Why Do So Many Of You Watch MTV?

Question

I watched it when it first started up in the 80s, and it actually had "music videos" up until about 1990-91. Then rap came out and I thought it would go away like disco did, but we who listen to actual music were not so lucky. Then the reality shows started, first with The Real World then all downhill from there, you will find some of the most pathtic people on these shows. MTV has created a culture of selfishness, envy, and greed that has been passed onto many children and young adults who have grown up watching this network. Im totally aganist any censorship of art and music, but the damage MTV has done along with our movie industries American Pie culture has made our youth lose its moral compass. Im not religious, I just understand whats right and wrong most of the time, and MTV is just wrong. The Osbournes show was just sad, Im a metalhead and this show sickened me. A great metal Icon brought to his knees in my mind by MTV and his greedy wife. My rants over.

Just to clarify, MTV sucks!

Kiki-la, we need to talk.
FDM, love your pic of Chris and The Old Pedo.
Sexychocolate, Great answer but the little lip you gave me was just enough.
Sky, this is the kind of answer I wanted to hear but??
Pin gets to the heart of whats wrong.

Answer 1

Ok - but once again, people are blaming TV for the downfall of society. Not exactly the truth. Here's the question for you - where are the parents in all this? Your kid can watch whatever they want on TV and still be a decent human being without believing that celebrity and cash are the end all be all of the world. They can watch all kinds of things and still be of good moral fiber, value family, home, hard work over all the trash out there. They can realize people like Paris Hilton are only celebrities because the masses allow them to be. They can be critical thinkers who don't accept things on face value.

BUT - that takes work on the part of the parents. It starts really young; the first time your kid watchs a roadrunner cartoon, you need to be there as the parent telling them that no one gets up after an anvil to the head. YOu have to ask them why they want that toy they saw in the commercial - and do they think they really need it. You'd be suprised the number of kids who admit they don't need all the crap they see on TV.

And it doesn't stop there. You have to teach them manners and insist they use them. YOU have to MODEL the behavior. You have to teach them to respect others - the person, their thoughts, their property - even if they don't agree with them. You have to teach them to stand up for themselves - and if that means you teach your 4 year old how to make a fist and punch the kid that keeps hitting them, then so be it. Amazing how the picking on stops when the percieved weak stand up for themselves.

Then you have to be involved in their education - even to the point of telling the teacher you do not agree with his or her methods and why. YOu have to be willing and able to pick up the slack from the teachers and help educate your children, or find people who can if you are not able.

YOu have to - as my son calls it- "nag" about things like cleaning their room, taking a shower, learning to cook, clean, shop, do laundry, manage a budget, do the homework, do the homework, do the homework and don't pick on your siblings.

You have to prepare your child to go out into the world so that by the time they hit high school, you know you can go out for an evening and not come home to find the cat, the pool and the house on fire.

You have to RESPECT your children - keep out of their rooms and their stuff, but be willing to break that trust if it's going to potentially save their lives.

Bottom line? YOU- and ALL parents actually have to BE parents - not just a breeding farm. Not someone's best friend. A parent.

And if that means you get your heart ripped out when they scream "I hate you!" then so be it. Because later they will come back and show you they love you.

Answer 2

I've seen it. MTV is kind of lame except for Roadies and Splitsvilla. Their little tickr scrolling down below disses me off the most, it's lameness at the highest order. Some of the music is good though. Actor: Sharath, Mamba, Falcon, Cobra and now this Nathan attempt Actress: Fahad (hehehe) Song: Dhak Dhak Karne Laga from the film Beta. No hard feelings guys, just some fun. Edit- Shitrath, why would I need to impress guys? I think the whole community of Y!A knows I'm not interested, you just can't digest the fact that I actually answered the question..and my answer was innovative...grapes are sour ! Edit- and yet the shitu takes effort to reply. For your clarification, it wasn't an insult, it was just a taste of your own medicine. It was innovative, I merely don't care whether you or anyone else think not...geez, I'm an independent woman and follow of my own mind. A quality you fail in.

Answer 3

You know I understand what your saying however, this selfishness of the children of today did not come from MTV it came from a lack of the installation of moral & values by the parents of the children. The 80's was a decade of indulgence and pure selfishness on the parts of adults. They instilled that selfishness into their children and now have to lie in the bed in which they made. MTV is mimicking what is happening in the world much like rappers mimick what is happening in their lives (not all rap is negative). In all honesty people like you get on my last nerves, always wanting to blame the media for your lack of parenting, constantly trying to be your child's "friend" instead of your child's parent. If you are so sickened w/ MTV don't allow the channel in your home. I am responsible for my 12 yr old sis. (I'm over 25) and I block the channel so that she can't see it. Why? Because I am a responsible adult and I know that as such I have to monitor what she does, where she goes, whom she sees, what she listens too! I don't let the television raise her, I RAISE HER! When it comes to children the respond better when you model the behavior you want them to display, in my home I have a DO AS I DO policy; not do as I say.

Answer 4

I have no respect to any video that flaunts sexual acts, as in most rap/hip hop/r&b videos. It is sickening. I am obviously much younger than you, but it is rare to see a great conceptually created art piece anymore. Messages that are portrayed in an ill manner really do go a long way, and how it shapes the youth that are exposed to it. But I don't watch MTV anymore, it is just polluted with the above music. I listen, and occasionally watch videos released by the underground goth bands I listen to.

Answer 5

Just to clarify rap came out in the 70s. I believe it was "The Sugarhill Gang". Anyway, As for MTV I don't care much for it. It became a little asinine. Now, I love both rock and rap. I just prefer some of the older stuff compared to the 2000s. It helped me a lot. I just think that the CEOs and higher-ups for MTV; I don't know who they are ,but they are money hungry I guess. Who do you want to blame? Them? I don't they just chose to exploit a weak point of our society. I blame us to be completly honest. I haven't watched MTV in years. The shark needs it's victims to stay alive. Us.