Monday, October 11, 2010

In the Dark

It's been nearly a year since we got rid of our TV service. This weekend we went to "the trailer" (my parent's country home, if you are new here) and they have TV there. The main thing we watched, besides football and some cartoons, was Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I wanted to watch that because it was about a homeschool family from Texas. OH how I wanted to see the beautifully done, totally wonderful homeschool space they would create.

But they never mentioned it. They DID, however, make mention of the girls liking "fashion" about 8,000 times. If you were watching, there was an alphabet on display in the old home where I assume they did some of their homeschool work, however at the new house they never even showed a room that would have been for homeschooling.

They did build a runway in the upstairs hallway so there's always that.

At least I don't need to be jealous of the awesome homeschool room now.

Anyway, MY POINT is that I was a bit shocked by some of the commercials that were shown during EMHE.

Here's one example: (don't watch if your kiddos are hanging over your shoulder. I unchecked "show related videos" but it still was so I'm changing it to a link.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRbDm644E8&feature=related


Um. Wow. That used to be p*rn.

Also there were ads for Desperate Housewives which were inappropriate. That hasn't changed in a year's time.

And then today I read this summary of the new fall season.

Maybe it's because we've been away, but I'm not used to having to change the channel during commercials. Do you watch this stuff in front of your kids? Even if you are watching an OK show like EMHE...the commercials alone are not acceptable to me.

So, you guys with TV service, do you just DVR everything? Wait until the kids have gone to bed? Only watch cartoons? What? How do you deal with all the blatant smut on TV today?

Is is just me? Am I in the dark or have things gotten pretty bad?

14 comments:

  1. We have network TV service, no DVR, watch football and that's it. During the commercials we flip to PBS and wait 3 minutes before going back to the game. We don't watch any other tv show and no one watches cartoons.

    We used to watch EMHE, years ago, but stopped. We have a lovely home, plenty of space, not drop-dead gorgeously furnished and decorated, but it's nice and we take care of our things. But by the end of the show the boys would be saying things like, "I wish I had that!" And "They're so lucky!" That was NOT what we wanted to cultivate in our children, especially our sons, who already needed a lot of detoxing and reprogramming from the world.

    It's not just you. And it's not that you're 'in the dark'. You're actually 'in the Light' and can simply see - clearly - how dark it is out there.

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  2. I recently saw that commercial and was like HELLO! Do we really need to see a bunch of butts to sell shoes? SHOES!!!! There is also a commercial about a guy checking out a girl in the park walking and he over looks a blond one who has the same type of shoes but they look odder. The whole point of the commercial is "be sure to buy these shoes so the guys will look at your butt instead of your shoes"
    Aahhhh!!!!
    We watch mainly stuff on netflix that has no commercials or we wait till the kids go to bed to watch regular tv. It's gotten completely ridiculous. The men's cologne and woman's perfume commercials aren't all that great either!
    When it all comes down to it, they are either marketing fast foods, or the shoes to combat our fatness , or the drugs if we decide to not work out. Just think, God says it will only get worse!

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  3. We DVR everything and watch after the kids go to bed. Those commercials are an abomination and I am considering writing a letter to all those shoe companies. It's disgusting. I also find commercials for evil halloween movies to be really offensive.

    As for what the kids watch, pretty much just PBS and Sprout. Even other kid's channels have commercials I object to, and commercials trying to sell them stuff, so their access is very limited. I think this will become a bigger issue as they get older, but so far it works.

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  4. I will say that yes I am still shocked by stuff that we see on tv- actually we have no tv service AT ALL. I do however watch some show on HULU and see the commercials there. The kids however DO not. WE have only been without TV service for about 9 months now- but even before we did dvr a lot of stuff- in fact we allowed the kids to watch the clone wars but when it came on all the commercials were for GOOSEBUMPS so we started buying the epidsode on ITUNES, to avoid commercials at all.

    I read all the shows listed in the fall preview, I dont watch any of those shows, although I do watch others or Dave does...I will say that I hulu'd the NO Ordinary Family- hoping that it would a cute family friendly show, the premise sounded cute to me. BUT what they say on the review is EXACTLY how I feel. I think what is going to happen is that as the family gets back from beign dysfunctionsl- parents on teh brink of divorce, that the attitudes will mellow out. NOT that their happiness comes from a relationship with God but it would be nice for a family friendly cute show. we shall see??

    I watched THe secret life of an american teenager and every week would write letters to teh producers- the things on that show ASTOUNDED ME! I could not believe.

    I am still shocked YES, it is not darkness I think is dysentization (spell that). We watch movies on dvds! Even at the movie theatre we have gone to watch a family friendly flick and have left to tell the manager what we thought of THE PREVIEWS!

    people say to just ignore it but it is in your mind, thoughts etc.. you cant simply ignore it. I know that we push the boundaries enough with some of the things our kids watch- meaning they have NO biblical value to them, maybe a good lesson is taught. BUT we DO try to limit and we DO completely NOT allow certain things period.

    not easy!

