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Letter to CBS about Super Bowl - thoughts?
greeker375
Member Posts: 3,644
I don't know how many have received this, but, if true and sent to CBS, then I say Bravo!
Greeker
Below is a copy of letter sent to CBS by a John Thurman of Wyoming. I think it is an outstanding response and that he speaks for a lot of
American's.
Subject: my (John Thurman's) comments on the half time show Note -
I'll be sending this to my local paper, the FCC, CBS, Senators Thomas
and Enzi, and Congresswoman Cubin. Feel free to forward this to your
friends. I don't normally do the big e-mail thing, but I really feel
CBS missed the point. Sorry if you think I'm a nut. I'll just have
to live with the consequences.
John Thurman
What was really wrong with Super Bowl Sunday?
February 3, 2004
To the senior management of CBS:
I, along with millions of other Americans, was disgusted with many
aspects of CBS's Super Bowl production. By now, we have read many
news stories about Janet Jackson's right breast. That was a cheap and degrading publicity stunt, and I'm sure Congress and the FCC will deal with it properly. But, the problems with CBS's programming go much deeper than that.
Before the game, I read news stories indicating the Super Bowl is the
most widely watched television event in the world, with an estimated
world-wide audience of 2 billion people. In that context, CBS should
have realized it's obligation to represent America to the world. This
isn't just a football game; this is the United States of America on
display for the rest of the planet.
So, how did CBS choose to present us to the world? With a half-time
show of vile, tasteless, disgusting acts. The entire episode, start
to finish, filled me with revulsion. But, really, what else did we
expect? I'm an American, and, since I was a child in diapers, I've
been fed mindless, disgusting drivel through the so-called
entertainment medium of broadcast television. By now, I'm used to it, and I, like the rest of America, will get over it. The network will pay some fines, Janet Jackson will temporarily revive her rapidly declining career, Nellie will keep grabbing his Willie, and Kid Rock will continue to be famous for being a bizarre example of white trash. Such is life in the USA.
But, what really bothers me is that, after reading all of the news
stories, I find that CBS still doesn't realize what they did, and why
it was wrong.
Well CBS - here is why: American soldiers are engaged in a culture
war in Iraq and Afghanistan. At this point in the battle, it's no
longer our armies against their armies; it's our ideas of freedom and
liberty against the enemy's ideas of fear and repression. America has put out a message of hope to the world - live free, have hope, and enjoy the fruits of a free and open democratic society. The Super Bowl half-time show poisoned that message. Given the opportunity to share the best of America with the world, the shows producers instead chose to showcase the vilest, narrowest, most hedonistic aspects of our culture - and it was broadcast to the biggest world-wide audience CBS will have all year. You could have showcased the best of America. Instead, you glamorized the worst.
But what of free expression, one might ask? If showcasing free
expression and the rights of political dissent were on the agenda, the Dixie Chicks would have performed at center stage, rather than Nellie holding his wiener and Janet flashing her pasty. CBS had the
opportunity to positively portray the character of America to a
world-wide audience of some 2 billion people. CBS squandered this
perfect opportunity to take the moral high ground, and instead chose
to titillate (pardon me) it's audience with a program whose entire
content bordered on the edge of smut.
Well, CBS, I don't know what's worse; that you hurt the war effort by
giving such obvious moral ammunition to the recruiters of Osama Bin
Laden, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban, or that you didn't even realize
you'd done it. Perhaps that's the saddest observation on your
half-baked half-time show. Your apologists still think it's about a
boob. I think I can tell you, it's about much more than that. It's
about America's image on the world stage.
Please hire some employees possessing the most basic understanding of
manners, morals, and good taste. And take the time to consider the
implications of your programming on your entire, world-wide audience.
This really is important. Our soldier's lives may depend on it.
Sincerely,
John Thurman
Worland, Wyoming
"the difference between the almost right word and the right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt" - Mark Twain.
Greeker
Below is a copy of letter sent to CBS by a John Thurman of Wyoming. I think it is an outstanding response and that he speaks for a lot of
American's.
