December 2005
My reviews are not meant to replace your good judgment!! Please
be an active parent, not a robot!! If you disagree with me, I'd love to hear
your opinion. Send comments, questions and suggestions for material to be
reviewed to: Mwuggazer@redeemerbirmingham.org.
Ratings System:
My Review System:
++ Patently Christian
+ Conforms to Christian morals and value
M Mature content
X Mild objectionable content
XX Objectionable content
XXX Offensive content
Nickelback / All the Right Reasons / X
I love Nickelback's music. Their image is one of hard edged bad boy rocker, the kind of guy who thumbs his nose at authority and conformity. Their web site reinforces this image, and influences social norms towards these values. There are no four letter words, but some mature situations.
Gretchen Wilson, All Jacked Up / X
"Country female singer" used to mean squeaky clean, but a new breed of artists like Gretchen are starting to push the envelope. Don't get me wrong, they still have a long way to go before I compare Gretchen to Black Eyed Peas. Still, the title track is an aggressive tale of a woman who drinks too much and gets into a bar fight. The disc is pretty darn clean, but I just can't endorse a song that glorifies excessive drinking.
Madonna / Hung Up / M
Hung Up is the new single from Madonna's forthcoming CD, "Confessions on a dancefloor". It's a big return to Madonna's late 80's reign as the queen of dance music. That is, of course, before she became the queen of sexually supercharged females stars. So I'm hesitantly endorsing this song. The lyrics are squeaky clean (believe it or not!) The song recalls Madonna's great clean dance records: "Vogue", "Holiday", and "Into the Groove". I'm hesitant because I don't know what is coming on the CD, and Madonna's image is still corrupt. Her web site is currently nothing but hype for the new CD, so it is benign. VH1.com, however, has a big feature site on Madonna, including a whole page in which Madonna waxes philosophical about her religious beliefs. You can only guess what bizarre amalgamation of secular humanism, spirituality, mysticism, and Kabala is on that page. The problem is that it all sounds really wonderful and spiritual and mainstream, but it is decidedly anti-Christian. So enjoy the song, but don't become a fan.
MySpace.com / Web Site / XXX
My teens are going to hate the fact that I give Myspace.com a triple X rating. They love it. Many use it everyday. It's a real fad right now, and everyone is logging on. The attraction is simple. You become a member (it's free), and post your profile. This can and usually does include your photo, your name, age, grade, city, favorite things, hobbies, interests, etc. and you can write whatever you want in your bio. Obviously you can view the profiles of other people. You can search by interests, age, or school, etc. For instance, if you live in Birmingham, and you want to find other people in Birmingham who like (for instance) cycling, it's easy to make new friends with common interests. Teens use it to communicate with each other too. Many change their bio every day to reflect what is going on in their day. They use it like a blog or a journal. People will check the MySpace profile of their friends frequently to see what is going on. SO far so good. Sounds like a harmless and enjoyable use of the internet.
Think again. Imagine the possibilities for abuse. A child predator can easily create a profile to look like anyone he or she wants to look like, and search for victims. MSNBC recently did a big expose and sting operation where they cooperated with Police to arrest dozens of sexual predators using MySpace, and other sites with profiles and chat rooms. You can read the article yourself at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6083442. MSNBC's research suggests that 1 in 5 teens have been approached online by a sexual predator. MySpace is currently the hottest spot, but any of the many many other sites like it are just as vulnerable.
Sexual predators are not the only problem. MySpace says they censor photos for nudity or offensive content. Their opinion of what is offensive is quite different from mine. I logged on as I was writing this column at 9:00 on a Tuesday evening. I was immediately presented with a selection of random profiles. One of them showed a photo of a man(?) wearing a prom dress, bent over a table, with a woman wearing a leather bra and underwear holding a paddle to the man's rear. The caption was too offensive to print here. I didn't have to work to find this profile. I simply typed www.myspace.com into my browser, and this came up on their home page. I then had the opportunity to click on the profile and chat with this person and see more pictures. Unbelievably, after less than 5 minutes of browsing, I found the profile of a woman in Birmingham blatantly offering prostitution. Her profile was complete with pictures. I'm sorry to be so blatant in our church newsletter. I think you'll agree with me that it would be wrong to sweep this under the rug. It's something we must deal with now.
I highly recommend adding myspace.com to the black list on your computer's filtering software. If you don't have filtering software on your computer that allows you to blacklist specific sites, buy one. Cybersitter (Cybersitter.com) is the standout. It allows you to block groups of sites by content, or specific sites such as Myspace. Parents set their own passwords and have a great deal of flexibility. It also records Instant Messag conversations and makes lists of sites your kids have visited so that you can review them. The old argument that blocking sex sites will create problems when trying to do breast cancer research is a thing of the past. Another option is to get a Christian ISP. There are several good ones: ChristianLiving.net, FamilySafeViewing.net, WWJV.net, and Crosswalk.com
It is certainly a sad sad thing to have to recommend blacklisting MySpace. Teens offer comments such as, "This is such a great way to communicate in a harmless way with my friends." and "I avoid the bad stuff." And "I and my friends only use it for good clean fun." Believe me, I totally see their point, and I feel like it is sad that MySpace is corrupted. On the other hand, I grew up in a world without MySpace, and I managed to make friends and communicate with my friends and have fun with them just fine without ever putting myself at risk or exposing myself to horrible images. I don't believe any teenager has "the right" to MySpace. Teens also offer the comment: "Just like in real life, you have to learn to deal with bad things. If you can't trust me on MySpace, you can't trust me in school." I wholeheartedly disagree with the assumption that real life is equivalent to MySpace. Public schools are moral wastelands, but have still (as of this printing) managed to avoid having nudity and prostitution solicitation hanging in the hallways. As Christians, we are called to AVOID sexual immorality and the perversions of this world. We are also called to AVOID situations where we are putting ourselves in danger from others and our own temptations. Yes, public schools (and to only a slightly lesser extent private schools) are hotbeds of temptation, but they are nothing compared to MySpace. And let us not forget that it is far easier for sexual predators to approach someone on MySpace than it is at school or the Mall. Bottom line: MySpace is a great thing gone bad, and Christian families need to take a cold hard look at their involvement.