Issues in entertainment

TV-film talents do their best to give the impression that most everything about what they do is fine and dandy, the better for viewers to concentrate in “enjoying” themselves.

From time to time, however, cracks in the veneer resist all attempts at cover-up, resulting in the belated discovery that there are numerous issues in the entertainment world that are urgently crying out for reform and redress.

Concerned viewers who want to initiate or support much-needed reforms have many opportunities to get involved.

Right off the bat, some viewers loudly complain that the commercial load of a number of TV shows is exceeding officially-proscribed limits. The way they put it, when they watch a popular drama series, it feels more like “five minutes of drama and seven minutes of commercials.”

Official supervisory bodies can quickly settle the issue by timing a one-hour series and determining if its total commercial load is more than what is officially allowed. Viewers who feel that their rights are being violated in this regard can do this themselves, and share their unofficial findings to indicate that there could indeed be trouble in TV “paradise.”

Other viewers get all hot and bothered about what they believe to be excesses in the TV news scene: opinionated anchors, overly-dramatic reportage, too much emphasis on violent events and “telegenic” crimes and accidents, demeaning depiction of women, minorities and the disabled.

Add your voice to the outcry, if you agree. After all, radio-TV news should be about objective reportage, not self-serving melodramatics and “entertainment.” After we railed against hypocritical “sponsored features” on the tube (product advertising masquerading as public service), a number of viewers chimed in with their own reports about such deceptive features.

Ditto for radio-TV-film celebrities who are not good role models, especially for young and impressionable viewers—like a radio personality who insults “erring” officials to get them to toe the line and serve the public.

The motive may be good, but the insulting charges of lazy officials scratching their privates or “making kulangot” are simply unacceptable.

Another unwelcome development is the excessive power of the “cult of celebrity,” which upholds the “value” of stars’ opinions in just about everything under the sun. It’s a puzzlement why, just because they’re stars, these golden, blessed luminaries are deemed to be inherently wiser and more discerning than the rest of the populace!

Most recently, this wrongheaded view has been manifested in stars’ endorsing movies produced by their home studios—what cheek and hokey “expertise!”

Elsewhere on the tube, the exploitative use of some child talents has been noted by other concerned viewers, who fear that guidelines regarding limits to taping hours are not being complied with. They also object to juvenile talents being made to sing songs that are too adult or even “sexy” for them, or to portray sweethearts and married couples.

So many issues cry out for our interest, concern and “reform-oriented” involvement! Select a few to speak up about, why don’t you?