Music+Television+and+Pop+Culture

Music Television, Really?

13.9 million children were watching the 2004 Super Bowl half time show; this half time showed and portrayed a bear breast of Janet Jackson, that was supposedly unrehearsed. This would not be the first, or the last time that MTV would cross a thin line of the American zeitgeist. When “Music Television” began in the 1980s, it was only for showing music videos that the public would not see otherwise. They were even one of the first people to have an African American man as a host to introduce the video(Wiki). But, every year brought a change to the “revolutionary” station. Slowly MTV became known for, contradictory programs, exploitation of human sexuality, and the production of false realities. Because MTV is one of the most watched programs, they should have to be more censured for what gets up on the television.

MTV’s most watched show in history is the //Jersey Shore//(HollyWood), where a group of Italian-Americans live in a house on the coast of the //Jersey Shore//. One of the most known characters from the program is named “The Situation”. The Situation made five million dollars in 2010 alone (HollyWood). Not only are these young people making millions of dollars for going out and partying every night, they abuse the power of sex while in the process. There is a special room for what they call “smashing room”, and to make it more of a game there is a chalk board to count how many people each house mate “smashes”. The //Jersey Shore// is followed directly by a show called //16 & Pregnant//. //16 & Pregnant// shows a real life look at how hard it is to be a teenage mother and still be in high school. What’s hard to understand is that MTV has a break out hit that makes a profit off of young people being loose and starting physical fights with other house mates while the next show represents the consequences of the //Jersey Shore’s// behavior. Even more so, after reading many blogs and such, the Italian Americans hate the stereotype that the cast members are making for the everyday real life people. As one young woman said, “The //Jersey Shore// is a complete miss-representation of Italian Americans. We had to deal with being accepted in the move from Italy to America, now when I go out I get asked to fist pump and why I’m so tan. I miss how MTV was, with music that meant something, now they just want to make money” (answers.com). She has a very valid point; in the early 1900s the migration from Europe to America was very hard time. They had to work twelve hour shifts, hazardous conditions, and even children would have to work so the family could stay afloat (think quest). All of the hard work is being shattered when a house member asks, “Why is the ocean salty?” Can MTV go much worse than destroying a whole culture of people? Yes they can.

The U.K. hit called //Skins// had a transformation and was created for American viewers. The actors and actresses are perfect, absolutely perfect, no acne, great bodies and are all beautiful. This is not the case in Britain, the teenagers look like real-life people; they are your average student. //Skins// is a highly controversial program that has a critic saying, “A curious kid is better off watching porn” (Hollywood). This show is portraying fifteen year old that are consuming ecstasy, and selling a young boy’s virginity for a sack of marijuana. What else is concerning is a program called, //When I Was 17.// Why does MTV personally put a show that displays a half hour of stars skipping class, losing their virginity, breaking the law, and partying? How does this help the station at all? They say they are the wave of the new generation, the but new generation is actually more likely to succeed than their parents. More young adults are going to college and having a life for themselves. If they are really the new wave of television, they need to stop putting on such contradictory shows like //When I Was 17// and //When I Use To Be Fat,// and think about what is really going on. Young girls have been documented that they are purposely getting pregnant so they can be on T.V. and get paid thirty thousand dollars a year. That is what more than what some single mothers get paid in a year (indeed.com). When actually teen mother births have been decreasing steadily over the past several years (parents.org).

Over the past thirty years MTV has changed dramatically. New shows brought new drama and criticism. When they started it was only for music and giving credit to the artist of the day. Now it is about making money; MTV is one of the most watched networks. Only the Daily News can top it. How is a parent suppose to protect there child from //Skins// or whatever MTV wants to push the boundaries with next? The simple answer is, they can’t. There is a TV in three out of six rooms in the average household (parents.org), and the only thing a child will do that will be more than watching TV is sleeping. MTV has to be controlled for the people’s sake. What we see, we learn. What we learn, becomes who we are.

Works Cited

"A group of New Jersey lawmakers has demanded that MTV cancel the reality show 'Jersey Shore,' which debuted in November." __State Legislatures__ 36.2 (Feb 2010): 7(1). __Student Resource Center - Gold__. Gale. MOUNTAIN RANGE HIGH SCHOOL- WESTMINSTER. 22 Feb. 2011 [] Pendergast, Tom. "MTV." __Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America__. Eds. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 5: //1980s-1990s//. Detroit: U*X*L, 2002. 3 pp. 5 vols. __Gale Virtual Reference Library__. Gale. MOUNTAIN RANGE HIGH SCHOOL- WESTMINSTER. 22 Feb. 2011 < http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS >. Lafayette, Jon. "MTV upfront: more than skins deep: sponsors reject controversial show, but network is still a must-buy to reach young viewers." __Broadcasting & Cable__ 141.5 (Jan 31, 2011): 16(1). __Student Resource Center - Gold__. Gale. MOUNTAIN RANGE HIGH SCHOOL- WESTMINSTER. 22 Feb. 2011 < http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS >. "Cover versions." __Artforum International__ 47.7 (March 2009): 200(10). __Student Resource Center - Gold__. Gale. MOUNTAIN RANGE HIGH SCHOOL- WESTMINSTER. 22 Feb. 2011 < http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS >. Amy Benfer. **"Reality Television Gives a Realistic Image of Teen Pregnancy."** __At Issue: Teen Sex__. Olivia Ferguson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. __Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center__. Gale. MOUNTAIN RANGE HIGH SCHOOL- WESTMINSTER. 22 Feb. 2011 < http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS >.