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Staying Afloat in the Cultural Cesspool
Should a foul-mouthe, anti-Catholic bigot, and pornographer, be accepted into the mainstream television industry, and there granted license to express his odious tripe on a prime time situation “comedy”? At first blush we might respond that it’s a First Amendment issue. The Constitution, it can be asserted, protects offensive speech, so any attempt at censorship should be quickly shut down. That may be true when the government attempts to silence speech. But the media — it was once believed — should exercise some sensible self-censorship, if for no other reason than good taste. Sadly, television entertainment executives have clearly concluded that must see TV should be filled with sewage. Evidently, viewers crave depravity.
But are there any limits? The question arises again as Disney-ABC has begun to promote a show called The Real O’Neals, based on the life of Dan Savage. The promotional trailer
trailer is out, and is all one wouldexpect of Savage. Like so many sitcoms, the entire story line revolves around sex, with the twist being that the Catholic Church is portrayed as sex-obsessed, Catholic parents as hypocrites, and priests as oppressive guardians of outdated rules and regulations still taught by Rome. The usual clichés are the essence of the show. Catholic families are stunted in their moral lives, and parents just can’t see the inconsistencies in defending Church teachings, while at the same time violating every rule. The message — as should be expected of a character as Savage — is that Catholics parents are just too uptight about allowing their children to experiment with their various body parts.
For sexual hucksters, there are few easier targets for ridicule than the Catholic Church. Many Catholics and non-Catholics see only the rules, while ignoring the deep philosophical and theological foundation of the Church’s teachings on human sexuality. When Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, the so-called “birth control encyclical,” he was vilified both from within and from outside the Church. The attacks cointinue to this day, but often arise from willful ignorance. I’ve had many friends tell me how wrong the Pope was, but who, when asked, admit they’ve never read the encyclical. About all they can see is that the Church was robbing them of good orgasms. It never occurred to them that the Pope had something beautiful to offer.
The Church teaches that sex — indeed all of creation — is a pure gift from God. The Lord has given us the opportunity to participate in His full creative act through the physical union of husband and wife, and which rises to its fullest glory when a child is conceived: a new creation in the image and likeness of God. For this reason, the Church calls upon the married faithful to be fecund and not to horde the gift of sex for themselves.
The Church also knows that sex is among the most powerful of destructive forces. History is littered with tales of men and women who have lost all they have to the demon of lust. So great a gift, once abused, leads to the highest form of depravity. It encourages perverse and inhumane behavior, as evidenced by such delights as 50 Shades of Grey.
Nobody is compelled to accept these teachings. Ifsurveys are to be believed, most Catholics ignore the prohibition on contraception, and increasing numbers of Catholics support gay marriage, and believe sex outside of marriage is perfectly fine so long as the couple “love” one another. Likely as not, many Catholics will watch The Real O’Neals and find affirmation of their rejection of Church doctrine. They will laugh at the fuddy-duddy priests. They may see themselves as victims of a heavy handed Church. They will ignore Walker Percy’s warning in Lost in the Cosmos, that “there is no fashion so absurd, even grotesque, that it cannot be adopted, given two things; the authority of the fashion trendsetter…and the vacuity and noughtness of the consumer.”
Shows like The Real O’Neals are the perfect manifestation of the thoughtless rejection of the gift of human sexuality. Savage and his Disney-ABC partners hope for high ratings from a culture numb to the beauty of sexual self-discipline. For them, ribald (and unfunny) jokes convey the joys of sexual license. Satire, it seems, is also an effective cloak to consequences of the message: the body count of the sexual revolution grows daily. That is no laughing matter.
What to do about it?
Several organizations are circulating petitions demanding that Disney-ABC pull the program before it airs. I don’t often sign these petitions because they typically have little success. In addition, petitions, in my experience, are counterproductive since they are used by the opposition to show that social conservatives are ignorant Neanderthals. Unfortunately, that message sells.
