This isn’t going to be either pretty nor popular *puts on helmet* and I shall begin.
The shall we call it raunchy display by Christina Aguilera in The X Factor last year caused uproar. Well when I say uproar 4,500 complaints came in of an audience of 19.4million. Putting through the old calculator that means that 0.02% of people were outraged enough to write a letter, e-mail or pick up the phone. I remember someone telling me that night that within an hour of the show OfCom had received 16,000 phone calls complaining alone. Just another person lying to emphasise their point when the facts didn’t add up.
As for that display it wasn’t pornographic. I don’t remember seeing any tit. I have just reminded myself of it and really what is wrong with this:
I am stunned it even got that many complaints. What parents and well-meaning do-gooders don’t seem to realise is in the modern age sex and the whole situation around boys and girls moves a lot faster than it did in previous generations. People are having sex at a younger age and there are always stories in the newspapers about underage parents. If parents want to keep their children naive about the whole situation then it will take more than a watershed to do it but if they are so desperate then learn about the red off button and turn the damned TV off.
Spend more time with your children. If you don’t trust TV to bring up your kids then do it yourself. Most children have access to the internet and TV in their rooms these days so if you want to control what your child has access to then don’t give them this type of access. How many young kids have smart phones these days? More than you’d think I’d guess. How many kids have a computer with internet access in their room? More than you’d think I’d suggest. How many of these kids saw their parents up in arms over The X Factor display? Probably quite a lot.
Just doing my research I can see that the film Burlesque which the performance was from was rated as a 12A in the UK. That means to go to the film alone you have to be 12 or over but anyone under the age of 12 can go if accompanied by an adult. So why weren’t parents up in arms about that rating? If they weren’t (which they weren’t) then what is the difference between the cinema and the tellybox? Is it because one is in your home and one is not? Well no-one forces you to have a TV and nor does anyone force you to watch anything.
Now I’m no Rocket Scientist but even I can work out that a song from a movie called Burlesque by Christina Aguilera was going to be steamy. The X Factor did not hide away from what they were going to show so why didn’t concerned parents turn the TV off when this part of the show happened? It is not up to the TV companies to decide what is right or wrong it is up to the parents to decide how their offspring should be brought up.
A parent who can’t be bothered to monitor what their child is seeing or reading is not someone who has a leg to stand on when it comes to complaining about those things. If you care then be proactive and not reactive. You are the parent and it is your job to decide how to bring them up and it is not the state’s.
Remember there is always the off button…
For the record before anyone asks, No I don’t have any kids…
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