TV Freedom

They say that freedom comes with responsibility, but I don’t see much, if any responsibility shown on TV in the UK, and that horrifies me. As a nation we are buying bigger and bigger TV sets, LED, LCD, OLED Curved screen, 4K, Widescreen, and Cinema with surround sound, so please don’t try to tell me we are watching less media now beamed into our homes and lives.

I constantly hear the words, TV content is rubbish, and the truth is I have said it too. Do you think TV programs reflect our society, or promote life as we (would like to) see it around us? After a hard day, and our evening meal, we like to plop ourselves into our favourite chair and be entertained, filling our heads with anything and everything that is shown for our viewing pleasure. And there are many channels to choose from, so we are drawn into the bright, coloured, strobing lights of the small but getting ever bigger screen.

Think about it for a moment if you can pull yourself away from your program. We are being openly fed just about everything that’s wrong with society, and we accept it as escapism entertainment. So we end up tacitly condoning dramatic and graphic displays of rage, shouting, swearing, partner swapping, sex scenes, adultery, homosexuality etc, and many of these before the so called 9 O’Clock watershed. Do you really believe that censorship (if applied at all) is working to our advantage?

We are feeding our children a diet of TV programming which promotes as acceptable, every lifestyle which is contrary to normal moral decency, and that is without mentioning any Biblical or religious overtone. Is it enough to turn the channel when the scene has already been shown? Is it enough to switch it off, only to turn it back on later when the kids are in bed? Some people might go as far as to call that hypocrisy. Ouch. The rule is simple. If you can’t watch the TV program or movie with the kids, then don’t watch it at all.

Shame

It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. Ephesians 5:12

This world is full of double minded people who say one thing but do the opposite. I know Christians get that thrown at them all the time, but those who do not claim that particular ‘high ground’ are much worse and probably even bigger hypocrites.

There are two very different worldviews being shown and presented on our media, especially the TV and movie industries. In one instance, our eyes and ears are filled with stories of the sordid lives of the rich celebrities who have an openly hedonistic lifestyle, where practically nothing is off limit. We watch as their lives are exposed to the scrutiny of the camera wielding movie maker, and tut as we shake our head. That’s a terrible way to live, we mutter under our breath, but it doesn’t stop us from checking out what they are up to in their next movie or TV soap. At the other end of the scale, in the real world we have reports of sexual abuses against the most vulnerable in society, even some who are under age. Once again, we tut and shake our head while continuing to watch and follow the very things that we claim horrify us.

While these reports are normal viewing, and we feign our horror, we are happy to watch the ongoing soaps and movies of ungodly lives who represent a lifestyle we appear to secretly like enough to follow. We like the action we say.

The other worldview is of openly Godly and wholesome living. We call these programs and movies ‘soppy’ or only for the soft headed women. However, they usually carry a strong moral message, or a clear portrayal of good values that triumph over bad. Why then do we avoid owning up to preferring this worldview? If we profess to be a Christian we don’t need to worry about what the ungodly are doing in secret. Or are we afraid that our worldly pals will think we are going soft?

Reflection?

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.                                                                  Ephesians 5:11-12 NIV

It’s all around us, in our neighbourhoods, communities, and countries. I sometimes wonder if it’s the same in every nation around the world. Have some escaped? The trouble is this: the appearance of this particular ‘reflection’ is everywhere, but rarely seen by our own eyes, and seldom if ever in our families or circle of close friends.

Lurking behind all these closed doors must live a number of horrible people. They yell at everyone in the family group, use profane language, swear openly and often, have affairs, live an adulterous life, be secretive to their spouse, abuse their own children, lash out causing severe physical harm which sometimes needs hospital care, and even to the point of murder. Did you know about this? When you see and meet your neighbours, do you ever wonder what goes on behind their closed doors. Are they all safe, or in some kind of danger?

All of these terrible practices go on week in, week out on the movie screens and they don’t always carry a warning. When any question is raised with the movie industry, we are told they are only reflecting society. They don’t make society what it is. Really? Do you believe that explanation? At least you can avoid the cinema, and choose wisely and carefully those things you and your family watch. But what about the TV in the corner of your room? Let’s be honest, every soap and reality show depends on screening any or all of these salacious activities. It is not even safe to watch the trailers for some programs which will appear at any time of the day, interrupting a program which is safe!

What should we do when faced with these evil lifestyles on our TV? They have no place in our homes or lives, but we make excuses for them in the interests of the wider storyline. When we have a believing heart, and an open faith, we must “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness done by the ungodly, as the Bible says: For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Romans 10:10 NLT

Another Mary Whitehouse - Please?

Mary Whitehouse was a household name some years ago, vilified  and mocked by many, but respected by others. She has had a film made in her 'honour' where she was put down as a bigot and a short tempered, unbalanced woman. I think the film makers missed the point, and may even be living to regret their bias against the greatest voice of the television viewer in the UK.


You only need to be one minute after the 9pm so called watershed of 'adult' TV, for it to engulf you. The producers seem to be in some kind of race to be the one who can show the programme with the most cursing, swearing, crudeness, vulgarity, profanity, gratuitous violence, and taking the Lord's name in vain! We have done ourselves no favours by going down the road of 'anything goes permissiveness' in our media. And it's not just after 9pm. Take the rose coloured glasses off, as you watch some of the content on the major channels BEFORE 9pm. We have now changed the rules on what is offensive, and tolerate more 'mild' swearing and pornographic innuendo when our children are watching, and the programme makers know it. TV in the UK has become a minefield for any parent who wants to keep an eye on what their children are watching. Gone are the days when you could leave a young one in front of the telly while you caught up on the jobs around the house.


Mary Whitehouse was branded as an old fuddy-duddy, behind the times, and standing in the way of progress. We have paid a great price in our quest for progress, and in my opinion, the price is too high. We have too few shows which can be classed as 'family entertainment' and instead, we have a diet of movies and shows which would never have been shown a mere five years ago. We have thrown the baby out with the bathwater, and are in danger of raising a generation who have lost their childhood innocence by the time they were leaving primary school. For all she was portrayed as, Mary at least stood by her convictions, and could see the time when we would be 'watching people make love in our own living rooms'. She was laughed to scorn, but how right she was, and are we any better for not listening? I don't think so.


So, please, can we have another Mary Whitehouse in the UK? Someone who is not ashamed of their stand on the moral rights and wrongs, and how we use our media, especially television. I am tired of looking for a programme to watch, which is decent (oh, am I allowed to say that?), and as I hop from channel to channel see and hear a tirade of bad language (so called comedians are the worst offenders) and inappropriate so called love scenes, where we have totally devalued the meaning of love? I have found myself giving the TV a black eye (turning it off) more and more, and listening to some music. The alternative is to throw it out of the window! Maybe if more people switched off, the advertisers would take notice, and then the programmes would be changed! Pressing for good morality might not change things, but the lack of advertising money does talk, and talk loud! A change is long overdue, and we owe it to our next generation to turn it around, because sadly it's too late for this one.