The Anti-Cultural

The single most instructive thing I've done in the past 5 years is when a roommate of mine and I decided to "not have television." We went through withdrawal... we felt "disconnected." Then, something interesting began to happen: we spoke more, had deep conversations, read many more books, learned to enjoy silence, the crackle of a fireplace, the subtle changes of the season, and ended up much happier and well-informed in the end. Now, I still don't keep cable. It's wonderful.

Whenever I criticize pop culture and the "hidden meanings" on the television set, I'm usually told that I'm being "too serious", and that it's "just for fun." Well, perhaps recent public events have proved my point, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Take Anna Nicole Smith, for one. Yes, her death is tragic. Equally tragic is the amount of media coverage it has received... but... yet... perhaps we can learn something?

Anna Nicole Smith is a victim of the American media. Snatched up by Playboy before she was old enough to make a good decision, her naked frame was suddenly on display across the globe. Then there was the popular Guess Jeans commercials... a few years and a few hundred pounds later, there was the "Anna Nicole Smith" show. Admit it -- you watched at least one episode. In this show, Anna displayed her lack of mental competence, her myriad of personal problems, and the ultimate disaster of her life. Americans -- trained to enjoy the sight of a train-wreck in progress -- ate it up. Then, of course, a few hundred LESS pounds (and one tv cancellation later), she strutted to the awards podium, a new skinny body in tow, and fingered her cleavage in front of America, saying "don't you like my body?"

When I heard the news of her death, I wasn't even the least bit surprised. Lest you think I'm making fun of the poor girl: I feel sorry for her. She was a poor simpleton, taken advantage of by the system. We loving watching disasters, even if it means taking someone's life.

Moving on: everywhere I turn, I see a picture of a bald, butch-looking Britney. This is scary, because I NEVER go on website (or television channels) dedicated to this garbage. Yet it follows me everywhere. Not caring, I still have no choice but to know about it.

Are you actually surprised by this turn of events? Another simpleton, dressed up pretty for the world to see, coming crashing down. Very surprising indeed, considering the pristine record of past hollywood starlets. May I suggest that any woman willing to turn herself into an object of public consumption is already a few cards short of a full deck: such meltdowns are bound to happen, as this is not how God intended for people to live.

Anna and Britney prove my point... our pop culture is poisonous. Throw in a Snoop Dog, an Eminem, reality television, and a public drooling over Al Gore... Then turn the mirror: the reflection shows a shallow public, bored with their own lives, devoid of any ability to recognize artistic talent, devoid of any sense of needing to support artistic talent, immoral (or ammoral at best), and certainly not the sort of Americans our great forefathers fought for.

Thanks to the power of mass media, we can spread our disease to the rest of the world.

The recent Oscars (which, yes, I did watch) were a wonderful disease-spreader: It all started with a heartwrenching pre-show interview with poor gay Ellen, and later becoming a love-fest of far-left insanity..er..values. The public gushed over Al Gore's quasi-science. They applauded when Melissa Etheridge kissed her girlfriend on national television. "Jesus Camp", for all it's ridiculousness, was nominated for an Oscar! They were simply overjoyed at the affirmative-action basis for selecting winners... watching the Oscars, you would wonder if there was a single heterosexual conservative white male anywhere in the bunch... We should have called it "pick your mental disorder" night.

Do you still think I'm being "too serious" about all of this? Perhaps, then, you need to turn the mirror on yourself, and open your eyes. Whether or not you're religious, I encourage you to take up the Lenten spirit: give up television for the next forty days. You'll be surprised at what happens.