In my last post, I wrote about my favorite commercial from the Super Bowl, And God Made a Farmer. However, there were some pretty disturbing commercials as well as the entire half time show that I think needs to be addressed.
Now I realize that each generation moves along a spectrum, and the previous generation does not always agree. I was reminded on Facebook that Elvis raised some eyebrows in his day with his gyrating hips and what not. But, as I remarked, Elvis kept his clothes on.
The first exhibition of how low America has sunk into the moral gutter was the GoDaddy dot com commercial. GoDaddy spokesperson, and race car driver Danica Patrick talks about the merging of the sexy with the technical. The camera moves to a scantily clad woman and, what I would describe, as a geek. The two them start to kiss and the sounds are just stomach turning, and this goes on for what seemed like hours.
Next we come to the half time show. I will set aside the fact that I just do not understand modern music, I will address, or rather ask a question, why do we believe it necessary for women to take off their clothes and prance around a stage? I just don’t get it, and maybe I am showing my age, but to it bordered on the pornographic! A few years ago the world went crazy with the “wardrobe malfunction” but we seem to be okay with everything just short of nudity, but I am sure that is not too far behind.
We were then subjected to a display by the two actresses from the show “Two Broke Girls.” Now, I have never watched the program, but I have seen enough of the ads to understand this program is one step above the gutter itself. The show glorifies fornication and other such things, and in the commercial the girls removed their waitress uniforms and began a pole dance. Again I just don’t get it. Things like this used to be only available wrapped in a plain brown wrapper behind the counter at the corner store.
Now maybe I am a prude, but I don’t care. As an Orthodox Christian, I find this downturn of our morals to be disturbing. We have sexualized everything in this country now to include internet website domain names. I do appreciate the creativity it takes to do that, but when are we going to be outraged?
Women in America have made significant strides in the movement for equality, and I do not understand why there is not more outrage from women when advertisers reduce them to nothing but objects. The human body is a beautiful thing, and all of humanity is created in the image a likeness of God, but when it is reduced to an object, that is an abuse of that creation. Women prancing around the stage, or swinging from a pole denigrates women. I asked the question on Facebook last night, Is this what you want your daughters doing? Pornography is on the rise, and this does nothing but feed directly into that dark world.
Beyonce is an exceptionally talented young lady, why she felt the need to prance around the stage last night in her underwear I will never understand. What would have been wrong with just coming out on the stage and singing your music? As much as I disagreed with the rendition of the National Anthem by Alicia Keys, at least she dressed appropriately for the occasion. Beyonce was dressed more for the beach than she was for the International Stage.
America, when are we going to wake up? When are we going to realize that we are on a slippery slope into the gutter and try to turn the tide and return to a sense of decency. As I stated before in the essay, the human body is a beautiful creation and should be celebrated, not reduced to an object for entertainment. When we sexualize young girls and women on television it reduces them to objects, and it takes the wind out of the sails of anything women are trying to do. Modesty has been stricken from the lexicon of the day, or at least it has been redefined and not in a good way.
Fr. Peter,
At least one secular media outlet agrees with you on the issue of the objectification of women:
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/02/danica_patrick_godaddy_ads_racing_s_fastest_female_is_throwing_the_women.html
Thanks for the link, a very impressive article!
You knew what you were going to see. I watched the Super Bowl with my boys, and had a blast, doing 20 pushups together after each score (I think the final count was 280). I did not watch the halftime show. I knew what it would be about. The songs would be pornographic, and the dancing would match. I only saw snippets of commercials, and was spared the Go Daddy one you mentioned.
The world is going to Hell. We know this, but we do not need to watch it. I enjoyed my time with my boys, and saw the first football game of the year. I watched more for them, and the time with them. I suggest that others who hate iniquity try to limit their exposure to it.
Well I am not sure how you knew what I knew I was going to see, but I did not expect to see what I saw. I agree the world is going to hell and my question remains that are we going to do about it.
back in the 70’s when femanism was in fashion,liberated women would say a woman is more then a body,she is a mind.this sort of thing back then would not have been held up my liberated women,as a matter of fact they disapproved at the time of miss america pagents and advertisments of half naked women laying on top of cars ..some how we have lost what feminism was supose to be about,somewhere back in the 90’s.sex sells and unfortunitly the media has loosened up alot of rules about what they can and can not say and show on tv.like they did when you and i where growing up.