A response to the 5/11/11 Barbara Ortutay AP article found here.
Written by: Klone
So, on the one hand this Judy McGrath person should be commended for making MTV what it once was, but at the same time I feel like it’s ABOUT TIME the idiot who took MTV from being MUSIC television to MEANINGLESS television should NOT be celebrating a career of success.
I mean, seriously? “Jersey Shore” and “16 and Pregnant” are accolades? Why aren’t the conservatives trying to do something about the fact that MTV is glorifying ignorance on ALL levels by promoting “guidos/guidettes”, ruining a state’s reputation with the rest of the nation and making TV stars out of teens who become pregnant unintentionally and out-of-wedlock, or more likely intentionally, seeking celebrity. Would seem a ripe target….
MTV doesn’t seem to know the difference between exacerbating a problem and bringing to light a scary new phenomena. I think at one time it did know, which is why they put together their multi-chaptered documentary series called “Sex in the 90s”. Now, there was a liberal approach to a socially taboo subject (at the time) that went out of its way to bring all sides of the debate to the table and let the viewer be educated. If this series were done today, it would actually be an under-cover, mainstream porno show. Somewhere between the 90s and the turn of the century, MTV completely lost its way, and began laying down with dogs to make celebrities of society’s fleas.
I remember a time when MTV was all about celebrating the fun side of life. If America was the small town in the movie Footloose, MTV was Kevin Bacon, getting the entire nation’s youth to get up and dance. We had ACTUAL MUSIC VIDEOS that were shown IN THEIR ENTIRETY all day long. You had ground-breaking sketch comedy shows like “MTV’s The State” and even something for the comic book/art fans with their many animated shows like “MTV’s Oddities: The Head”, “MTV’s Oddities: The Maxx”, “Liquid Television” (a truly under-rated, yet amazing variety/sketch show), and who could forget all the fun game shows like “Remote Control”, “Singled Out” and “Idiot Savant”. The network literally had the world in the palm of its hand, when enter Mary Ellis-Bunim…the mother of reality television and the garbage program of which she was the executive producer, “The Real World”. Nothing would ever be the same.
Now what are they? The virtual graveyard for the leftovers from the last decade of decadence (how I miss Motlëy Crüe…I know they’re still around, but like all things of the old days of MTV, it’s just not the same.) I actually pity today’s kids, who have no concept of a world not accessible through an iPhone. The kids have no idea what it’s like to have a wide array of artists constantly on display, but never on-demand. It’s a sad, sorry state of affairs, and I for one think Ms. McGrath failed one generation after helping define the previous one. I may be a harsh critic, but I must have missed the memo where we pretend that failing to follow-up on your previous successes was the new “in”-thing to celebrate. MTV…WTF?! Oh wait, I know…it’s all about the money, stupid. Ha. Silly me.
Nevermind The Posers 