Nick nailed it. But I’d go further…the disconnect from reality demonstrated by the average American television writer is why our best TV shows tend to be cribbed from the Brits (from Archie Bunker to The Office… Couples being one particularly hideous exception, granted).
The true threats posed by Hollywood’s television studios have absolutely nothing to do with sex and drugs, but rather with sterility and sheer stupidity. It may be true that the masses are to some extent shaped by what they consume, which is why is it has been so easy for anti-free-market, leftist messages to be inserted in small but repetitive doses and swallowed so easily. When food is consistently bland, when the diet is gruel, the taste buds tune out. It’s only natural.
But back to sex and drugs…when it comes to programming for preteens and teenagers, Hollywood is not only prudish, but childish and verging on infantile.
In The Secret Life of Teenagers, for instance, Nick points out correctly that it is neither necessary nor useful to over-emphasize that the pregnant girl had sex only once. The odds of this occurring are extremely slim, for starters, and not nearly as instructional as a more realistic version of the same story. Are we hoping to “scare them straight” Little-Red-Riding-Hood style? To weave semi-implausible fairy tales with gruesome endings? And if so, it bears rethinking — either that or a far more clever revision to justify the motif. To wit: I went to an all-girls Catholic high school, and knew at least three girls who became pregnant before graduating. All were excellent students, members of the honor society, student council or class council, and excelled at sports. And all of them were, to use the 80’s vernacular, “flaming sluts”. That is far more real, far more interesting, and a problem that certainly bears addressing. The ramifications of extensive early sexual activity extend well beyond potential pregnancies and STD’s, but also to matters of reputation and self-esteem (one of these girls attempted to kill herself). Every one of them had abortions, incidentally. And what, dear teenager, will you do if your friend calls you in tears and wants you to meet her at the clinic because her “boyfriend” stood her up? There’s a potential moral dilemma for you, if you happen to oppose abortion (which I did at the time). That’s real life. THAT is the secret life of teenagers.
As to drugs…where are they? (I mean on teen television!). If they appear at all it will likely be fifteen minutes before the post-mortem. Kids don’t even smoke cigarettes on TV anymore, not even the “bad” ones. As a parent, and a generally sane person, I certainly don’t wish to see drinking and drugging glamorized for the younger set…but I’m smart enough to realize that kids will see that anyway…in Real Life. And too often it will, in fact, appear glamorous. So why the puppet show? Is your child stupid? Mine isn’t.
Frankly I’m baffled by most American programming, even the adult shows. While the entire country seemed to marvel at sitcoms like Seinfeld and Friends, I had serious questions about the writers. Were they ALL recovering alcoholics? Is that why they forced these characters, adults in their twenties and thirties, to conduct their entire social lives in coffee shops and diners? These shows were supposed to be set in New York City, but it looked more like Utah.
I guess that’s why I was so thrilled when House premiered. Finally, a character on an American program who is allowed to be flawed, a drug addict, and a jerk — a genuine anti-hero in the mode of Sherlock Holmes! I had hoped that my eleven-year-old daughter would join me in watching some pre-screened episodes, because I knew she would benefit from the complexity of an actual human character on television, and looked forward to the ensuing discussions we could have about this…but she doesn’t care for medical dramas.
Now this is a child who could recite all the best parts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with a fake British accent when she was six. She loves Alfred Hitchcock, and has been exposed to many classic and age-appropriate films. She enjoys the Discovery Channel, etc. But she and her peers are currently infatuated with programming that is turning my hair white (literally– I’m glad you can’t see my roots right now!). And this tripe is brought to us courtesy of — yes, people — The Disney Channel. If there is a more inane channel on the cable dial, I’ve yet to discover it.
If you have a preteen, you may be unfortunate enough to have watched The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, for example (syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage on This American Life discussing why this program is “too filthy for his son to watch.” But I don’t forbid her to watch these programs, just as I don’t forbid her to eat cookies or ice cream. I do, however, make sure that I compliment it with a healthy dose of well-written, non-inane programming. And yes, I long for the day when she graduates from High School Musical Three to Heathers.
That may sound twisted. But, as parents, I think we’ve gone collectively insane and are fearing all the wrong things. Sex, obviously, is a part of life in every family (last I checked, that is where families come from). And drugs (certainly alcohol), are present in some fashion or form in most American households.
These issues can be addressed in ways that are silly and human, that expose dark dangers with dark humor, or that address these things dead-on with respect for the intelligence of any viewer of any age in the double digits.
If we don’t tailor realistic programming for preteens and teenagers, they will inevitably graduate to more adult programming too soon — and adult programs needn’t have any message at all, subtle, complex or otherwise.
Certainly it is wise to be vigilant about what one’s children consume via boob-tube, books and video games. But subject matter and quality are separate issues. Judging by the creepy, Stepford-type content currently offered to tweens and teens on television I fear not for their safety, but for their minds.