progress or permissive

  I was thinking about the influence television had on us growing up. The movies, sitcoms and specials reflecting the values of America. As today the objective was to entertain and possibly inform. Sure those themes were a bit idolized and were not a true depiction of life, in the past, or the present but was still a model, of sorts. It certainly influenced our fashions, and our thoughts on current social happenings.  How well I remember Walter Cronkite saying, and that's the way it is. Thing is, I believed him, as did millions of others. That is the way it was.

  I wasn't aware of that as a kid, I don't think any of us were. Hard for me to imagine that television was a fairly new medium when I was growing up. I remember when it started being broadcast in living color! My parents told stories of seeing their first television in the window of the local hardware store, it was turned on and they could watch it from the sidewalk. Amazing technology. And that technology of broadcasting to the masses was regulated, there were rules. Early on there was concern about the content being broadcast. There was much that couldn't be said or seen! All of that has "evolved" that much is certain. I'm not certain that evolution has been for the better. There are times when what we call progress isn't really progress at all, just permissiveness. Not always a good or healthy thing at all. 

  A great deal of that comes to mind as I watch the television offerings of today. I admit I do not watch much of the new sitcoms, drama's, or reality shows that seem to be the mainstay of the airways. I haven't watched many of the popular shows I hear people talking about. Hunger games, zombies, Queen Latifah as a superhero or something, I just really don't know. But I do hear about the themes and social commentaries being broadcast. The advertisements show America, and it's values as well. They show the "supposed" every day activities and behaviors of everyday life. I wasn't shocked, or really aware at the time but William Shatner was the first white man to kiss a black women on television. Yes, he kissed Lt. Ohura. Before that on Bewitched, it was shown on television that they slept in the same bed. Ozzie and Harriet had twin beds, as did most respectable people in those days. I thought that was strange though as my Mom and Dad shared a bed, must be something rich people do because they can afford two beds. Then in 1992, I know that seems recent but is actually twenty nine years ago, Murphy Brown, a single woman had a baby on television! No man was shown, no man was involved with any of that. Nope, just a single woman having a baby. I do recall a few eyebrows being raised! It was a case of, innocence lost, for sure.

  Today I'm seeing commercials about Christmas, sharing with your loved ones, all that sentiment. At the end of the commercial there is a gay couple kissing. Just two guys, in love, sharing a moment, as natural as can be. Well that's the message being sent isn't it? Yes I know it is my whiteness, my racism and bigotry that is showing in these observations but I do see them. I see all the interracial relationships being portrayed. Each demographic, each lifestyle, each choice, being shown in living color as the normal way of life in the United States today. And I am aware that it is an influence. It is a path to acceptance, to tolerance. I just question whether it is progress or permissiveness. It's the same question my parents had, and I'm certain my grandparents had. A changing social program. 

  It's a recurring theme in my thoughts and in my writings, the notion of a standard. I do believe in having standards. I fail to see how the quality of anything can be measured without having a standard. Isn't that the premise of all religious belief. You have to adhere to a standard. Yes there are aberrations, exceptions and tolerances, but the standard remains. The founding fathers attempted to delineate those standards with the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist papers, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Standards like, all men are created equal, truths that are self evident. Each succeeding generation has modified those standards, either making progress, or simply being more permissive. At some point the standard disappears altogether, a new standard being established. A new measure of value. In reality, a reflection of ideals. 

  The concern has moved past television these days and a focus on social media has begun. The same progression repeating itself. In the beginning social media platforms were pretty much unregulated, the internet is like the wild west! Yes, it's true if you do a Google inquiry there are far more pornography sites on the internet than any other. I haven't checked but I'm thinking dating sites and advertisers have to be a close second. Now there is some talk of regulation, some talk of creating a standard. Many names are being used to describe that process but it is in discussion. Freedom of speech? That wasn't an issue in the early days of television, they even had a list of words you could not say! George Carlin did a whole bit on just that topic. It got lots of laughs, nervous laughter that makes people uncomfortable, at least for a while. Today, it's normal, right? For many it is. I'm still a bit uncomfortable. The internet, the world wide web, has thrown open the doors. With just a few clicks the raw underbelly of the world is exposed, open for exploration, and open for normalization. A new standard. I say standard because what is a standard other than the expected? What needs to be understood however is that just because it is expected, that doesn't make it good. I'd say I grew up in a time with a different standard. A different standard in broadcasting societal ideals.