Wednesday, November 22, 2006

And Steven Loses A Notch Of Respect

Yahoo News brings us this little gem. It seems our good pal Steven Spielberg has taken issue with gruesome television programming (specifically Heroes and CSI) and has decided to play the "responsible parent" by publicly denouncing it. Here's where I roll my eyes while watching the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan.

His argument seems rather hypocritical after a quick glance at his filmography (as Richard at Filmstalker will attest), but hypocracy isn't what really gets my goat about all this. The entire argument that entertainment media is responsible for the moral decay of our children is just plain ridiculous. Entertainment media is nothing more than a reflection of our society, not the guiding hand of our ethical conduct.

Truly responsible entertainment media is about keeping us enthralled with flashy distractions while not letting us get so wrapped up in fantasy that we forget about the very real problems we face on a daily basis. Spielberg and others of like mind are ignoring a timeless and sage piece of advice. Were they to succeed with this campaign, all they would be accomplishing is to shoot the messenger.

The violent problems we face today existed long before television, films and video games, and they will likely exist long after they are gone if we continue to point the finger at scapegoats.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well said...I really can't say anymore on that subject because you've said it so well yourself.

It does reek of double standards. My kids should be protected, but here's all my terrible content for your kids to see.

Yes I'm blowing the argument up a bit, but still. If he believes it's such a problem why does he make it?