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Desperate Morals - 4/26/2007 10:08:20 PM

NakedOnMyChain

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At what point is entertainment no longer entertainment? At what point do we find something in reality more acceptable because we’ve seen it on TV? There is a disparity between what we, as people, find entertaining and what we would actually do. But the disparity is lessening. The specific example I have in mind is “Desperate Housewives”. I have seen so many people on these boards berate and disagree with spousal dishonesty and cheating. I have expressed disdain for it myself. Yet many of you will sit and watch “Desperate Housewives” willingly. Sure, I understand TV is entertainment. It’s an escape. It’s fantasy. However, why would you watch something that you personally find loathsome? I understand, and discount, TV train wreck value. We make choices. Every day, with every move we make choices. We choose to take the mindless entertainment. Not all TV is mindless. We choose to watch something we find morally apprehensive because it is easy and entertaining. I have some answers for that. But what are yours? Why do you do it?

I’ve had conversations with many people about this show and their reasons for choosing it. Some are avid fans, some are not. Most profess a dislike of cheating in relationships. I’ve never watched an entire episode. It didn’t seem worth it. However, I’m not just talking about that specific show. I’m sure there are a million other shows with a million other vices. And, of course, it all depends on your morals. We could call the bluff on violence, sex, profanity, or anything else you can think of. Of course I’m excluding those used for education or debate. That’s a whole other ballgame. My question is why. Why do you watch things you don’t agree with morally?

Disclaimer: I am not judging you for any morals you do or do not have. Nor am I judging you for your choice of entertainment. I am curious.

Edited to add: Have you ever caught the TV viewing that you do making your morals more lax? Not necessarily in the way you behave, but in the way you view others' actions or in terms of making you less sensitive to the given topic.

< Message edited by NakedOnMyChain -- 4/26/2007 10:14:40 PM >

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/26/2007 10:11:33 PM

Sinergy

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Desperate who?

Sinergy

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/26/2007 10:14:12 PM

slavejali

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I don't nakedonmychain. I pretty much see it this way, whatever I entertain my mind with, I'm actually investing myself in. It's probably why I seldomly watch TV.

Entertainment itself, is a really interesting "concept" to me.

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 12:38:36 AM

UtopianRanger

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These programs are the most awesome weapons of subversion the world has ever seen. The folks who watch them are pre-programmed to forever remain as slaves to the system.

Ten years from now, it's a good bet that I'll be one of the few people that's posted on these boards that will have never purchased a plasma television.

- R

< Message edited by UtopianRanger -- 4/27/2007 12:48:15 AM >

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 12:43:02 AM

Asraii

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I don't watch that particular tv show so all I have to go on is what others say it is about. Perhaps we watch such things because in real life, it is something that we thumb our nose at? Kind of like living vicariously?

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 12:46:28 AM

seeksfemslave

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Only ever watched trailers for the programme but I'll bet its the glitz, glamour, the unattainable, for most, life styles and....It not happening to YOU lol

Glamorized, sanitized VIOLENCE is the real evil that the US dream factory disseminates.

< Message edited by seeksfemslave -- 4/27/2007 12:48:51 AM >

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 1:27:38 AM

Satyr6406

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From: New Brunswick, N.J.
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quote:

ORIGINAL: NakedOnMyChain
Edited to add: Have you ever caught the TV viewing that you do making your morals more lax? Not necessarily in the way you behave, but in the way you view others' actions or in terms of making you less sensitive to the given topic.

That's the important part, for me, right there. You are correct in that when we continue to bombard our senses with something we find distatseful, with each passing occurrance, it becomes less and less distasteful (unless it is just something REALLY horrid).

Therefore, as time goes by, were we to sit and watch those shows that we find morally reprehensible, we would find ourselves becoming desensitized to those activites. As quite a few have said: All the more reason to not watch them.

Now, I always had a crush on that young lady from "Lois & Clark" but, I won't watch that show; just because she's on it. Nor would I watch "Sex & The City" just because Kim Catrall was on it.

I think that people who have some morals and ethics, for the most part, avoid most of television's offerings. I have no proof of this; just an observation from my own experiences.

