-year-olds make out on the playground? By the time they’re 12, they can barely keep their pants on in this sex-saturated culture. Thanks, Vilecom.
Nickelodeon even had the NickJr.com site - for preschoolers - accessing these games, according to Josh Brolin of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, whose protest got the link removed.
Vilecom also runs the homosexual Logo cable network and Comedy Central, which puts profanities in fourth-graders’ mouths in “South Park” and is developing a blasphemous cartoon series, “JC,” depicting Jesus Christ - yes, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - as a rebellious son of a “powerful but apathetic father.” Thanks, Vilecom.
G.K. Chesterton observed that “sex is the materialist’s religion.” Vilecom is a loud presence in that unholy choir. If someone came into your home and showed your child this stuff, under his raincoat, you’d have him arrested - at the least. But Nickelodeon and MTV hum right along, fueled by ads from Disney, Hamburger Helper and other amoral advertisers.
On June 7, the MTV Movie Awards were strewn with at least 100 profane or obscene words. According to the Culture and Media Institute:
“The network’s censors caught 70 curses. They included 47 variations of ’f-,’ 11 uses of ’s-,’ two of ’a—-,’ one slang for breasts, and nine that were unidentifiable. At least 30 made it past the censors, including nine variations of ’f-,’ two of ’s-’ and one ’goddamn.’”
When confronted, MTV was shocked, shocked and (wink) apologized. The actual awards included: Best Scared-As-S-t Performance, the Biggest Bad-Ass Star and Best WTF Moment. (“WTF” stands for “What the f-.”)
Afterward, MTV premiered “The Hard Times of R.J. Berger,” a disgusting series about a geeky high schooler with abnormally large genitalia who is pursued by hot chicks and married moms. This trash is aimed right at kids. Thanks, Vilecom.
For those who say “Lighten up,” consider some of the fallout of our pornified culture:
“Gonorrhea, once in decline, has thoroughly rebounded, with more than 336,000 cases reported in 2008,” writes The Washington Times’ Cheryl Wetzstein. “It disproportionately affects young people and blacks. Untreated gonorrhea increases risk for HIV infection and can lead to infertility. …”
Add to that 1.2 million abortions a year and 1.6 million out-of-wedlock births. Syphilis, once nearly eradicated, has made a huge comeback, joined by HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, human papillomavirus, herpes and more than 25 other sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms, always the proffered answer, are useless against some of these incurable diseases. Ever seen a Vilecom program point that out?
“With 19 million newly reported STD cases each year,” Mrs. Wetzstein writes, “… a tsunami of sexual disease is flooding our population. One would think there could be a few more headlines about it.”
Or perhaps Vilecom’s Mr. Redstone might cease using his empire to corrupt kids. He’d need a change of heart or, like the tin man, any heart. When asked if sex-saturated fare was partly to blame for social ills, he quipped, “Sexuality doesn’t bother me; does it bother you? I don’t consider that gross.”
Perhaps some close-ups of aborted children or the ravages of STDs now epidemic among teens and 20-somethings might change that.
Robert Knight is senior writer and correspondent for Coral Ridge Ministries and the author of “Radical Rulers: The White House Elites Who Are Pushing America Toward Socialism” (radicalrulers.com, 2010).
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