Uh, Ok: The AFA Puzzles Me Again
So, I get the latest complaint about NBC content from Don Wildmon of the American Family association:
Dear Timothy, The February 6 episode of NBC's Las Vegas contained a scene inside a strip club. The content of that scene was extremely graphic.
Ok, that makes sense so far. What follows, however, I found hard to fathom:
We have provided a video of the scene below.NBC aired this scene during prime-time hours when they knew millions of children would likely be watching. But NBC didn't care if they exposed children to this kind of material. Please take action below and help us help our children.
[…]
Rather than trying to describe it to you, I would rather you watch it yourself. After watching the video, please follow the instructions to file your official complaint with the FCC. It will only take a couple of minutes to file the complaint. Do it for your children and grandchildren. After you file your complaint, please forward this to friends and family.
WARNING: This scene taken from the NBC program Las Vegas is highly offensive.
Most of the emphasis is mine. So the AFA found this program so offensive that they want all of their mailing list recipients to watch it? I am all for insuring people don't just start complaining to the FCC about something they have no idea about, but still, it seems very strange to essentially be getting more people to see something that is allegedly very offensive. (I did not view the link myself.)
The AFA just puzzles me a lot of the time.
Me too. And you are correct, this is odd.
I got on their mailing list before I knew who these people were and after several attempts to get off of the mailing list, I'm still there.
After seeing how it operated, I decided some time ago the AFA was just another political pressure group with the label “Christian” plastered on the outside. However, I'm not sure I can argue too much with the request you see it, since the complaint is about children viewing it, not adults. It's just that I hate TV in the first place, so to hear a program is offensive strikes me as, “Well duh; it's on TV isn't it?”
AFA actually made a big deal about that one too… I'd agree with Ed and Christopher on this group. I actually signed up originally because I read a (humor) book by now AFA president Tim Wildmon and really enjoyed it. Personally, I see much more value in describing a scene than having people watch it if it is truly as offensive as they said it was (the AFA does overreact at times, so I don't know…).
Kevin has a good point about increasing exposure among children, too…
I wonder how many children who never would have watched the TV show have now seen the video, thanks to the email.
IMHO, this was/is a pre-emptive strike. Meaning if this “outrage” gains momentum the last thing they want is people being interviewed and saying they have never seen the “piece” that is so offensive. So I get them making sure people have seen it.
My problem with this is, it never works. The more you scream about something the more people want to stop and take a look. I personally like how the Priest TV show was handled. (The one about the disfunctional family and such) Ignore it completely and it will go away.