November 2, 2003

QUOTE: "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50 from each playa." —a card from the board game Ghettopoly, which is raising the ire of not only African-American leaders, but of Hasbro Inc. as well, trademark owner of Monopoly. Hasbro has sued Ghettopoly's creator, David Chang, for allegedly violating the company's copyrights. Sold at one point by clothier Urban Outfitters, Ghettopoly also features gaming pieces shaped like a gun, a pot leaf and a rock of crack, as well as a caricature of an African-American man brandishing a submachine gun and a bottle of malt liquor [Newsweek, 10/20/03; Associated Press, 10/22/03; News Services, 10/23/03; Ghettopoly.com, 10/30/03]

QUOTE: "I'd take it. Then I'd approach him, smokin' a joint of his s---. I'd be like, 'Here, hit this, hit it!' As soon as he put it to his lips, I'd slap the s--- out of him. Then I'd smoke it and be like, 'This weed is mine now.' I don't want him smokin' that s--- at all. I was f---ed up because I had people pushin' that stuff in my face from age 11." —rapper Method Man, explaining disciplinary measures he'd take if he found marijuana in his kid's room [Blender, 11/03]

It's been over three years since the Columbine massacre and school violence is largely a thing of the past. Isn't it? That's what a lot of folks seem to think. But while there haven't been any highly publicized, large-scale raids recently, school violence hasn't disappeared. This year alone, since mid-August (when most schools opened their doors), there have been 18 violent deaths at U.S. public schools. And on top of that, there's been about 50 non-lethal incidents. To put that in perspective, 15 died in the Columbine shootings and at least 24 were injured. [USA Today, 10/21/03 stats]

Kids ages six and younger are likely to spend more time watching TV than they are browsing through a book. So says a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. On average, young children watch one hour, 58 minutes per day of some kind of "screen media" (such as TV, computers and video games). Compare that to time reading or being read to—a mere 39 minutes. What's more, 36% of tots under seven have a television in their rooms, a fact that dismays Robert Thompson, founding director of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television. "You really do have to be able to monitor your kids' cultural intake," he states. "If you've got cable or a satellite hookup, you have to treat TV like the liquor cabinet." Thankfully, children's "screen media" time still doesn't eclipse their outdoor playtime. But it's neck-and-neck: 118 minutes vs. 121 minutes. And the results of such media consumption are clear. The study found that only 34% of 4- to 6-year-olds from "heavy" media households could read, while 56% of other children that age could. [Kaiser Family Foundation, Fall 2003; CNN.com, 10/28/03; New York Times, 10/29/03 stats]

Stand True, a pro-life organization founded by Rock for Life's former director, Bryan Kemper, is urging teens to boycott MTV. "MTV has become one of the most disgusting and pornographic channels on television," Kemper said in a press release. "[It] started as a music station ... and has turned into a soft porn channel for kids." Stand True's Web site, IDontWantMyMTV.com, asks users to sign a petition "against the onslaught of trash, pornography, and disrespect for women, truth and the sanctity of life that MTV is pumping onto the airwaves." [Stand True, 10/21/03; IDontWantMyMTV.com, 10/30/03]

The Media Project, sponsored by Advocates for Youth, has held its annual Shine Awards, honoring "outstanding television portrayals of sexual and reproductive health issues." Kudos this year went to NBC's Law & Order: SVU for an episode about transgender issues, and Showtime's Queer as Folk, which dealt with an HIV-positive male sex worker. Other shows honored included UPN's One on One, and CBS' Guiding Light and CSI. Commenting on the report, Media Project Director Robin Smalley gushed, "Television's power to positively impact an entire generation is certainly something to celebrate." [KaiserNetwork.org, 10/21/03 c&e:tv]

QUOTE: "I'm really enjoying being a woman. Just eight months ago, I got boobs ... I even have hips now! So I'll do sexier photo shoots than I used to do, because I've grown into my own skin." —singer/actress Mandy Moore [Teen People, 11/03]

QUOTE: "I did feel kind of weird after those photos. I was in a moment. I had, like, eight Red Bulls and said, 'OK, let's do it.' I learned my lesson and you won't see me like that for a while. I'm kinda over it myself. Not that it's dirty or tacky, but it is really revealing and I wouldn't want my kid, at 21, to be dressing like that." —Britney Spears, on her recent cover photo for Esquire which features the starlet nude from the waist down [Newsweek, 11/3/03]

Netherlands, a country that has a reputation for being a pornographer's paradise, is seeing its "naked" TV all but disappear. A year ago three commercial channels featured late-night, erotic programming; that number has shrunk to one. Popular sex education show Neuken Doe Je Zo (literally translated: This Is How You F---) has also bit the dust. Are the Dutch turning away from their prurient pastimes? Probably not. Wim Bekkers of the Netherlands' Institute for Classifying Audiovisual Media blames Internet smut for the change: "You can find anything there, all kinds of sex, including things that can't be shown on television, like bestiality." [Associated Press, 10/29/03]

QUOTE: "The effect [of mainstreaming pornography] is not making men into raving beasts. On the contrary: The onslaught of porn is responsible for deadening male libido in relation to real women, and leading men to see fewer and fewer women as 'porn-worthy.' ... For most of human history, erotic images have been reflections of, or celebrations of, or substitutes for, real naked women. For the first time in human history, the images' power and allure have supplanted that of real naked women. Today, real naked women are just bad porn." —feminist author Naomi Wolf [New York Magazine, 10/20/03]

Yet another activist group is seeking both sexual and spiritual identity among mainstream American churches—the polyamorous. Those with multiple sexual partners were the subject of a workshop at the WOW (Witness Our Welcome) 2003 Convention, an ecumenical gathering for "sexually and gender inclusive Christians." The event brochure notes sponsorship by the homosexual caucus groups in most mainline Protestant denominations and Dignity USA (a Roman Catholic organization), and supporting groups such as People for the American Way, the Human Rights Group, Chicago Theological Seminary (United Church of Christ), Wesley Theological Seminary (United Methodist), Episcopal Divinity School and McCormick Theological Seminary (Presbyterian). [The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 8/22/03]

QUOTE: "If you watch any TV at all today, it might appear that no one in the world is straight anymore. But what's with all these guys? Let's hear it for the girls!" —Showtime chairman and CEO Matt Blank, announcing his pay-cable channel's new lesbian-centric series, The L Word [CNN.com, 10/27/03 gay]

QUOTE: "I don't think they can make the transition to a G-rated show. I have a feeling it will turn into a montage, slash music video, slash fashion show with no dialogue. Each episode will be three minutes." —Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon, giggling about her series' upcoming (improbable) transition to basic cable and then broadcast networks [Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/20/03]