The better approach is to explain to friends and neighbors just how idiotic and offensive these programs are. To stand athwart, not merely yelling “stop,” but holding the line. We must also recognize that this is not just a Catholic issue. The sludge threatens to drown Evangelicals, fundamentalists, and secular critics of the contemporary cultural slop. Petitions and boycotts are not enough. We must serve as signs of contradiction to a world collapsing into the dark. And perhaps the best approach is to greet this garbage with scorn.
Published in Culture
I just watched the trailer to get some idea about it. I’ve seen next to nothing about this show before, which leads me to believe the producers are hoping that offended Catholics will do all their publicity for them. I really would just zip it and go after any advertisers.
And I might actually be smiling if my last name were O’Neal and I knew a good lawyer.
A better comment is pulling your daughter out of the Scouts and refusing to buy their cookies. I pulled my daughters out in 1972 when their prejudice against Native American girls were so obvious. I wrote a scathing letter to the District Offices telling them why I was pulling my daughters, and never heard a word from them. They didn’t care then, and they won’t care if you sign a petition now 43 years later. There is enough gullible people in the country, it won’t make a difference in their income. 4-H was much better for us.
I can’t tell you for sure. But I have a pretty strong inclination to disagree: to boycott the trash and spend money on Star Wars and Marvel stuff.
I’ve heard good things about that organization.
I was absolutely shocked when I saw the trailer. What garbage. That really was out and out bigotry. When it comes to television, I have no problem with supporting decency laws. Television is far from real art, and they are using the public air waves. The public has a right to police it.
Hey thanks. That looks like something I’d support.
Maybe ABC thought they should have a counter balance against Last Man Standing.
Tim Allan’s character, Mike Baxter, is part owner of “Outdoor Man” chain of Cabela’s-like stores, likes guns, his kids own guns, he hunts, his kids hunt, and best of all, he rips on Obama, Democrats and Liberals–with no apologies.
Disney hasn’t been a family friendly company for decades. What’s branded directly with Walt’s name is passable but they have embraced “progressivism” at every level with every other brand – including ABC and ESPN.
The show in question is not currently on ABC’s schedule. It’s slated for a mid-season debut. And it is an in-house production, owned by ABC Studios (with Savage and Lorenzo di Bonaventura.)
The only way to really hurt Disney is not targeting this kind of trash, but by going after the good stuff.
As for House, that was just Sherlock Holmes with a stethoscope (aka, misogynistic drug addict with a brilliant mind for puzzles). There were plenty of physicians who devoted a good bit of time taking the show apart one episode at a time.
If you believe you must engage this particular sink of cultural depravity, watch it once or twice to get a sense of it, and take careful note who’s sponsoring it.
Track down the VP of Marketing and the CEO and complain.
Instead of saying “I’ll never buy any of your stuff again” (which they’ll doubt) say “Sponsoring such sleaze reflects poorly on your products. I’m going to keep this in mind when I’m shopping, and encourage my friends to do likewise. And when it comes down to making a choice, I’m going to choose in favor of your competitor other considerations being equal.”
—- Message that I sent to ABC —–
I’ve learned never to judge a show by its promo.
As for boycotts, the creators of Married With Children send a fruit basket every year to Terry Rakolta, who led a campaign against the show when it was not yet well known.
Blue Bloods is a show in which Catholicism is respectfully integrated into the plot. The program stands for other conservative values like active, effective crime fighting, and it avoids being preachy. Early seasons are in daily cable syndication on WGN America and ION. CBS runs newer episodes Fridays at 10PM.
Agreed. I sent a little note to ABC and Disney and was careful to say that I had not yet seen the show – only the promo.
I would not ordinarily judge by the trailer either. But, just as I assume that every Michael Moore film is a political hit piece, so I think it safe to assume that a series written by Dan Savage will be an anti-Catholic screed, and with Savage in command, a particularly obscene one at that. I could be wrong, of course, but someone will have to watch the full episodes and report back. I get my news from various papers, TV broadcasts, and internet sites. I do not have to travel to Iraq to understand that ISIL is a band of savages.
My prediction from seeing the trailer is, it is every bit as insulting as you think, and that it’s so shallowly written that it will be cancelled pretty quick from the colossal yawn it induces.