But that's only a part of the story. There are larger questions on the table than whether MTV is good or bad for children.
For me, the heart of the thing is not MTV -- which is merely one piece of the corporate/entertainment scene, but the packaging of real and natural desires to suit corporate requirements.
Of course, 11 year old boys and girls (to randomly pick an age which we hit before puberty -- at least prior to the era of bovine growth hormone in our foods) have at least some sexual feelings -- even if inchoate. So no reasonable person, or, to phrase it differently, no parent free from a phobia of their children's sexual feelings will be troubled by this.
But I think what troubles parents -- even those who are mostly phobia free -- is the realization their children's still-developing sexual ideas are being manipulated by MTV et al. When I say 'manipulation' I don't mean 'brainwashing', to use an old fashioned term, but a kind of behavior modification which is effective to varying degrees from one child to next. Some kids watch and the images and ideas scarcely penetrate. Others seek to transform themselves again and again to conform to what they see and admire.
Because what they see and admire are ways of behavior which, in inept, youthful hands can lead to serious problems I think it's only fitting for parents to have some level of wariness.
...
Back in the days when I owned a truly high performance car (the go-go 90's of course), a 16 year-old relative, a newly minted driver, begged me to let him get behind the wheel. I refused. Not because I'm a selfish bastard or the car meant more to me than my young kinsman, but because I knew he would kill either himself or others.
There was too much power under the hood -- that power needed experience behind the wheel to diminish the probability of mayhem or death.
I feel the same about the way certain lifestyle modes -- such as the "Spring Break" approach to sexuality and all the rest of it -- might be absorbed by those youngsters who naturally want the rush and power of the speed being glossily presented but lack knowledge, skill and experience.
It's true, for example, young girls are encouraged by what they watch on MTV to dress like strippers-in-training -- a visit to even the most 'upscale' of malls will show you evidence of this trend.
Stripper-gear has a purpose. It's purpose is to say "I'm hot! Don't you want a piece of this?"
11 year old girls should not be encouraged to wear stripper gear. And yet...
But what is to be done?
Capitalism packages our very dreams and re-sells them to us in a form suited for profit taking ("all that is solid...").
This is the inescapable world we live in.
DRM