Subject: my (John Thurman's) comments on the half time show Note -
I'll be sending this to my local paper, the FCC, CBS, Senators Thomas
and Enzi, and Congresswoman Cubin. Feel free to forward this to your
friends. I don't normally do the big e-mail thing, but I really feel
CBS missed the point. Sorry if you think I'm a nut. I'll just have
to live with the consequences.
John Thurman
What was really wrong with Super Bowl Sunday?
February 3, 2004
To the senior management of CBS:
I, along with millions of other Americans, was disgusted with many
aspects of CBS's Super Bowl production. By now, we have read many
news stories about Janet Jackson's right breast. That was a cheap and degrading publicity stunt, and I'm sure Congress and the FCC will deal with it properly. But, the problems with CBS's programming go much deeper than that.
Before the game, I read news stories indicating the Super Bowl is the
most widely watched television event in the world, with an estimated
world-wide audience of 2 billion people. In that context, CBS should
have realized it's obligation to represent America to the world. This
isn't just a football game; this is the United States of America on
display for the rest of the planet.
So, how did CBS choose to present us to the world? With a half-time
show of vile, tasteless, disgusting acts. The entire episode, start
to finish, filled me with revulsion. But, really, what else did we
expect? I'm an American, and, since I was a child in diapers, I've
been fed mindless, disgusting drivel through the so-called
entertainment medium of broadcast television. By now, I'm used to it, and I, like the rest of America, will get over it. The network will pay some fines, Janet Jackson will temporarily revive her rapidly declining career, Nellie will keep grabbing his Willie, and Kid Rock will continue to be famous for being a bizarre example of white trash. Such is life in the USA.
But, what really bothers me is that, after reading all of the news
stories, I find that CBS still doesn't realize what they did, and why
it was wrong.
Well CBS - here is why: American soldiers are engaged in a culture
war in Iraq and Afghanistan. At this point in the battle, it's no
longer our armies against their armies; it's our ideas of freedom and
liberty against the enemy's ideas of fear and repression. America has put out a message of hope to the world - live free, have hope, and enjoy the fruits of a free and open democratic society. The Super Bowl half-time show poisoned that message. Given the opportunity to share the best of America with the world, the shows producers instead chose to showcase the vilest, narrowest, most hedonistic aspects of our culture - and it was broadcast to the biggest world-wide audience CBS will have all year. You could have showcased the best of America. Instead, you glamorized the worst.
But what of free expression, one might ask? If showcasing free
expression and the rights of political dissent were on the agenda, the Dixie Chicks would have performed at center stage, rather than Nellie holding his wiener and Janet flashing her pasty. CBS had the
opportunity to positively portray the character of America to a
world-wide audience of some 2 billion people. CBS squandered this
perfect opportunity to take the moral high ground, and instead chose
to titillate (pardon me) it's audience with a program whose entire
content bordered on the edge of smut.
Well, CBS, I don't know what's worse; that you hurt the war effort by
giving such obvious moral ammunition to the recruiters of Osama Bin
Laden, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban, or that you didn't even realize
you'd done it. Perhaps that's the saddest observation on your
half-baked half-time show. Your apologists still think it's about a
boob. I think I can tell you, it's about much more than that. It's
about America's image on the world stage.
Please hire some employees possessing the most basic understanding of
manners, morals, and good taste. And take the time to consider the
implications of your programming on your entire, world-wide audience.
This really is important. Our soldier's lives may depend on it.
Sincerely,
John Thurman
Worland, Wyoming
"the difference between the almost right word and the right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt" - Mark Twain.
Comments
"Instant karma gonna get you,gonna knock you right in the head,better get yourself together,pretty soon you're gonna be dead" John Lennon
________________________________________________________________________
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace" -Thomas Paine
If the people have become so apathetic that they will not vote out all the liberal scum (republican and democrat alike), the only solution is Constitutional Convention II the sequel. Let's get it right this time.
It must be right, or we wouldn't do it this way!
I can't seemed to get enthused about it...
Good game though.
Mateomasfeo
"I am what I am!" - Popeye
***KATN!***