Redefining LCD

Apparently there’s a new show on TLC called “Bama Belles.” I heard about it from a friend who happens to be from Dothan, Alabama (where the show is filmed). If you’re not familiar, here’s a taste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxhYjq-4WyU
Here’s my reaction after watching the above clip:

“Seems to me that they just found a group of lowlifes that were the closest thing they could find to the ‘Real Housewives’ and the crew of ‘Jersey Shore.’ Thankfully, they’re easy for the rest of us to spot because they stick out like a sore thumb :)”
Then it occurred to me that my friend’s mom had referred to the channel that aired the show as “the Learning Channel,” so I added this:
“‘Bama Belles’ is just one more example of a network forgetting their roots in the interest of ratings. MTV (which originally stood for Music Television) and VH1 (Video Hits One) both started out, as their names suggest, playing videos. But MTV saw the success of ‘The Real World’ and decided to expand it, while VH1 tried to capitalize on the success of their documentary show ‘Behind the Music’ -- as well as on the ‘reality show’ craze. Not long after, TNN (The Nashville Network) and CMT (Country Music Television) did the same. Now ‘The Learning Channel’ has shortened their name to TLC, and instead of offering enriching educational material (like PBS used to do, but that’s a novel for another day), they’ve joined their predecessors in taking the lowest common denominator and making it the new ‘average.’ But to paraphrase the old saying, a pile of dung by any other name smells just as foul.”
Unfortunately, the aforementioned shows are just a few symptoms of a much larger disease (a metaphor that any fan of medical dramas like “House, MD” -- which I used to watch regularly -- would understand).
A while back [on Facebook] I posted a status message bemoaning the fact that in the space of a few hours I had seen commercials for two shows that both had “bleep” in the title (“[Bleep] My Dad Says” and “Who the [Bleep] Did I Marry?”). Someone asked what I meant, and I said I’d get back to them because I felt the question deserved more than a brief answer. I never did, so let me see if I can address the relevant part of my concern here.
There’s a phrase that used to be used often but you don’t hear much anymore: “coarsening of the culture.” Putting “bleep” in the title of a TV show is a wink-and-a-nod at the practice of censors bleeping out foul language (as well as the practice of using such language). When Clark Gable said to Vivien Leigh, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a d***,” it caused a huge scandal because most people understood that you’re not supposed to talk that way. But now, thanks in part to things like George Carlin’s “seven dirty words” routine, many people don’t even flinch when they hear songs like Sophie B. Hawkins’ “D*** I Wish I Was Your Lover,” or, more recently, Flo Rida’s “In The Ayer” (“Oh hot d***/This is my jam”).
A few years ago someone (I forget who) pointed out the irony of certain recording artists accepting awards for their profanity-laced songs by saying, “I just want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this award.” While it’s good for people to recognize that “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17), they neglect to remember the words of Paul in Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths.” Or James 3:9-10: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (Seriously, what rapper doesn’t trash talk other rappers?)
As my dad, who has been a pastor almost my whole life and run a children’s home for two-thirds of it, could tell you, the thing about addictions is that you’re constantly looking for that next fix and needing more in order to satisfy. Marketers know this full well, which is one of the things that got us into the economic mess we’re currently experiencing. And as I indicated above, TV executives are eager to capitalize on successful formulas to draw in viewers. The apostle Paul knew this as well, so he told the Philippians: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Phil. 4:12)
Let me close by recommending a recent sermon by Mark Driscoll, “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” You can watch it here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/the-parable-of-the-rich-fool