Image by Erechtheus
Modern taboos are getting muddy. It’s almost like we’ve come full circle. Is our culture headed back to conservative town with all its rules, restrictions and beady eyes staring down sharp noses through bifocal glasses?
Where is our ‘anything goes’ philosophy going to take us? I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster and we’ve click, click, clicked up the ascent to the top of the highest point and any moment now… WOOOSH, we’re going on a free fall baby. What is taboo nowadays? You can now take photos of naked children and call it art. Apparently that’s not so taboo anymore.
Children are exposed to more and more graphic images and ideas, the purity of the mind perhaps has become a taboo!? We assume these movies, tv shows and the news itself won’t harm them but will we have a generation of fearful and aggressive children? Will they simply copy what they see? Think of what they are exposed to just on Video Hits all those boobs hanging out. What are our girls to think?
For adults it is almost as if there are no more taboos. Now we have CSI:Miami, New York, Las Vegas and Bones and Criminal Minds, Dexter, Law and Order, Lie to me, The Mentalist, Monk, NCIS/Los Angeles, Numb3rs and Without a Trace. And these are just the American shows! And this is just TV. Think of books, films, ideas. I think we’ve lost the plot. We’re flying down that rollercoaster track at break neck speed and I think we’ve flown off the tracks are rocketing into the air, preparing for a loud and painful THUD!
I am not condoning prudishness. I am a sucker for crime, mystery and the like. I just know what it does to my head, how fearful it makes me feel. Surely this is not good. There are enough evil things going on in the world, why do we, as a culture, glorify horrible deeds. Why do we need to know the intricate details of foul crimes? The blood, the guts, the basic idea of it, they used to be taboo.
We need a new taboo. A wisdom that simultaneously protects and informs. We shouldn’t live in the dark, hiding away from the truly scary things around us but neither should we know everything. What about live affirming ideas and images? Not exciting enough for you, then go and climb a mountain, run a marathon or sail around the world in a tinny and leave the taboos as taboos.
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August 7, 2010 at 10:27 am
Ian Streeter
Well Ms WDing, I’m confused about what you think needs to happen. Is it really more taboos we need, or just individual responsibility: if I don’t want certain images in my head, don’t watch the show; if I don’t want my kids seeing Video Hits, turn off the telly?
What think you?
August 9, 2010 at 1:49 pm
worddancing
I think you’re right! Absolutely it is up to the individual but what happens when your child goes to someone else’s house who buys our culture’s ‘anything goes’ mentality and lets their kids and thus yours watch disturbing shows. I think as a culture we need to be careful about dissolving all boundaries. We cannot survive an ‘anything goes’ philosophy cos it equals anarchy in the end. Where is the bottom line?
I think it is a combination of individual responsibility and our culture needs to slow down and take a look at where we are going and what kind of society we want to be in the future!
Does that make more sense?