False Morality and Bland Entertainment

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Maybe I'm just too jaded and out of step with something truly good that might be in the process of happening, that is, a move to a more santized culture. We've been headed this way for some time - long gone are the heady days of the seventies, when entertainment was wild and fun, and sexploitation, for instance, ran free on movie screens. Now, there is this expression of a will to go back to the days of false decency, in which representations in entertainment are limited to our best behavior, the days of "Father Knows Best" or "Leave It To Beaver" or "The Andy Griffiths Show." Bleh.

Mind you, I'm not saying that we should not have realms of higher discourse. It's just that it is inhibiting and stultifying and hypocritical to impose full-scale political correctness on all outlets. For instance, I suppose they don't even want people to be free on satellite radio, so that not even Howard Stern can have his lesbian contests to see how much they can turn men on.

After all, it's not like the real world will be free of racism or that women will not be objectified as sex objects. It just won't be a matter of freely available entertainment. After all, the golden days - those "Father Knows Best" days - were the most racist and sexist, just not on TV or in the movies or on radio. And I think they should concentrate on the real instances of racism and sexism, not on how we voluntarily entertain ourselves, which may also be seen as a catharsis for the pressures of living in such a hierarchical and domineering society.

Anyway, Here is Bob Herbert's column that spurred this rant. It's just too self-righteous for my taste. It's like letting the religious right win the culture war.

( Herbert column )

xXx

False Morality and Bland Entertainment

♠
Maybe I'm just too jaded and out of step with something truly good that might be in the process of happening, that is, a move to a more santized culture. We've been headed this way for some time - long gone are the heady days of the seventies, when entertainment was wild and fun, and sexploitation, for instance, ran free on movie screens. Now, there is this expression of a will to go back to the days of false decency, in which representations in entertainment are limited to our best behavior, the days of "Father Knows Best" or "Leave It To Beaver" or "The Andy Griffiths Show." Bleh.

Mind you, I'm not saying that we should not have realms of higher discourse. It's just that it is inhibiting and stultifying and hypocritical to impose full-scale political correctness on all outlets. For instance, I suppose they don't even want people to be free on satellite radio, so that not even Howard Stern can have his lesbian contests to see how much they can turn men on.

After all, it's not like the real world will be free of racism or that women will not be objectified as sex objects. It just won't be a matter of freely available entertainment. After all, the golden days - those "Father Knows Best" days - were the most racist and sexist, just not on TV or in the movies or on radio. And I think they should concentrate on the real instances of racism and sexism, not on how we voluntarily entertain ourselves, which may also be seen as a catharsis for the pressures of living in such a hierarchical and domineering society.

Anyway, Here is Bob Herbert's column that spurred this rant. It's just too self-righteous for my taste. It's like letting the religious right win the culture war.

( Herbert column )

xXx

Radical Islam in Indonesia

This is a picture of an Islamist caning. It illustrates how the radical, militant Islam of the Middle East is starting to corrupt the institutions of more tolerant Muslims of Indonesia. Which goes to show how radical Islam is an expansionist threat along the lines of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism, and no understanding of cultural relativism should condone it.

( article )

xXx

Radical Islam in Indonesia

This is a picture of an Islamist caning. It illustrates how the radical, militant Islam of the Middle East is starting to corrupt the institutions of more tolerant Muslims of Indonesia. Which goes to show how radical Islam is an expansionist threat along the lines of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism, and no understanding of cultural relativism should condone it.

( article )

xXx

Little Bear in the Morning

The way Bo in the chilly morning
writhing and stretching on the mattress
can look like the puppy of my youth

xXx

Little Bear in the Morning

The way Bo in the chilly morning
writhing and stretching on the mattress
can look like the puppy of my youth

xXx

Monk Zen

The moment

___ ___ ___

It doesn't rhyme or really sing, but at least I couldn't foul up the meter and rhythm too much. You can blame "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai" for this little production. I'm feeling kinda zenny - minimalist and death-hungry.

xXx

Monk Zen

The moment

___ ___ ___

It doesn't rhyme or really sing, but at least I couldn't foul up the meter and rhythm too much. You can blame "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai" for this little production. I'm feeling kinda zenny - minimalist and death-hungry.

xXx