Commentary: Halftime show reflected inappropriate sexual aggression
Commentary: Halftime show reflected inappropriate sexual aggression
Feb. 6, 2004
A UMNS Commentary By the Rev. Larry Hollon*
The Rev. Larry Hollon
Larry Hollon
It
makes little difference if Janet Jackson's breast baring during the
Super Bowl halftime show was intentional or a mistake. In either case,
it was an act of sexual aggression very inappropriate for any audience
that includes children.
The
halftime program revealed not only the lack of standards that result
when we turn over our media to corporations whose primary concern is
attracting eyeballs and building audience to boost the bottom line. It
also reveals the disrespect, even contempt, they hold for the audience.
How could any executive of Viacom, CBS or MTV, having seen the
rehearsals and heard the lyrics, have felt this was an appropriate
display of popular culture sent from the United States to the world?
Broadcast
licenses are granted based on a commitment to serve the public
interest. The public owns the airwaves. The public outcry this week
makes it clear that these licensees did not serve the public interest.
When the Federal Communications Commission seeks to avoid its own
regulatory responsibility to ensure that licensees serve the best
interests of the public, we now see quite clearly the results - the
halftime show at the Super Bowl. The FCC's recent history is one of
betraying the trust placed on it by the public.
It
is also disconcerting that the Super Bowl is supposedly the showcase
for this country's most creative display of advertising talent. If that
is the case, the advertising industry has been taken over by an
eighth-grade gym class trying to take crudeness to its most extreme.
The
use of violence, adolescent sight gags and sexual innuendo throughout
the incessant advertising breaks reveals a bankruptcy that should
concern ad executives around the nation. What was revealed was the sorry
state of creativity in the ad industry. If this is the best we can
contrive, creativity is in deep trouble.
Finally,
one thing should be clear. The entire sequence of musical production
during the halftime show pandered to sexual titillation leading to
Justin Timberlake's ripping off Ms. Jackson's costume. The lyrics of the
song, "have you naked by the end of this song," led to the conclusion
that by its end she would be naked. It is not prudish to suggest that
society should not tolerate violence against women as entertainment.
It
was disconcerting that at least one parent interviewed on a local news
station following the game said his sons had seen worse, and he was not
especially concerned. What does it say about us that we feed our
children the detritus of violent video games and sexual exploitation in
so casual a manner?
After
my initial shock, I feel less outrage than pity for Ms. Jackson. In my
religious tradition, the human body and, equally, the human personality
are considered sacred because God creates them. In the biblical
tradition, we are told we are little lower than the angels in the order
of creation, deserving of respect and dignity. In the Christian
tradition, we are reminded that the body is the temple of God. That Ms.
Jackson was willing to display her body as if it were an object to be
used to garner attention for her upcoming album, as some have suggested,
is simply too sad for outrage.
If
the price of fame is to turn oneself into an object, making one's own
body a commodity, that's too high a price to pay, for it denies the
inherent dignity that should be revered for all of God's creation.
*Hollon is top staff executive of United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.
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