This is the kind of posts I come on here for. Discussions, serious stuff, real stuff. I like the point made by JDB about technology being of the highest and best, and output being of the lowest and worst. As to Catharynes rhetorical question, it is about the money, catering to the masses, one of the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. The Bozell comment is good. I have a huge collection of board games, but all too few want to play them. cmw is also correct. To redneck again, I think that if you asked these movie producers what religion they belonged to, most would say Christian, and some would even admit to going to church on occasion. It is foolish to continue to believe in a country 80% Christian, all the criminals, both street, prison, government, and media, and those who do destructive behavior, are the 20% non Christian. Many of the non Christians have much higher moral and ethical values than the so called Christians who are are leaders, and producers, whether of goods, services, or media.
HHJ It is me, and me at my usual. I think I just found something rare that we agree on. And I appreciate you not taking my 80% comment as an attack on all Christians. I don't ever mean the good ones, or the ones who are doing good. But they are all too few these days.
As far as the redheads are concerned, sadly, they are a dying breed. But Hollywood, with its stereotypical BS, is finding them to be a selling item. Personally, it is harder to find anything hotter than a nice redhead with a good heart and attitude.
old cowboy If I get to be your age, I really hope I have some of your sense and eloquence. I best get to work.

What in the Hell is your point?

Casey 42, You convinced me, I am going to listen to Rev. Wright's sermons! Maybe Christ was wrong in saying we should turn the other cheek! Maybe Mohammad was right and we should enslave or kill everyone not of our religion! Anyway before your beloved liberals interfered--- the Christians built a big, wonderful country, one that everyone else in the world wanted to live in and emulate! You liberals have only destroyed it! Be thankful that we believe in Jesus, not Mohammad! Have you considered moving to whatever country that would have you???

In my opinion Bush was an air head totally beholden to big money and big oil. He was led around by the nose by Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Saudis. He did have a nice wife and even though the kids sometimes strayed I think they were great
I am thankful he is not in charge now.

To casey42 I hope I have misunderstood your last post and the possible point you were trying to put across . I realize your hate for Pres Bush but he did have some redeeming qualities such as not being lead around by the nose by the UN, which has a LONG history of doing that to many leaders .
Just remember not that people are never all bad or all good regardless of where they are from or what God they may worship :)

bleh "do" should read don't :P I was laughing when I was typing my last post . I am sorry .

ROTFL casey42 Where in hell do you get the idea Christians bomb etc those the deem less Christian as themselves ???? WOW if that was the case we would be having our own holy war for the past few thousand years :P) Ease up on the anti Christian rhetoric because as you know I identify myself as Christian and I certainly do go around bombing killing anyone nor do I match anything you have described nor do any Christians I know :)

redneckagain, I guess you are using the same logic whereby Muslims claim that the terrorists that hijacked the planes on 9-11 were not Muslims because Muslims would not do that, from what I read and see "christians" kill, bomb and beat up anyone they consider to be less "christian" than they are, are you going to claim that Bush is nbot Christian because he started a war that has killed so many people just to make himself richer?

To 1/2d mmm ????? I have deep auburn hair and power certainly isn't synonymous with redhair and I have a VERY long fuse before I ever lose my temper , in fact my husband is often amazed at my patience with people . Control over emotions and reactions are the key to many things , you never let someone push you to the point you lose that control because then they have all the power over the situation . Your statements smacks of a sterotyping.

If you've been paying attention, you will have also
noticed an increase in Redheads, ever since some think-tank decided that Red was a color of power, and more and more of the men in police procedurals are having all kinds of mental problems, bad matings
or problems with temper control, or other undesirable traits, and lawyers pulling unethical stunts to win cases. We're being manipulated by the media to accept these suppositions, and have to be careful about accepting new beliefs. 1/2d

To Redneck Again , you must remember that all people regardless of religious affiliations are susceptible to this kind of desensitization . We are all human , and this type of bombardment target's our perceptions .
Its like being boiled slowly. Gradually as the heat gets turned up a little at a time we are only made slightly uncomfortable with that increase . Then we soon become comfortable with that temp and then it is increased again and so the cycle repeats itself until you reach a critical point and the body starts shutting down .
Our values of right from wrong and the desensitization of our normal reaction to horrific acts are being treated in this fashion by those that peddle such programing and movies. We are all human , and this type of bombardment target's our perceptions .
To JCE very succinctly worded post :)))

Very inciteful JCE, you must have taken your meds today! Sometimes I'm not sure which is worse---Remember "A Team" where thousands of rounds of machine gun bullets were "hosed" at the heros and the villans, ---and nobody was hurt or killed? What example of responsible gun safty is that? The constitution and our heritage guaranteed our possession of firearms (in the Articles of confederation= that same as possessed by the government) It states clearly that it was because that was the only to keep our government representing the people! But---that right brings great responsibility!! Kids should not be led to believe that someone shot, just gets hurt and in the next frame just has a bandage on their arm! Like JCE said the movie people put too much stress on gore! But if you have noticed------the producers of this filth aren't Christian! Any typing in of that forbidden word automatically deletes these posts!

