CHAPTER
COMMENTARY
Unknown
to the nation, NASA informed the President of the United States that they had
received "first contact" from extra-terrestrials, who had been
listening to Earth’s radio broadcast transmissions. The President was naturally curious and asked NASA what the
message said. NASA responded, the
extra-terrestrials have requested that we play more Chuck Berry.
It
is an old joke, but it does make one wonder what extra-terrestrials would think
of the human race if they eaves-dropped in on our radio and television broadcast
waves from outer space. Along these lines, this
category attempts to identify song quotes that might "confuse eaves-dropping
extra-terrestrials.
Media
is a powerful means of communicating and has powerful impacts.
Aside from being a means of mass communication, often media can be
manipulated using marketing and communication techniques to magnify its
aesthetically appeal and ability to captivate.
Frequently, the calculated desired objective is to maximize the size of the audience
by attracting a wide range of audiences, which may bring in children and
teenagers. Other times, the media
breeches moral and ethical codes by directly and indirectly targeting children
and teenagers with inappropriate material.
In
the past, some of the more negative lyrics were limited to clubs and bars for
adults, live performances, artists that targeted their products to mature
adults, or an underground following on the fringes of society.
However, over the last 10 (to 20) years, there has been a cross-over to the
main stream, an influential mainstream that includes children, teenagers, and
young adults.
This
leads to the greatest concern of all, at what point does society or some
segments of society become so saturated with negative media that cultural shifts
in behavior may begin. At some
point what was once the exception becomes the norm. Has society currently begun to witness the destructive
effects of cultural shifts that are regressive set backs to the advancement of
humanity and in what ways?
Although
there is legitimate debate to what extent negative media has in contributing
toward this (as compared to other influencing sources) there is a consistent
denial by some individuals, particularly those who generate the material and
profit from it, that there is any relationship at all between negative material
and the degradation of human behavior directed at individuals, relationships,
families, communities, and society.
What
type of impression would our negative entertainment that is broadcasted leave upon
"eaves-dropping
extra-terrestrials from outer-space?"
Would they want
to establish first contact?