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The Daily OrangeLetters | VMAs, free speech abuse
By Gavin Lee Jones
Posted: 9/17/07, 9:34 PM EST Section: Opinion
The MTV Video Music Awards symbolized the Apocalypse for both the music and television industries, where class, quality and dignity were sacrificed for trashy tabloid humor and bad production quality. I was expecting to watch the same show of the past, where it had respectable performances, a fun atmosphere and stars I could root for rather than feel sorry for. What I saw were mediocre performances, bad cinematography and MTV ending its existence.
For the past five years, television ratings have dropped, music isn't selling as much as it used to and MTV answered why on that very night. Making fun of stars such as Britney Spears may help the tabloids, but it won't help record companies get stars back to multi-platinum status. MTV won't benefit either, who profited off of stars like her for the past nine years. Sarah Silverman's grotesque words about her children and personal life also created a negative atmosphere for the night and highlighted the lack of dignity and respect in our society. The media has sold out to the success of trashy tabloids and reality television thinking that it will bring back viewership, but it really is only making people less enthused to watch. It also made me ponder, especially with Newhouse III opening with the First Amendment on its side, how far freedom of speech should go when people stoop so low that it leaves a sour taste in our mouths.
Gavin Lee Jones
Junior public communications major
For the past five years, television ratings have dropped, music isn't selling as much as it used to and MTV answered why on that very night. Making fun of stars such as Britney Spears may help the tabloids, but it won't help record companies get stars back to multi-platinum status. MTV won't benefit either, who profited off of stars like her for the past nine years. Sarah Silverman's grotesque words about her children and personal life also created a negative atmosphere for the night and highlighted the lack of dignity and respect in our society. The media has sold out to the success of trashy tabloids and reality television thinking that it will bring back viewership, but it really is only making people less enthused to watch. It also made me ponder, especially with Newhouse III opening with the First Amendment on its side, how far freedom of speech should go when people stoop so low that it leaves a sour taste in our mouths.
Gavin Lee Jones
Junior public communications major
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