It is a long known scientific fact that viewing violence rape , etc on a daily bases desensitizes people and changes and alters their views.
It dehumanizes people and it slowly erodes our compassion towards one another .
Crimes are committed mostly by those humans that have little to no compassion for their victims . Whether it be robbery rape of murder so crime is really a social ill not a law enforcement one .
People need to ask themselves this question, why does Hollywood and other large media centers like TV owners want to change our society to one where sociopathic behavior is the norm ? What do they have to gain from a society that is bereft of that which makes it humane . They ALL know how a daily exposure to this type of material affects the human psyche , as that information has been out there for over 30 years . Yet their response is to push harder for this material to be viewed by a younger and younger audience .
I have no respect for those that pedal such negative material at us knowing that they are responsible for much of the social ills we now see in our society . I no longer even care what their motives are behind it , I just hope the monsters they knowingly create return to them at their darkest hour .

JCE, would you believe i read your post and i am quite proud of you for not rant and raving. I see a glimmer of hope for you providing it is not a phantom post. God Bless you and have a wonderful day!!!

It's not only the violence - graphic sex and bad language even in so-called "comedies" are the norm.
There is a total lack of respect for the human race, never mind females!!! Last night I tried to watch one of these "comedies" starring Dane Cook and Kate Hudson. I managed about 15 minutes. The scary thing is, the vulgarity and crudeness were not even faintly amusing, yet these type of movies are churned out regularly - who is watching them???

Fearful men react to life with violencs. American men must be very fearful to be titilated by all the violence on TV. It is good in a way though. Our family and few of our friends watch TV these days. We have gone back to board games, sports and some of us have even resorted to conversations. Food for thought may not be good for the politicians and the advertisers but, it is novel and it is fun.

Ironically, while the technical quality of the transmission of audio and video on television has improved, the quality of the content of programming has deteriorated to a level that only a Crime Scene Investigator could appreciate and enjoy. Television had its golden days in the 50's and 60's when the number of family entertainment shows was at its highest in both quality and wholesomeness of content. We felt good about it and ourselves. We could relate to it and not be repulsed by it. The "moral of the story" and not just the "rest of the story" or the tragic ending was portrayed. Shows were somewhat more idealistic.
Reality television today has become boring. The worst of human nature is depicted with such a frequency that, if you haven't seen it before, you probably don't need or won't want to see it again. A concept of the personal, the intimate and the private has been lost with the belief that the more people are subjected to "reality tv", the more they will become inured to the implications of a diverse society, seeing the effect, but not being able to do anything about the cause.
It is an ersatz form of prostitution that satisfies a media need, benefits the media economically and creates an environment where correlative accountability of the economic and moral effects on society is nearly impossible.
Why would you watch the garbage so you can pay 6 bucks for a box of Corn Flakes?

A rare great article by Bozell. People were predicting back in the 70s that cartoons, tv, and movies, as well as video games were too violent, and too disrespectful of traditional values, and that if continued, well, what we have today would result. I remember when horror was good, and often funny, and made a person use their imagination. Today, people don't have to think, it is all layed out for them. And that is what they want. There was a reason the Roman games were so popular. They worshiped death and violence. There was a reason that America stopped public executions. People loved them. Work would stop, everything would just shut down, and people would mob the executions. America still has a love affair with death and violence. The kind that is found in the Bible. The kind especially in Job. The people want it, the media gives it to them. The country, 80% Christian, just loves sensationalism, death, violence, the suffering of others, watching people being tortured, or killed. It is no accident that our kids can't differentiate between what is real and what isn't . They watch wrestling, and the news. Is it any wonder that many countries outlaw American tv and movies, afraid of what it will do to their people? I won't watch the bulk of it, and I have watched enough of it to know not to. I don't want to be desensitized, to be programmed to like violence, and to ignore reality. How do you think we got into this mess in the first place? How many popular shows are about other people suffering? So America watches as others suffer, and as long as it doesn't happen to them, it is fine. Then when it does, it is the governments fault, the other party, or the media. But never the person who eagerly fed on the sickness that made them that way.