Yet Another Crotchety Rant

I've been aware for years now that I am well outside of the target demographic for MTV.  I stopped watching "The Real World" sometime around the Chicago season, and even then it was a show of last resort, the sort of thing you could only endure when even the Lifetime Original Movie fails to engage you and your brain is too tired for the intellectual rigors of Us Weekly.  I've never seen "The Hills" or "Laguna Beach", and it never fails to appall me that they are still doing Real World/Road Rules Challenges, and that the intensely annoying Beth from the L.A. season -- which was, what, in 1994 or something? -- is still on it. 

Last night, after we watched "There Will Be Blood" (excellent, I thought), I was flipping through channels and found that they were rerunning "So You Think You Can Dance" on MTV (the new season, by the way, begins this Thursday -- could I BE more EXCITED??).  So of course I had to check it out.  After a few minues, the show cut to commercial, and the next thing I know, I am watching a series of images of...um...adult, ah, bedroom....implements (toys, if you must)...flash across my screen.  It turned out to be, of all things, a Choose or Lose commercial, encouraging the young people of today to, you know, rock the vote this fall. 

Uh.  Wha? 

Non-sequitur aside, are people of the MTV viewing audience -- which almost certainly are still in their teens, for the most part -- really aware of what those, uh, things are?  Let alone (PERISH THE THOUGHT) using them?  I know for generations we've been complaining that the young 'uns have gotten progressively more depraved and promiscuous, but this is ridiculous.  It's just so...unnecessary; surely there is a more eloquent way of encouraging young people to be civic-minded, one that does not involve...things that vibrate. 

And then, as if that weren't enough for my fragile sensibilities, the next commercial was for an energy drink, and the pitch was that the product will perk you right up after you spend the night with a random stranger and wake up less than enthused about him/her.  It showed all these hip youngsters wandering home in the morning, disheveled and doughy-faced, while singing about the walk of shame.  On television!  At nine on a Saturday night!  In full view of young, impressionable people!   

Look, I went to college, too, and okay, ha ha, the walk of shame; I'm sure many of us have joked about that sort of thing before, even if we haven't participated in such tomfoolery ourselves.  But a mass-market commercial?  Targeted at teens?  Dios mio.  It's all gone a bit far for me.  If anyone needs me, I'm going to be living among the Amish.  And I'll be taking Noelle with me. 

As long as we're on commercials, have you seen the one for the new Special K cereal with chocolate nuggets in it?  (Itself a hideous concept -- Special K was just fine when it was crispy rice flakes, all by themselves, and chocolate has no business being anywhere near my breakfast cereal.)  This is great:  a mom is in the kitchen making brownies, and she's about to swipe her finger around the bowl and have a good lick (like we all do, right? salmonella be darned!).  But she hesitates.  And then she goes and has herself a bowl of Special K instead! 

No.  No no no.  When in life has freaking breakfast cereal ever been an acceptable substitute for brownie batter?  Never, that's when.  I don't care if it's made of chocolate with chocolate chips served in a chocolate bowl with chocolate milk over it.  IT IS CEREAL.  And the day I decide to sit down to a bowl of cereal instead of having a lick of brownie batter, I hope someone will have the good sense to punch me in the face. 

On an entirely different note, this weekend we picked up a super-cute piece of artwork for Noelle's room.  It's the Red Bird Trio from Petit Collage, a San Francisco-based artist; we had seen it at a store near us that has beautiful jewelry, home stuff and kids' clothes and gear, and we just had to have it for the baby.  We also have a beautiful photo of an angel statue that we took in Italy and blew up to poster size that I want to hang in there, and my mom is going to do a collage of a sort of ethereal, Midsummer Night's Dream sort of woodland scene for her as well.   

In general, we're finally getting around to paying some attention to our walls and what to hang on them; for ages, we've had some photos up in our hallway, ones we took in Vietnam and Italy for the most part, but not much else.  So we're getting some framed and some of the old stuff re-framed (we'd been using cheapo frames for ages and they keep falling off the walls and breaking), and in a few weeks, we should finally have a grown up-looking apartment.  One in which no one will ever be allowed to watch MTV.    

Comments

[Schnozz]

I honestly think we just forget how it was for us, that's all. Anytime I freak out over stuff like this, I just listen to songs we were singing along with before we could even drive. Like, uh, "Come Baby Come," for example. Look up the lyrics to that one. Not that you even need to, just based on the title. We sang that at school dances while waving our hands in the air, and none of us had even french-kissed anyone.

So, you know. For most kids, it's all just this joke fantasy and we don't even get half of it, except OOOH, 69! (I seriously had no idea what that meant for years on end, but that didn't stop me from elbowing my friends over it and it won't stop these kids either.)

So yeah. I wouldn't worry about it. I think most of that advertising is geared toward kids who aren't into that sort of thing, but think it's funny to joke about, just like you said--those who don't perform the "Walk of Shame" very often, but make cracks about it all the time anyhow.

It all seems so much dirtier once you actually know what it's all about! :)

[jonniker]

Uh, is now the time to admit that I totally use that Special K cereal as a substitute for brownie batter? Because I do, a lot. I want brownie batter EVERY NIGHT and I don't know the meaning of the word "moderation". Ergo, I love that Special K chocolatey delight stuff to give me a chocolate hit (it's good!) without the guilt.

Then again, when I was on Weight Watchers, I totally snacked on chicken broth instead of sticking my head in a feedbag of Pringles, which is what I wanted to do.

Mmm, I've got to pick up some of that cereal. Truly, it was good stuff.

[Jessica V]

lol, so true. Yet somehow I am still addicted to the RR/RW challenges. I think it might be because they are so rediculous and it is hilarious to watch beth torment the rest of those idiots. lol

[Jessica V]

Oh ya. I forgot. The special K with the chocolate is addictive. The only problem is when I start picking the chocolate out instead of the cereal lol. But really it is a lot better than it looks.

[claire]

It's funny, i saw that walk of shame commercial yesterday, too, during the SYTYCD marathon and i thought it was HYSTERICAL (the first time, not so much the 20th time).
The boyfriend however(father of 2), said, "Wow. I think they've gone too far. That is TOTALLY inappropriate". Then i went to look up the full length commercial online which has more scenes in it. Because i am lame and thought it was funny.

[lizgwiz]

I watched a whole bunch of the marathon, too (SO excited for Thursday!), and I lost count of how many times I saw the walk of shame commercial. I'm ashamed to say that after a while, I stopped being disgusted and started giggling at the girl in the yellow dress walking with only one shoe.

[Lawyerish]

Schnozz - You make a good point. I guess the Choose or Lose one was especially startling to me because it was actual IMAGES of things that may as well be human anatomy, and it was so much more stark than, say, hearing an offensive lyric. If the FCC makes MTV bleep out curse words and blur nudity, why are they allowed to show those?

Jonna - Snacking on chicken broth, eh? See, if they'd made a commercial for chicken broth on that premise, I wouldn't have believed it either, but clearly I have much to learn.

Jessica - Another chocolate cereal lover! It seems I leapt to judgment on this. I stand on my position that I don't enjoy chocolate in a cereal, but I also keep plenty of other chocolate forms in the house, so I guess I don't *need* cereal to get it, you know?

Claire - My husband was aghast at the commercial, too. AGHAST.

Liz - I did not notice the one shoe thing. Now that is actually kind of amusing. I still think it's a bit much for teenagers to see, and I think what irked me most was the whole "that chick was ugly" kind of idea.

Yes, I am a crabby old lady.