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  5. Commercials bother me to no end, Brenda. Our only "tv" is netflix and hulu, but the other day I put on an old episode of Flipper (the original series) for my toddler and I had to minimize the browser window for three minutes because there was a HIGHLY inappropriate, non-kid-friendly ad in front of the show. And forget letting my daughter watch football with her daddy at grandpa's house (which she loves to do) -- the ads are terrible!!

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  6. Oh Brenda, I only pray that my husband would get rid of our TV's....or at least all but 1! Life would have so many more quiet moments. We dont allow TV during school hours, unless there is a show on PBS or NATGEO that is part of school related subjects. I applaud you and the other blogger gals! YOu are my heros!

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  7. I haven't watched the link yet because I have a little sleepy kiddo laying next to me. But I can say, we went to Netflix for the last 8 months and just recently went back to Directv. We dvr everything. And watch anything we like after they go to bed. Even Disney. Tonight we tried to watch Cars before bed (live) and they had Halloween commercials that we were trying to pause and wait so we could skip through. It's bad. When we watch American Idol live we pause long enough to just stay ahead of the commercials.

    We've taught (are teaching with the youngers) discernment and we preview most everything. Because invariably it blows up in our faces when we don't.

    We were completely tvless for a while a few years back, but have gone back. One tv. In the living room. Same with the 'puter. Well, several laptops, but the kids are only on the one in the school room/dining room. Mega-controlled everything.

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  8. Commercials were the main reason we got rid of our TV and we recently talked to another family who said they did the exact same thing for the exact same reason. We actually had to turn off the TV during commercials but then we decided that it wasn't worth the money to have it anyway so now it's gone and we don't even miss it.

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  9. Let me just add...we didn't get rid of TV b/c of a great religious conviction but because we simply could not afford it! :) BUT...now that we've been away from it, I can see the really good benefits and when I was exposed to it again this weekend I was horrified. Whether you have TV or not--be careful! Guard your children and yourself!

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  10. We watched that episode and had no idea this was a homeschooling family! The fact that they put in a catwalk and not a school room is amazing (not to mention telling).

    When they set the girls up with some fashion model my husband said if it was his daughters, he would have apologized for appearing ungrateful but asked if they could take them somewhere, anywhere besides a modeling studio?

    As for the commercials, yeah. That was pretty bad, although I don't remember seeing that. I tend to get up and wander during commercial breaks. My husband said he saw it, though.

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  11. We are not TV watchers around here. Over the last couple of years, I have come to the personal conclusion that I would rather be doing 100 other things than watch TV. Plus, it is full of garbage. We have kept it for the kids, but they have watched it less and less over time. (I guess they don't because WE don't). We do have lots of movies and will pop in a DVD a couple of times a week. I like being able to choose exactly what we watch like that. We have recently come to the conclusion that we are wasting money on DirecTV that never gets turned on, so it's about to go! There are 2 shows I like watching... 1 is the Duggars. I DVR that and get to watch a couple of episodes ever few months. The other is Smallville and we just wait until the season is out on DVD and watch it after the kids are in bed. I think the more you watch TV, the more you slowly get desensitized to it. I've seen it happen with my own parents. It's sad to me. :-( SO I'd rather just stay away and guard our little ones' (and our) hearts.

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  12. I don't know what EHME is -- we have a family cable that does not get regular channels like ABC or NBS or CBS -- just family stuff for the most part, and is only $20 per month. Before that we had Sky Angel when the children were still home.

    You would NEVER know that they were selling shoes -- underpants, maybe, and those wedgies looked downright uncomfortable.

    I read the other link and am appalled by the bad language. Anything goes nowadays, it seems.

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  13. We turned off our t.v. 20 years ago, and have never regretted it.

    We do have a "t.v." ... but it is ONLY used for carefully screened dvds. Our kids love to watch "The Waltons", "Little House on the Prairie", "The Beverly Hillbilles".

    I appreciate that many of your commenters wait to watch the "bad shows" until after their children are in bed. However, I would encourage them to think about whether or not it is healthy for mom and dad to be watching those shows as well. Is it a good use of their time? Is it good for the hubby to see scantily clad women? Is it really good to watch so much sex, violence, and hear the bad language?

    Just found your blog, and am looking forward to reading more about your family.

    Laurel :)

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  14. Ditto Laurel ;^) *waving a hello*

    We got sucked into TV watching again. That was a few years ago. We CAN choose the show, but not the commercials UGH! I CAN set the parental controls (which we call 'moral' control), but the commercials are still there.
    and I despise the MA rating; like how is that considered "mature"??
    Great post Brenda!
    ~Sheri

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I don't get to talk to a lot of actual grown-ups during the day, so your comments make me really happy! :)