The cultural majority in America is up in arms over the rising levels of violence and horrific images that have seeped into popular entertainment.
Movies, television, and music have always been controversial, but even they can cross the line between poor taste and immorality. Entertainment corporations and record labels don't even blink, when told of the excessive torture or satanic lyrics found in material. Producers and directors continue to push the envelop on what is "done in good taste."
Gangsta rap is one of the current problems of society. Popular music for teens has always been controversial, or at least in conflict with middle class attitudes. Teen music has always been under scrutiny by those who are older. Parents, whether from the 60's or 90's, never welcome the sounds of the younger generation. Unfortunately this fact does not comfort someone when listening to Snoop Doggy Dog or Ice Cube talk of sex, violence, beatings, and suicide. Hollywood, the country's Mecca for TV and movies, is another contaminated disaster area. This area has given us hero's such as Clint
Eastwood, Humphrey Bogart, and Bruce Willis. Once filmmakers would evoke sexual interests through eye contact or a touch of the leg. Today cinematographers resort to graphic sexual acts and horrific beatings. A poll by Newsweek stated that sexual moderation and fidelity are normal for both married people and for those who live together. In contrast, 7 out of 8 televised sexual encounters involve extramarital sex (Newsweek, 1994). This trend is startling when compared to the fact that children spend more time watching television than they spend in school. According to the American Psychological Association, a typical child sees 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on TV before graduating from elementary school (Nation, 1994).
The results of how television, specifically sex and violence, affect children is not completely known. Although