Until just a few years ago, I only had a handful of TV channels at my disposal. When my wife and I decided to get cable internet, we also decided to get cable TV along with it. If you are one who has cable, how often have you looked at the more than 100 channels that you had in the evening and realized that there was nothing on? Sure there was something. But how often did you find that there was nothing you really wanted to watch?

There is a lot of really awful programming on television, and many people mindlessly watch this stuff. A lot of garbage is streaming into mainstream America. Children and their families are inundated with sexualized imagery, the glamorization of drugs, decadent culture, and of course, bad ideas (the mind-numbingly constant promotion of political correctness) 24/7. I call it junk food for the mind, utterly lacking in substance or wholesomeness. Yet, to actively oppose ingesting this “head candy” will invite certain doom from the P.C. thought police.

For example, you wouldn’t dare take all of these things off television, because that would “violate free speech.” This is nonsense. Who says the government has to be the one to do it? I understand the importance of free speech, but whatever happened to self-censorship? Why does everything have to be about decadence? Why do we need to learn about some rock star’s quest for his version of love? Why do we need to learn about the problems of ten or twenty young people living together in a house and trying to get along with each other, even though they all came from dysfunctional settings? The same problems apply to the movies. It seems that if you’re going to create a movie, you have to get at least two hours of decadence in; maybe you’ll even get an Academy Award or an Oscar for it.

Recently, we learned of the tragic death of Heath Ledger. It’s not certain whether this was accidental or what, but it seems reasonable the lifestyle Hollywood encourages didn’t add value to Ledger’s life. Part of the reason for this is that Hollywood is a facade. When you are an actor, you might play some interesting and “deep” characters, but that doesn’t replace the depth of real life lived. (Sometimes I wonder too, how often actors or actresses think “This person I played lived a really tortured and tragic lifestyle,” if I’m going to really live, I have to as well.)

How many of these people cultivate more than what’s on the surface? I know that a few do. But this doesn’t come out in the television and movie fare. How many of them could you say are learned people who actually support causes that they’re truly knowledgeable about, rather than just doing “charity” films (that will bomb) or supporting fringe causes because they’re politically correct? (My definition of a “charity” film is a film about a Hollywood cause that really isn’t a charity that the average moviegoer doesn’t really care about and never will. It seems that actors and actresses feel they have to do these lousy movies to “broaden their horizons” and show that they’re “edgy.” Then they’ll most certainly get an industry award). Probably the most acclaimed role in recent times (acclaimed by Hollywood that is) was the role that Ledger took up as a homosexual cowboy. This is not what mainstream America cares about or is interested in.

Probably, with the advent of Ledger’s untimely demise, he will always be known for that role. It’s sad really, because he had other more promising roles, including his role in The Patriot.

But moving on, the lifestyles that Hollywood tends to glorify are the unsavory ones. When drugs, promiscuous sex, and tortured lives are portrayed, it’s fashionable and Academy Award worthy. But most of the time, this is not what moviegoers are really interested in watching. Real, hard fought struggle in a film is good; think of movies like Master and Commander, Cinderella Man, or The Patriot, for example. Such notable examples draw viewers without having to appeal to the profligate values which have come to symbolize pop culture. Anti-Americanism and the glorification of moral decadence on the other hand, yawn.

We’re no longer shocked; that passed a long time ago. We just don’t feel like shelling out ten bucks or more per person for a crappy movie. Consumers, you’ll get a lot more out of reading a good book or practicing a musical instrument for a few hours. At least you’ll have something to show for the time spent. Adults and children alike will be better off consuming less junk food for the mind. –Cal Samuel August