Extreme Entertainment
Posted on December 1, 2009
Filed Under Guest Columnist | 1 Comment
By Susan L. Stackpole
Is art imitating life or life imitating art?
Britney Spears’ video, “Three†features her in an extremely revealing white bathing suit singing of the innocence a sexual threesome, “What we do is innocent, just for fun and nothing meant.†Britney asks, “Are you in? Living in sin is the new thing.â€, and “Let’s just do it you and me …or three or four.†Lady Gaga teases, “Let’s have some fun. This beat is sick. I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.†Adam Lambert promises, “Push the limit, are you with it, baby, don’t be afraid. I’m gonna hurt you real good baby.†“She Wolf†portrays Shakira trapped in a cage donning a flesh colored body suit contorting her body into suggestive poses singing, “I’m gonna go somewhere closer to get me a lover and tell you about it.â€
Viewers tuning into the 2009 American Music Awards saw Janet Jackson explicitly grabbing a fellow dancer’s crotch. Lady Gaga seemed tame in comparison as she and her dancers, writhed around the stage in flesh colored body suits, singing “I want your ugly. I want your disease.†The kiss talked about round the world came from controversial Adam Lambert who, much to the chagrin of ABC, deviated from his rehearsal performance earlier in the day and kissed one of his male performers. When asked about the kiss, Adam Lambert said he was caught in the moment and suggested perhaps parents prescreen before allowing their children to watch. He cited discrimination when much attention was paid to his kiss with a male performer and no attention was paid to Janet Jackson’s crotch grab. Adam states he is a performer, and as such, if it offends, then maybe he is not the performer for you, commenting, “I’m an entertainer, not a babysitter,
Sex sells… or does it?
Enter Taylor Swift on her white horse – fresh-faced, innocent, sweet, wholesome Taylor Swift with one of the largest and most loyal fan groups on the planet. Taylor sings about lost love, falling in love with her best friend, being fifteen, and having the best day with her Mom. Her videos create fairytale visions of Shakespeareanesque love stories and modern day happily ever after. Taylor is the antithesis of some of the most popular musical performers, and, at nineteen years old, has been nominated for a total of sixty-eight awards, winning forty of them, including some of the most coveted awards in the music business. 2009 was a historic year for Taylor, as she holds the distinction of being the youngest performer to win the Country Music Award for “Entertainer of the Yearâ€, championing over performers twice her age and trumping Michel Jackson to win the 2009 American Music Award Artist of the Year. Taylor, true to her second CD, “Fearlessâ€, has courageously taken the music business by storm, completely without revealing costumes, sexually explicit lyrics, and suggestive choreography. A discreet Taylor, when asked why she didn’t speak about her romantic relationships, stated she didn’t want people picturing her naked. Seems in a business where sex sells, Taylor’s “back to basics†approach of just being real has catapulted her to the very top.
Perhaps it’s time to take a page from Taylor’s book and leave adult entertainment to adult viewers. While adults are easily able to discern the glorified storytelling of sexually suggestive songs and videos, youth tend to be easily influenced to emulate the images they hear and see. A study tracking more than 700 sexually active teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 discovered those who viewed the most sexual content on television were nearly twice as likely to get pregnant or get a girlfriend pregnant. One in seven young teen girls reveal a strong desire to become pregnant based on images of famous celebrity teen moms. “Sextingâ€, a new form of communicating where teens share sexually-themed texts and naked pictures of themselves, is rampant in middle schools and high schools. Middle school children regularly engage in sexual games, sometimes having multiple partners before reaching high school.
Today’s youth are emanating sexually explicit images, robbing them of their childhood. Can their youth and innocence be reclaimed by leaving adult entertainment to adults? Our ancestors fought to create a culturally and creatively diverse world where artists can freely express themselves. How fortunate to live in a world where there is a musical genre and performance style to satiate every personality. Let’s leave extreme entertainment to adults to enjoy and protect our children by teaching them to discern between entertainers and role models.
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Love this too. Good writing.