How low will advertisers go?
L. Brent Bozell III
Mon Jul 3, 6:50 AM ET
Yahoo!News
The next time you bite into a juicy Wendy's hamburger, just remember
this: The corporate folks at Wendy's apparently are content to
advertise their burgers on TV shows that treat spousal rape as just
another entertaining plot twist.
The show airs on Fox's cable channel FX, a show called "Rescue Me,"
about a set of dysfunctional New York City firefighters in the wake of
Sept. 11. Comedian and actor Denis Leary -- last seen displaying his
"comedy" on Comedy Central's putrid special "Merry F---ing Christmas"
-- writes and stars in the show. On the June 20 show, Leary's main
character raped his estranged wife. Worse yet, in mid-rape, she began
to enjoy the assault.
One is tempted to say here that this show is completely unacceptable
for young children sitting in front of the television, with its
violence, profanity and graphic sex scenes. But a program that suggests
that rape might just be an acceptable beginning for eventually
consensual sex should be offensive to everyone this side of the Night
Stalker. Where are the feminists of Hollywood when this sort of scene
hits the cable systems of America?
The rape scene disgusted even many TV critics, who are usually
passionate promoters of "edgy" television and regularly award the
thumbs-up for storylines trashing conventional morality. "Stunningly
mishandled," said the San Francisco Chronicle. "A horrible rape
fantasy," found the Newark Star-Ledger. The Chicago Tribune said it
best: "Showing a woman appearing to enjoy a rape, and the rapist
exiting with a smile? That's not depicting a behavior, that's condoning
it."
But somehow, Wendy's and other advertisers cannot be budged from their
financial support of this disgusting program. Several weeks ago, the
Parents Television Council sent a letter to Wendy's, urging them to
reconsider whether it wanted its brand name associated with such
graphic sex and violence. This family restaurant chain responded with a
dismissive letter defending its advertising policies as an
acknowledgment of "the wide spectrum of interests of our potential
customers."
This is a complete reversal for Wendy's, which just a few years ago
declared that family-friendly TV was an issue of "paramount importance"
for the company, and more recently stated their goal is to "select
programs that appeal to the entire family." That family now includes
husbands who rape their wives, and wives who enjoy the assault.
But the writers of "Rescue Me" seem clueless to the outrage they've
created. Writer Peter Tolan told fans on one Internet site that
although the rape scene caused them great concern, it's somehow par for
the course: "these are seriously damaged people who are unable to
express their emotions -- and so expression through brutality has
become expected." Ah-ha. Sadly, in the land of cable TV, it's become
"expected" that every line will be crossed eventually, every fraction
of good taste trashed, every shred of decency shredded.
Leary appeared on one entertainment news program and excused the
ruckus, saying that regular viewers of the series understand the
"dichotomy of the (marital) relationship," and "that's the difference
between the audience that should be watching the show and the audience
that should be watching something else." In other words, because
supposedly there exists a market demand for the depiction of women
enjoying sexual violation, that demand should be satisfied -- and
everyone else can just pound sand.
And so long as companies like Wendy's endorse this kind of programming
through their advertising dollars, it will remain on the air.
What the advertisers were supporting in just this one episode was
stunning. It wasn't just the rape scene. Viewers were also treated to
watching the lead character having (consensual) sex with another woman,
and for good measure, masturbating at a fertility clinic. There's
another scene of others having extramarital sex. There's yet another
scene with two male characters engaged in gay oral sex. There's
profanity all over, with 16 s-words, just for starters.
For cable viewers who want to express their outrage at this scene,
there's not just the option of pestering the advertisers (including
Visa, Toyota and Staples). There is the ongoing invitation to demand
Congress give us the option of cable choice, of giving viewers more
control over what channels they wish to support financially and being
able to choose not to support channels that are coarsening our culture.
After all, parents should dread sounding as hypocritical as Wendy's --
pledging their support for family-friendly TV, but pumping their
hard-earned money into a cable channel that's so foul it resembles a
septic tank with a window.
L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To
find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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