Assaulting The Airwaves

Just more evidence (in my mind, anyway) that if certain people really want to waste their time protesting a T.V. show, they ought to protest a show like the deliriously awful Moment of Truth - and not an entertaining piece of work like Dexter (or even a trashy but ultimately inconsequential soap like Las Vegas).

The Moment of Truth is Fox’s morally vacuous ‘reality’ show in which people are asked to reveal potentially humiliating personal truths, for money, on television. And whaddaya know? Looks like this royally idiotic show just ruined a couple of lives. Here’s a link to the story.

Those who have read my previous rants can likely deduce that I am not a big fan of censorship. I can stomach a lot in the arts, and I generally feel that creative freedom demands that artists be allowed the latitude necessary to explore subjects that might not be pretty or popular. They need to be able to explore these subjects without restrictions on their creative freedom – without worrying whether they’ll be fined for their language or imagery. And when networks or governments try and legislate individual morality, serious limitations on various personal freedoms are bound to follow.

I’m not saying that I’m enamored of (or even in agreement with) every book or movie or artistic endeavor that I encounter, or that I feel every single piece of art I see is of equal value. Frankly, I (like most people, I’m sure) have encountered a number movies, books, paintings, photos, plays, etc., that I either didn’t get or actively disliked. But that’s life, and I would argue that there is genuine merit in encouraging artists to continue their pursuits, regardless of their work’s accessibility, skill, or political perspective. The creative process is a profound means of personal, cultural, and political expression, and those who create it should be allowed to say what they need (or want) to say, whether I’m in agreement or not. The freedom of personal and artistic expression is essential to the cultural life of a country.

Moment of Truth, however, is not an artistic statement of any kind. I’d accuse it and its participants (because, let’s face it, someone actually agreed to appear on this show) of being mercenary in their apparent willingness to debase people for money – but then that might be giving mercenaries a worse name than they deserve. The show’s creators knowingly exploit the secrets and weaknesses of others for the simple purpose of ratings. Participants are asked to reveal intimate secrets in front of an audience of millions. It’s reprehensible. Of course, one can’t let these supposedly 'innocent' participants off the proverbial hook. They actually agreed to be on this show, and in this age of “reality” T.V., they could hardly be innocent of what that actually meant. It is difficult to feel too bad for people who suffer the consequences of knowingly humiliating themselves.

And yet… Take a look at the comments section of the above clip (simply click twice on the video link) from the show on Youtube. The venom with which people have attacked the female participant is unsettling. In fact, the comments are downright sickening in their lack of humanity or empathy. Sure, this participant may have set herself up for humiliation, may even have been complicit, and may have royally screwed up in her personal life and in her judgment, but does that mean that the viewing public should take such glee in her humiliation that they see fit to denigrate her further? Does she deserve to be called every epithet under the sun? The show is a moral vacuum, but much of the public reaction – which should be aimed squarely at the cynicism of the show’s producers – seems bent at mocking only the participants. Like the days of the Roman Coliseum, the viewers cheer for blood, completely missing the point that the spectacle itself is cheapening to watch.

Am I serious when I say that folks should protest this show? Do I think that social and political action groups should pressure and threaten the networks until they change their ways? No. After chastising the Parents Television Council for their efforts to get a show removed by strong-arming networks simply because said show offended their values, I would be a hypocrite to suggest it. And yet a show like this does make me unhappy. And it makes me even unhappier that people would waste their time protesting a show like Dexter or an old nude scene on NYPD Blue when ‘reality’ shows like The Moment of Truth are exponentially worse.

In the long term, does a show like The Moment of Truth really matter? I don’t honestly expect that one show will ruin the cultural fabric of the country, or cause the world to end. And to be fair, it’s hardly the only dreadful reality program on the air.

I wish, however, that the ratings for these shows were lower. I wish people would use their better judgment – their better selves – and, instead of trying to strong arm networks to censor shows, simply stop watching the shows that really deserve their disdain. I wish that there weren’t so many of these awful “reality” shows on the air. It is the increasing presence of such reprehensible shows that gives me a real sense of unease. One, two, or even three such shows might be a simple blip. But when the airwaves are littered with shows that use people and their problems for ratings, shows that deliberately manipulate situations to engender conflict – this is worth worrying about. Shows that play on the insecurities of others for profit and that encourage people – participants and viewers – to indulge their worst instincts (for cheap voyeurism, for senseless ridicule, and for the basest form of monetary gain) practically redefine the term exploitation. Ick.