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| shorts | novels | opinions | journal | hosted | vote | GENERATION: MTV "I believe that children are our future Teach them well and let them lead the way" [The Greatest Love] Whitney Houston I was watching an “Extended” version of
Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary Special tonight, and I would be
lying if I told you I wasn’t disturbed by Lil’ Romeo’s rap rendition
of the Jackson 5’s ‘ABC’. Okay, I know I’m nineteen, and I’m still a
damn kid in most thirty or something- middle aged person’s eyes, but I can’t
say this without sounding patronizing. ‘Women, and girlfriends who want to marry
me”? This line comes from something a very promising
rap artist was singing- and guess what, he hasn’t even hit puberty. What
happened to those days when Dionne Warrick and Bing Crosby made a living singing
(by today’s standards) mediocre lyrics, praising the love of one woman to one
man, or simply how a prettier than a picture woman would capture the eye of one
man only? At least they were legal to vote, had no curfew and well… quite
frankly, probably married. Now, if you’ve actually got enough hair to
shave, legally allowed to drink and vote, can legally move out of home, and
well, can have sex whenever, wherever you want- you’re considered ancient for
the industry. And if I didn’t actually know for a fact that
Lil Romeo himself hadn’t even hit puberty, I would have thought it was Gary
Coleman in an ‘over glittered, five sizes too big, wearing my dad’s shirt’
outfit if I was just channel surfing. After hours and hours of watching endless
rap videos on Saturday commercial TV (Video Hits and Rage), I would have to say,
Lil Romeo moves like Nelly, raps like Puff Daddy (Diddy, whatever) and well, to
put it bluntly, like a thirty year old in a nine year old body. Haley Joel Osment, the kid who saw dead people
in the Sixth Sense, once started an answer with “when I was little…” That scared the hell out of me. I mean, if he could say “When I was a
child….” at eleven years old, then Lord help me, I’m over the hill. And when Billy Gilman won the new artist award
at the AMAs this year? Man, his acceptance speech was- say polished is only
starting. “I wanna thank my managers, My PR _________,
without you, I wouldn’t be here today” Have they watched the Oscars too much or
something? I know I’m only referring to industry kids,
but I’m afraid kids of our generation- ‘naughties’ and kids born in the
nineties are affected by this. Take for example, a special segment on kids
directly affected by the Sept 11 attacks by NBC on the 19th
December 2001. There was this one little girl who lost her
father, a security guard who worked at the Pentagon. He lost his life hours
after he went to work. The little girl loved J-Lo, so NBC arranged so
she could hang out with her for an entire day on a video shoot. Not only did the
girl meet her, but she also got a makeover (complete with make up, J-Lo-esque
pigtails, a J-LO shirt and tight, tight pants….) She was friggin eight years
old! NBC also convinced her to sing a few bars of
‘I’m Real’- not just the original, but the damn remix with Ja Rule- and
you know how explicit that is. If she is listening to lyrics like that at eight,
I’d hate to know what could happen in the future. And if J-Lo is her role
model, wearing skimpy shirts, skirts and some of the things they do in the video
clips… I’d be worried. Is our society as we know it, growing up
faster; and if so, is it speeding at a pace we can’t seem to stop? Or are we
just letting these innocent minds be corrupted by the media because we’re
inclined to turn a blind eye? Has our fascination with commercialism reached the point of no return? Do we still own our minds or has the media contorted us to believe what isn’t really there? I want to believe that children are our future too. But it can't be done until we censor some aspects, or control what children watch. And even if we don't, there will be repercussions; it will come back to us, no matter what we do. "Show them all the beauty they possess inside Give them a sense of pride To make it easier Let all the children's laughter Remind us how we used to be" Don't you want that for our society?
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sayamaru and 'Bittersweet Rhapsodies' 2001-02 No
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