Angus T. Jones, who has played Jake Harper on the sitcom ever since it's first episode, has decried the show as 'filth', and is even pleading with people to stop watching it and polluting their minds. His reasoning seems to be tied in to his new-found faith in God, having come to religion after years of pulling down a multi-thousand-dollar pay check for his work on the show. You can read more about this here.
Now, I could point out how much of a publicity stunt I feel this is, unless he actively works on getting out of his contract or donates most of his paycheck to charity or something, but that's going to be done to death in other places all over the net, so what I'd like to talk about now is the implications brought up both by Angus himself, and various (mostly religious) soccer mom mentality groups - the idea that 'offensive' television has no place in the world, because it's getting out there and infecting the minds of our children.
I'll admit that I'm not the best judge of what is or isn't offensive sometimes, as I'm incredibly hard to actually offend, but you know what I do find offensive? The idea that so many people out there are blaming TV for messing up their kids instead of doing their goddamn job and teaching their kids themselves.
My own mother never let me watch Power Rangers as a child, and years later I found out her reasoning was "it was too violent", her rationale being that it being a live-action show with real people, it would be infinitely more imitable by me than my beloved TMNT. While I find this a little bit silly now, I have to give her a big thumbs up for doing exactly what a parent is supposed to do - if you don't think a show is proper for a child, don't let them watch it. Not once however, did she EVER try to blame Power Rangers for existing, like so many parents do. She simply did not let me watch it.
The fact of the matter is, there are tons of programs on TV that aren't fit for child consumption, that's always been the case (though what is and isn't acceptable in family programming changes over time), and will always be the case. Nowhere on the back of the TV guide or anywhere else does it say that all programs are going to be 'safe', and it shouldn't have to say that. Nor does it say 'WARNING! Some programs may be offensive and unfit for children's eyes', and it shouldn't have to say that either. It's common damn sense people.
To quote the article itself - “It is no surprise to anyone who watches TV, that ‘Two and a Half Men’ is one of the most vile and sleazy shows in history. Every episode is about sex and the network has bombarded our homes with this garbage for years,” noted Dan Gainor, vice president of Business & Culture at the Media Research Center. “Take your pick, sex talk, sex positions, threesomes -- it's all there teaching America's young people this is how adults are supposed to act.”
I'm sorry, Mr. Gainor, but if you feel 'young people', and I assume you are worried specifically about your own kids or grandkids, are learning too many bad things from what's on the TV, then it's about time you quit bitching about what's on and actually do something real about it, like - oh, I don't know, turning off the TV.
Now, I'm not saying that a parent should be able to watch their kids like a hawk every single moment they flip on a television, or that they should - there is such a thing as going overboard and being over-protective as well. That said however, if your 'young people' are learning what it means to be an adult from a TV show, any TV show, then it's YOU who are failing them, so jump off your high horse and man up and do your fucking job as a parent.
It is my solemn belief that a parent's job in this case is to teach a kid what is right or wrong, rather than simply try to shield them from everything they fear is going to 'taint' the child. That's right, I'm even slightly decrying my own mother's technique with me regarding Power Rangers. That approach doesn't work, especially not if you're going to be shipping them to a public school, and your plan's laughability shoots up even higher if you're shipping them there on a bus. I know that not seeing the Rangers certainly didn't stop me from getting into a few fights in my day. As a parent, YOU should be the one teaching your children values, morals, and what's right or wrong, NOT the TV.
If for some reason you think yourself incapable of teaching your kids like you should, or you just can't be bothered - well, first off, do us all a favor and keep it in your pants from now on. Secondly, do the polite thing and turn the TV off, and then just shut the hell up about it instead of pitching a fit.
Two and a Half Men, so far as I can tell anyway, is regularly rated as TV-14 (according to IMDB anyway) when it airs, which according to Wikipedia means 'Parents are strongly urged to exercise greater care in monitoring this program and are cautioned against letting children under 14 watch unattended.' complete with a slew of sub-ratings for specific content (violence, sex, drug use, etc.). The show is clearly marked as a show not for little kids from the get go, and while I do think marking it as low as for 14 and older is a little too low myself, please pay specific attention to the part where it tells you, as parents, to monitor what your kid is watching.
So let's look at this all together, shall we? The show is marked as potentially not good for children to see, warned right there in the rating. You're urged to judge for yourself whether or not it's appropriate for your child. And instead, you just let it play and then bitch when your kid learns something bad from it, because YOU fucked up and didn't teach them why what they were seeing is wrong? Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
I've said it a lot in this rant, which I'll admit isn't the most well composed thing I've ever written, but for posterity's sake, I'll say it one more time - do NOT use the TV as a babysitter. It's not one, and it never was. WATCH what your kids are watching to determine whether you think it's appropriate. If you find it's NOT, either be a creative, involved, parent and use it to teach your child WHY it's bad, WHY you don't approve - or at the very least, take the lesser road and turn the TV OFF, and then shut the hell up about it. Your 'holy crusades' are doing nothing but make a big deal about your own failings as a parent, and it's pissing me off to boot. Just do your jobs as a parent, and we'll all be happy little viewers, 'k?
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