The Immoralist Speaks

Since I’ve only complained so far in my posts, I decided today that I was going to share something fun, exciting, jolly, etc. Unfortunately I can’t think of anything to share, so it looks like it’s time for a random rant.

Last week the good old hot-button topic of sex and violence in entertainment was brought up. As many of you know, I didn’t have cable growing up (and upsettingly enough still don’t have it now, but that’s for another day), but this didn’t stop me from watching TV shows on the basic channels that weren’t made for kids. I mostly watched Friends, the Simpsons, and Seinfeld, all of which at least some people would have problems showing to their children. I’ve also been watching R rated movies since I was pretty young. But I don’t think this has made me into an immoralist, or somehow turned me into a blood-lustful pervert. Ultimately I think that just by living in modern society kids are exposed to a lot of things, and further censorship of cartoons isn’t going to change that. When TV shows are adapted from other countries to the United States, a lot of people complain that they censor a lot of things out. A lot of people consider Americans to generally be prudes.

And in Adult Swim’s defense, I’d just like to point out that not only kids like cartoons, and seeing that there are a very limited number of networks that show cartoons, it makes sense that Cartoon Network would have adult oriented cartoons on later at night. I’m not saying that kids wont watch it because it’s on late, but for that matter, why would they be less likely to watch it if it was just on a different channel?

The point is, a lot of the time, kids really aren’t as innocent as they seem, and they understand a lot more than what people think.

For me, the biggest problem about shows like Tila Tequila is that they are such a waste of time and money that could’ve gone towards producing something so much better. Yes, many of these shows are stupid, pointless, and sometimes just disgusting, but I’m not exactly in favor of censorship either. In the end it comes down to what it always comes down to in a capitalist society: profit. So if you don’t like it, don’t watch it (and possibly don’t let your kids watch it either). If there are enough people who feel the same way as you, the show won’t make it to second season. If there aren’t enough… well then that’s just the beauty of free speech.

-Viv