Peace and comfort,

Michael

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 2:20:20 AM

meatcleaver

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I rarely watch anything but news, current affairs and documentaries on the idiot box. I certainly haven't got the time or the inclination to be entertained by it. I would question the news values actually but I'm in the position of receiving the news from seven different countries so its good for comparing news and views. Not that I do that regularly, only when something big is happening or has happened in the world.

I don't know the programme you mentioned though my daughter does.

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 2:45:03 AM

LadyEllen

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It would be strange indeed to conclude that movies and TV shows had no influence on us individually or as a society. Remember the rush for the Rachel hairstyle? Just one example. Add in the money that is spent by advertisers to have their product or service on air for as little as ten seconds - which they wouldnt do if it had no influence, and its clear that such media are very powerful.

E

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 3:50:18 AM

slaveluci

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quote:

ORIGINAL: NakedOnMyChain
Edited to add: Have you ever caught the TV viewing that you do making your morals more lax? Not necessarily in the way you behave, but in the way you view others' actions or in terms of making you less sensitive to the given topic.

Absolutely....everytime i'm exposed to more than 15 minutes of Fox News or The O'Reilly Factor, i find my morals vanishing into thin air......slave luci

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 4:09:01 AM

StellaByStarlite

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I don't watch Desperate Housewives, but I do watch ( and enjoy) The Sopranos . The content is different, but the idea is the same.. escapism and fantasy entertainment. People that are reasonably stable know how to draw the line between TV and reality.

I've been an avid fan of the Sopranos since it came out. So far, I'm not in the least bit de-sensitized to actual violence. Oh, yeah, horror movies too. The freakier, the better. I'm pretty confident that my ethics and morals are intact. I mean, I haven't built any cool elaborate murder machines in my basement. Yet.

You know your same questions could be directed towards the hardcore fantasy rape stories or comics, right?

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 4:22:00 AM

StellaByStarlite

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Satyr6406

That's the important part, for me, right there. You are correct in that when we continue to bombard our senses with something we find distatseful, with each passing occurrance, it becomes less and less distasteful (unless it is just something REALLY horrid).
You mean like the news?
Therefore, as time goes by, were we to sit and watch those shows that we find morally reprehensible, we would find ourselves becoming desensitized to those activites. As quite a few have said: All the more reason to not watch them.

Now, I always had a crush on that young lady from "Lois & Clark" but, I won't watch that show; just because she's on it. Nor would I watch "Sex & The City" just because Kim Catrall was on it.

I think that people who have some morals and ethics, for the most part, avoid most of television's offerings. I have no proof of this; just an observation from my own experiences.

How incredibly patronizing. I'll go and call my friends right now and inform them that they have no morals and ethics, lol.

This type of thread really draws the out the psuedo-intellectual types, that's for sure. Do you realize you just made a pretty rude generalization? How ethical is that? Is it ethical to form such an insulting opinion of a WIDE variety of people without doing some research first?

Peace and comfort,

Michael

(in reply to Satyr6406)

Post #: 12

RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 4:23:49 AM

StellaByStarlite

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quote:

ORIGINAL: seeksfemslave

Glamorized, sanitized VIOLENCE is the real evil that the US dream factory disseminates.

Oh, yeah... SO unlike the glamorized RAPE and TORTURE scenes in the BDSM community, lol.

(in reply to seeksfemslave)

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 4:43:53 AM

CuriousLord

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I would argue that beings make initial determinations of desirability of particular physical conditions in the very earliest stages of life and come to form morals based off known processes to acheive the greatest approximations to such known physical states of desirability. This is altered with time as the inner view of physical condition of desirability is continually partially lost due to natural processes and replaced with new motivations and input, perhaps concerned with, in part, morals contrived from earlier desired states of physical condition. This theory holds for all stages of life.

From this, I would argue that it is possible for TV to alter one's morals through prolonged exposure. I would, however, also note that it would achomplish such ends through presenting alternative processes to desired physical conditions which, while possibly in contradiction to previous morals and processes, are, at the core, contributions to the general understanding.
It is a common misgnomer concept that input into others which causes morality in contradiction to our own established is somehow corrupt for it causes said individuals to deviate from the processes conductive to obtaining physical states of desirability. This notion is due to a failure, through either negligence or willful ignorance, to consider alternative processes.

