life in the crass lane

apparently nothing is taboo anymore. you can say, insinuate, do anything you want or can imagine on national television. in the good old days, you could only do these things on hbo or cinemax. now it's nbc. at 9:00. there is one particular show that never fails to disappoint me with its constant sexual references. i know someone out there actually likes the show, because it keeps coming back season after season. the fact that the show is centered around self-centered men pretty much implies that the show is going to be as crude as men are. i think the worst thing about the show is that included in most of these 'jokes' is a pre-teen boy whose parents (shame on his mother) should be protecting him from these ideas, not shoving him into the punch line.

stage parents can be the most damaging influence in their children's lives (deana lohan), i wanted to differentiate between the good 'stage parents' out there who protect their children from the evil trappings of selling your soul for a buck (or even a mil.) in hollywood. there are people out there that started as child stars and steered clear of, well, jail. i credit a good family foundation. and what about dakota fanning's mom/parents who allowed her to be raped in a movie??? sure, jodie foster was a 12 year-old prostitute and now she's a megastar, but look at what's-her-name from saved by the bell that played a stripper? not a megastar, i can't even remember her name. elizabeth something... demi didn't play a stripper until she had hit the top and now she's married to ashton - who wasn't old enough to get into her stripper movie, but i digress... the point is, the world is a crapshoot and we need to first and foremost protect our children, not throw them to the wolves in hopes of making a little money off of them.