December 22, 1996

Proper To Ban All Smut Using Public-Owned Facilities

As usual, Hollywood moguls and Washington politicos just don't get it. A huge majority of Americans are fed up with crud, and the new TV ratings merely rub their nose in it.

The root problem of excessive sex and violence on output of the movie industry is not how to ration it. Rather it is how to eliminate it entirely from mass media.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, has thrown a bone to the public in hope this will satisfy the craving for decency. President Clinton urges one and all to "give the new system a chance."

Starting soon on a television set near you, movies will flash one of six tags for 15 seconds informing viewers for what age group an upcoming show is suitable.

Supposedly this will enable parents to monitor what their children watch. When the "V-chip" is built into new television sets, those who control a censoring device will be able to black out offending videos.

Several child advocacy groups decry the age-based movie ratings. TV-7, for example, indicates the material is suitable for children seven and older. TV-14 programs "may contain sophisticated themes, strong language and sexual content inappropriate for children under 14." Presumably this means children age 13 years and 29 days should be barred. A day later, they could be allowed to view seductions and hear dirty words.

It is amazing how much a kid learns in one day, especially if he/she has unlimited access to the boob tube.

TV-M movies for "mature" audiences 17 and older would contain "profane language, graphic violence and explicit sexual content." What happened to the old-fashion X ratings that once tipped off teenagers to juicy movies they shouldn't miss?

Yes, parents with strong family values may have some guidance of sub-teens. However, that influence fades fast when Mother Nature turns on the hormone spigots, and muck merchants pump it.

Youngsters mature at different rates. Parents need to know more about the volume of sex, violence and foul language in a movie before making a decision on viewing.

Valenti's assurances that his TV rating system "is just like the theater version" reeks of hypocrisy from git go. Theater ratings are decided by an independent board which includes parents. This panel reviews two movies per working day. Every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, TV projects 2,000 programs -- not counting news and sports.

The TV system will be decided by Valenti, film producers and network executives pandering to our base natures and the advertising dollar.

Theatergoers have to get in a car, drive to a cinema, and buy a $6 ticket to buck up their panting rate. TV comes into the home free. Maybe the parents aren't home, or don't care what slithers in. It's easy to get hooked on a smorgasbord of torrid bedroom scenes and double entendre.

We hear a lot of blather about coarse conduct in the mass media being protected by the right of free speech. There is much of evidence in the Federalist Papers and court precedents that constitutional rights carry responsibilities. But this is a column for another day.

In the current controversy, it should be remembered that movie theaters operate entirely with private resources. TV, on the other hand, is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to use public-owned broadcast channels.

It is perfectly proper -- nay, obligatory -- for the FCC to set standards of common decency for interstate commerce in return for use of public property.

You want sleaze? -- patronize theaters that provide such with their own facilities. There are plenty around.

Despite television's reliance on public broadcast channels, it is not likely the prime time 8-9 p.m. slot for sitcoms will be altered. This is so popular with adults, youngsters join in. They can't be sent to bed that early.

Yet, three of four shows on network TV during the "family hour" contain sexual behavior or verbal references to sex. This is the finding of a December 11 study released by the Children NOW group of Oakland, Calif., and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation of Menlo Park, Calif. The study was conducted by the University of California over a period of 20 years. It was discovered that more children watch TV in the family hour than at any hour on Saturday mornings or weekday afternoons.

This means more than a million children under age 11 regularly watch such shows as "Beverly Hills 90210," "Roseanne," "Nanny," or "Friends."

Especially dramatic has been the rise in sexual behavior of film characters over the years in the family hour -- from 26 percent kissing in 1976, to 65 percent sexual intercourse this year. It is later than you think.

Anyway you look at it, we are up to our nostrils in filth, and film producers are circling us in speedboats making waves.

We can't expect help from government. Our only recourse is sustained boycotts of products hawked by broadcast advertisers -- and demands of cable companies using public streets that they provide only requested channels.

The public majority cannot banish pornography or brutishness everywhere. Every person to his/her own jollies.

Nevertheless, it can insist on subtlety by mass media using public facilities for private gain. It's our right.

PARTING SHOTS

Another example of the law of unintended consequences -- improvements in mass communications produce larger areas of mediocrity.

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Hawaii has approved same-sex marriages. Fortunately, homosexuality is not hereditary.

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Now we learn that a Chinese smuggler of illegal assault weapons to U.S. drug dealers attended a White House breakfast with President Clinton earlier this year. Eat your heart out National Rifle Association.

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers