Today, the material we receive through the mass media is becoming increasingly profane in comparison to what used to be acceptable by society. In 2010, the amount of adult content on TV had skyrocketed since 2005. During this year’s Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus wore a semi-nude outfit and choreographed one of the most sexually comprised performances in pop culture history.
It is also widely accepted today for parents to influence their children with adult content at an earlier age. Obviously, there are people who have problems with these concepts, but “back in the day,” they would have never even been considered as something you could publicly impose.
Looking back on television history, it never used to be as curt and unnecessarily obscene as it is today. With shows all across the spectrum, from the gory “Walking Dead,” to the dramatic “Switched at Birth,” to the scatological “MAD,” the content that we as viewers receive has grown much more obtuse.
More shows nowadays utilize cursing and swearing more than ever before, whether it be for dramatic effect or for intense comedy. That being said, we as young adults are much more exposed to such behaviors. Just think of what will be on TV by the time our children are our age.
Another area of the mass media that widely affects us is the content of music.
This probably affects us even more so, considering the amount of music we hear. We hear it on the radio, we hear it from our friends, and we even hear it from some of our role models.
Music is always around us, and without the necessity of being at home on the couch; it becomes much easier to receive the increasingly explicit content within today’s music.
There are countless numbers of musical artists that put out explicit material in their music. I’m not just talking about the occasional h-e-double-hockey sticks or sugar-honey-iced-tea.
I mean full on songs about having sex, entire musical collections on how cool it is to sag your pants, disrespect others in the name of so called “originality,” or wave a gun around in someone else’s face like it doesn’t mean anything. And the worst part is that most of us like it. We think, “Well if those guys think it’s cool, I should too!”
Instead of empowering and supporting these concepts, why are we as a generation not improving them?
Why are we not exuding dignity and courteousness and integrity and all the other things that demonstrate exceptional character? Surely we can produce a higher caliber status quo for what’s “cool.” I believe so at least. As soon as we start to take the initiative to adjust things for the better, we can start living in a more profound, esteemed society. And it all starts with you.