As an off-shoot subject, one must note that morals are, in this view, subjective based upon understood input. One, by controlling input, controls morals. This works in dual fashions.
1.) Those who are unable to grasp the entire picture ensure that input is common so that common morals are derived as this contibutes to their identity of self.
2.) Those who are able to grasp the entire picture may manipulate those who are not through selective input such as those in case (1) did. The important deviation in this case is that said input is not necessarily mutual between contoller and controlled but an partial input of controller.

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 5:21:32 AM

adoracat

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hmm...the sanitized, "dont break their brains" local morning news....the history channel, sci-fi channel, diy channel.

spike tv for the ultimate fighter show (ok, that actually gets turned on and i flee the room, but the hubby loves it)....

oh yeah and CSI miami cause david caruso, yum!

kitten, who also watches old movies.

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 5:34:05 AM

puella

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I haven't read all of the posts yet but.... here is my take on it.

If you can not firmly separate what is a fictional entertainment and what is reality, it will not stop at TV, Movies, etc. If as a developed adult you have trouble distinguishing between fantasy and the definitions of your own moral compass... you have some serious issues to slap on the table.

I do not watch desperate housewives, nor do I approve of people being dishonest and cheating on a partner. However, there is no corollary between the two. There has been more than one entertainment which has infidelity woven in. It does not make the entire entertainment, be it play, book, movie, or tv show something that I am mandated to boycott for moral reasons. It is just part of the 'show'. It does not adjust my comprehension of right and wrong.

Watching a movie with someone being killed does not mean I condone murder....or that by watching the movie I am a hypocrite. If I watch the movie and cheer on a gruesome murder with gleeful relish... there might be more of a hypocrisy issue.

< Message edited by puella -- 4/27/2007 5:39:45 AM >

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 5:39:38 AM

lockedaway

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Perhaps this has already been examined, but leave morals out of it for a moment and consider the aspect of desensitization. If a person sees extreme violence, pedofilia, cheating, etc., after awhile it can desensitize the viewer to those things, especially if those images are entertaining. If you cease being sensitive, you cease being shocked. If you cease being shocked you may lose your sense of moral outrage. If you lose your sense of moral outrage, you no longer get inspired to correct moral abuses in society.

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 5:43:00 AM

puella

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I think you have a point in a developing youngster, which is why it is important to parent your child until they are mature enough to 'have' a fully developed set of moral behaviors which actually have a meaning to them beyond 'mommy will punish me if I do this'.

As an adult, if you watch pedophilia and at any point find it arousing... then it is not the film or image that 'made you' a pedophile... it is who YOU have developed into as an adult.

I think that it is easy to blame everyone but yourself for the choices, moral and otherwise, that you make. That only goes so far as a functioning, responsible adult.

_____________________________

We must move forward, not backward, upward, not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom...... The Simpsons

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." ...Ambrose Bierce

"Don't you oppress me!"....Stan/Loretta

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 5:51:43 AM

gypsygrl

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I don't watch tv so I can't address the morals issue, but I can say that whenever I do watch tv, I'm usually shocked by some of the stuff that's on it.

The reason I don't watch tv is because it makes me dumb. I swear it puts me into some altered state and if I have to watch tv for any length of time, I can literally feel my iq dropping and I have a hard time forming coherant thoughts. I notice behavior changes in my um if I get lazy and let him watch too much tv. When I notice he's getting out of control, I turn off the tv (and the video games and the computer games) for a week. Its not really a punishment, but creating the conditions where he can act like a reasonable human and carry on a coherant conversation.

So, I doubt the content of shows has a direct effect on a person's morals, but I'm sure it has behaviorial and cognitive effects and interferes with a person's thought processes.

The medium is the message.

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RE: Desperate Morals - 4/27/2007 5:55:55 AM

KatyLied

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There are three shows that I enjoy and they all have what I would consider "desperate morals" or at the very least ways of living that are far removed from me.

Big Love
The Shield
The Sopranos

I like all of these shows, probably because they are far removed from my experiences and they show how people struggle with their decisions. These shows don't desensitize me, they don't make my moral compass go haywire, for me they are purely entertainment, in the case of The Sopranos, it's complete escape into another world. I would not recommend any of the shows for kids though, because of adult content and/or violence.

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