WHOA! What's DISNEY doin' to kids these days?!

Beware: The following thread may sound a little gossipy and angry heh (Just allow me this once yah?)

Again, something I wanted to post a while back. Was aghast and horrified last week by something I viewed online. Okay, I did not chance upon a sexy, raunchy website--for those of you who are letting your thoughts do wild in all directions. I know my nick is SC (I'm not going to say what it means. Some of you are definitely know). 

I was really bored one night. I was so bored that I was driven to surf CNN's website--I'm not as intellectual as I seem; I don't read scholarly journals and TIME mag for leisure (: So I started viewing a string of videos and it was kinda like a loop. So there was this video that came on entitled "Too Sexy, Too Soon" that caught my attention, of course. I mean, truly in this day and age, sex sells. Perhaps (in general, no implication that these represent my thoughts) repressed thoughts expressed aloud seem to generate more attention. Sounds Freudian huh.

This video made my hair stand and sent chills down my spine cos' I was taken aback at what appeared to be rather distasteful advertisements, when they presented poster ads of the popular hit series "Gossip Girl" in the clip. The ads were sexually explicit, provocative, and absolutely parent-repelling/revolting (whatever...). Immediately, it struck me that some of the teens in my youth group were watching this program. Whoa!! 

According to the CNN presenter, the producers of "Gossip Girl" defended their deed, stating that the show targets a television audience of mature, young adults and mainly women in their 30s. However, TV stats show that the bulk of people religiously tuning in to "Gossip Girl" were in fact adolescents. Unethical? Licentious? Unconscionable? Debase? Unscrupulous? Improper? Hmmph! Just venting...but that's Hollywood for you. 

Well, the fault's not totally on them I guess--I must be fair. Society has progressed (or degenerated rather). Debauchery, promiscuity, pervasion, vice, etc. are promoted on all fronts. Forgive me if I sound like a straitlaced, prissy and prudish doctrinaire ( I love using all my GRE words! Never get to use them in scholarly articles and you wonder why they make you master these words?!). I'm not going to do the final judgment but it's just kinda scary cos' we are human and we are not entirely impervious or immune to attacks from all sides and corners. 

Another headliner stealer is Hollywood sweetheart turned Hannah Montana Monster, Miley Cyrus. She's the new addition to disney darlings gone wild (of course, the most distinct one being Britney Spears). Talks are flying about the young lady leaving the hit series. Everyone in the entertainment scene is now debating whether Hollywood has been pushing young starlets to fill the role of sexy sex sirens too soon. There is some truth to it I suppose. It's to do mostly with the pervasive culture and profiteering mindset in the entertainment industry. But that's not to say that what TV portrays has a huge dose of reality in it, and even have it exaggerated manifold for dramatic effect, thus perpetuating such images and lifestyles. And hence, spawning a vicious cycle that spirals exponentially. 

Not defending Hollywood but also accountable for Miley's plight could be her parents. Newfound fame and accompanying power can always stir irrationality. Be it encouraging her to be fully initiated into the unhealthy Hollywood lifestyle, or being negligent in reining her in and protecting her from the unwholesomeness., I believe they are to a large extent responsible for her situation. Come on, would you allow your fifteen-year-old to pose nude (okay, semi-nude, with only a cloth over her frontal body) on Vanity Fair?! And the suggestive scene between she and her dad...hmm...I'm not going to think of me doing it. Okay, maybe I'm like everyone else who is reading too much into that particular sight.

Anyway, there's no way to stop teens from watching and learning vicariously from such shows. Nor is it going to help you score points with your kids for banning then from watching TV. They still need to go out and school ain't going to stop (kids, don't raise your hopes on that and get excited over that possibility; it's nil). They are bound to see adverts and other materials online; they are certain to discuss related issues or come across them in school. The best way is to bring your children up in a manner that builds trust and is based on strong principles that you adhere to as a parent. With that relationship, you can steer them on the right track. Young people are definitely curious about sexuality and other stuff, and rather than making it forbidden fruit and taboo, sometimes it's better to lay it out in the open (of course, not allowing them to experiment, but rather educating them about these things--ok educating sounds a little top-down, which may be necessary but more like a sharing of life experiences and beliefs will do). Yikes, I'm going back to the psychology Q&A track...wasn't intending to sound preachy again.

Anyway, everything's not all bad. There are good teen models in Hollywood. Amanda Bynes? Nicky Blonsky (the cute, plump leading lady from Hairspray. She is talented and not the typical emaciated teenage girl)? They could lead the way for many young girls around the world, yah. I like Nicky. She makes me feel that I don't have to be slim to be pretty. Okay not going into a huge discourse on that for now--evolutionary psychology 101, why do males like females of a certain set of body stats. 

Okay, enuff said. I have rest my case. My bottomline concern is that teens fall captive to the promotion of negative values. Your parents, teachers, church elders, counselors, etc. aren't going to be there all the time, so young people, you gotta make decisions independently increasingly as you grow older. So get the flak or be criticized like Miley for such demeanor? Well, that's punishment by society. Or allow your conscience, beliefs, God to lead the way? Tsk tsk. So many things to think about as a teen. Thank God, I've moved on--more financial freedom and in the prime of my life--no kids, no house mortgage to pay!