Reality television and entertainment industry

According to a 2007 Time Magazine poll, sixty eight percent of people believe that the entertainment industry has lost touch with viewers’ moral standards. Sixty six percent said there is too much violence on open-air TV, fifty eight percent reported too much cursing, and fifty percent decried the amount of sexual content on the internet. As these statistics illustrate, modern media overexposes people to violence, drugs, and sexual content, making them accustomed to its immorality. Children, teens, and adults alike watch television on a daily basis, remaining continually exposed to graphic content and desensitizing themselves.

In his quote, Neal Gabler describes entertainment as “ fun, effortless, sensational, mindless, formulaic, predictable and subversive. In fact, one might argue that those are the very reasons many people love it”; people love entertainment for its scandalous and violent material, not because of any real-world or educational value it may have. Due to habitual behavior and simple boredom, people become involuntarily exposed to unnecessary violence, drugs and sexual content that is shown through television, internet, music and this exposure has the capacity to ruin society.

In the modern world, television exists as one of the most popular forms of entertainment. What type of information or satisfaction does the public actually acquire from watching television? Many adolescents and young adults watch television programs such as “ Jersey Shore” or “ Sixteen and Pregnant”, reality TV programs which brainwash society by promoting drugs, alcohol, the mistreatment of women, teenage pregnancy, and immoral behavior. Many people watch corruptive media such as this out of sheer boredom.

Any type of entertainment involving propaganda or gossip keeps many audiences interested and entertained, but the entertainment hurts their morals. This type of media especially affects children: “ family movies” now contain inappropriate language, sexual innuendo, inordinately disturbing plots and situations, realistic violence, and generally uncomfortable imagery. For example, in a children’s TV show called “ Adventure Time”, inappropriate comments and habitual violence seem standard.

Children tend to repeat and reenact what they see, and the violence presented to them on a regular basis through television may cause them to reenact these violent acts in their reality. As TV blurs the line between appropriate and inappropriate actions, children lose their innocence and their ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The obscenity shown on television jeopardizes children’s morals and values, brainwashes youth into believing in an imaginary world, and prevents these same youths from obtaining the knowledge of their predecessors by taking away quality “ family time”.

As the future hope of every generation, children should not find themselves exposed to this type of corrupting media; if they become immoral, society will fall to ruin. Moreover, the entertainment industry also jeopardizes the integrity of society through the vast amount of pornography shown on the internet and television. Nowadays, sexual material plays even on daytime television. Television shows such as “ Jersey Shore” show explicit footage of the actors or actresses nude or in very exposing clothing.

Reality television producers encourage actors and actresses to exploit sex and abuse the amount of nudity that allowed to air on television. In addition to continually watching this material on TV, people, especially teens, spend far too much time on the computer and various other electronic devices which grant them access to pornography. People primarily use the internet to obtain information, but many abuse this privilege and download depraved media such as child pornography. Pornography is inhumane: it demeans relationships, distorts views about love and affection, and even increases statistics of rape and child abuse.

According to The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, in their cross-cultural study of rape, pornography contributes significantly to the occurance of sexual violence. This part of entertainment alone corrupts minds, endangers both men and women, and definitely has the ability to ruin society. In addition to television and the internet, the music industry also exploits young audiences and corrupts their morals. Over the past ten years, music has become the encouraging mouthpiece of murder, acts of violence, and sexual abuse.

According to a study done by the National Instistute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, nearly two thirds of rap songs mentioned use of illicit drugs and fifty percent mentioned alcohol. Rap music also depicts violence twice as often as any other music genre. Many rap artists send out terrible messages to impressionable young children. When people (mainly the youth) see how famous these people become and how much the media worships them, they try to act similarly and may copy the inappropriate behaviors rappers encourage.

Artists like Lil Wayne include themes like drug and alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, violence, and abuse in their work. Music videos often glamorously portray these artists smoking marijuana and engaging in violent behavior with women hardly wearing any clothes, sending the message that all celebrities and therefore everyone else should act like this. While not all music or all rap is harmful, parents and communities should realize that this kind of music can hurt their children and their society by unduly influencing the younger generations’ morals and views.

Without entertainment, one can only wonder what sort of psychological state our society would be in. Studies have shown that the average American watches television as soon as they come home from their day’s activities. Television has been known to relieve stress from a hard day of work or school. Humans need a way to vent and relax when they become too exhausted. Everyday struggles create serious strain on the human body, and entertainment provides a healing escape. Clearing one’s mind after school or work can refresh them, making them come back harder and try their best with a positive attitude.

Though entertainment helps to relax, so do other beneficial activities such as exercising, studying, spending quality time with family and friends, or even sleeping. These provide an escape and improve quality of life overall by promoting positive values. The time spent watching reality television or surfing the internet remains time wasted and would better be spent doing constructive things. Ultimately, entertainment has the capacity to ruin our society through the mass media and malicious information that includes violence, drugs and sexual content.

Entertainment has changed drastically over the last decade for the worse, and people have become progressively accustomed to the malignant media popular in our society. Information shown through television and the internet desensitizes individuals and causes them to lose their innocence. Violent and inappropriate television shows, pornographic Internet material, and subversive rap music can corrupt all levels of society, and we need to reexamine whether we will continue to let perverse entertainment destroy it.