What’s New for Teens on TV… Don’t Ask!

Posted on: 06/21/10 2:24 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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School’s out, summer has officially arrived… and kids are officially bored. So what are many of them going to do?

As much as I would love to tell you that kid will be outside playing stickball in the street or riding their bikes to the lake to swim… the reality is, media is going to be a HUGE part of their summer. And research shows that the majority of that media will be TV.

So what’s on TV?

Most of the new shows aren’t out yet… except for two strategically timed brand new shows from MTV. And I’m actually afraid to even type what these two shows are about, because then many of your “content-blockers” might block this blog. So… hmmmm…. let me be scientific: the shows really focus on male genitalia. (how was that?)

This week our Youth Culture Window article goes into great detail about the shows. Here’s just a snippet. And please, pardon our candor:

A nerd with a big penis becomes the talk of the school. A stuffed bear with a big penis becomes the rival of a puppet ape.

Yep, these really are the plotlines for two of MTV’s new shows.

Introducing RJ Berger
The Hard Times of RJ Berger now airs on MTV on Monday nights at 10:00pm EST, following its pilot episode which debuted immediately after the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, June 6, 2010. The title of the show is actually a play on words because of the lead character’s…ummm, how do I say this?…“anatomical gift.”

CLICK HERE FOR THAT ENTIRE ARTICLE

It was funny. When I sent this article to my secretary to proof, she sent it back to me with this note: “Too much ‘penis’ in this article.”

I’ve never been sent a note like that before. (What has our society come to that we have to be careful how to even disclose to you about this kind of content?!!)

Sigh.

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TV isn’t Dead, but Growing

Posted on: 06/18/10 2:21 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes claims, “TV is not only not dead, but it’s one of the fastest growing businesses. Ratings, time spent and viewership are all up.”

Two weekends ago I taught my Connect Workshop to a group of youth leaders from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In that workshop I started with a youth culture quiz. Two weeks prior I started my parent seminar with the same quiz. In both those groups… they almost all missed this question:

What activity is more popular with teenagers age 12-17?

A. Watching TV

B. Internet Use

Everyone always guesses B.

The answer is A… by a landslide.

The results are clear across the board- all agree that TV dominates the media time of young people (and adults too, actually). Kaiser reports that 8-18 year olds average 4 hours and 29 minutes of television programming each and every day (an increase of 40 minutes per day since the last report 5 years ago). And Nielson reports about 3 hours and 46 minutes daily on traditional TV alone (not internet TV, mobile TV, no DVRs, etc.). for 12-17-year-olds.

Time-Warner’s Jeff Bewkes says “Digital is good for TV,” in this report from Nielson this week, contrary to conjecture that internet or mobile devices are slowly replacing TV.

The sad fact is… TV content is just getting worse and worse. As I shared last week in my article about the sexually charged MTV Movie Awards, “MTV has put themselves in a bind. Each year they try to trump the previous year, and the easiest way to do that is to push the limits even further. It’s difficult to even imagine the show 10 years from today.”

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Dawn Treader Exclusive Trailer

Posted on: 06/16/10 1:49 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Okay… this is kind of cool.

I get to release to you an exclusive trailer for the new Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This trailer is only being released to a few people in the Christian media world right now so we can show it to you guys first. Pretty cool!

Here it is:


The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader Official Teaser Trailer

(If you received this blog via email and can’t see the embedded trailer, click HERE to view it on my blog)

I’m pretty excited about this film. In my blog a few weeks ago, I not only showed you the cool new poster for the film, I mentioned that this film (coming December 10th) is going to be directed by Michael Apted… a really solid director.

I don’t know if it’s this preview or the fact that I grew up reading the book. Either way… I’m eager to see it!

Chime in and comment. Tell me what you think.

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Katy Perry the Host

Posted on: 06/13/10 3:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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You know Katy Perry as the girl who Kissed a Girl and Liked It, or most recently, the girl with the naughty hand gestures at the MTV Movie Awards when singing about how the California Girls are so hot that they “will melt your popsicle.” Who better to host the next Teen Choice Awards on August 9th.

The Teen Choice Awards is Fox’s chance to both reflect and currupt our culture annually. Last year the Awards was where Miley did her little pole dance.

This year, with Katy at the Helm, we can probably expect a lot more sexual humor. Her few minutes of screen time before and after the MTV Awards last weekend gave us just a glimpse of that.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Perry will “both host and perform at the show” this year.

Hmmmmm.

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Christina’s Woohoo

Posted on: 06/8/10 12:49 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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By now many of you have heard the buzz about Christina Aguilera’s performance at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night where she debuted her brand new song Woohoo. It’s difficult to miss when an “artist” sings a song basically asking someone to lick her vagina. MTV not only allowed Christina to peform this song live Sunday night, but they also zoomed in for a close up of her crotch at the end of the performance with a lit up heart on her… should we call it her “woohoo?”

As a parent who researches youth culture for a living, it takes a lot to surprise me. But I confess, I was truly shocked with how far MTV was allowed to go on Sunday night. (You can catch my detailed synopsis of this popular event watched by literally millions of our teens and tweens in this week’s Youth Culture Window article.)

As for Christina’s new album Bionic, released today… I guess I’m not surprised at all by its racy content. Christina has always trumped Britney on the road to skankville. Bionic features the song, Not Myself Tonight, a song and video that I already blogged about a few weeks ago. That particular video was number one in iTunes for a few days– it’s the 5th most downloaded video today. If you’re a parent, you might want to take a peek at what your kids have access to only a click away.

As for the third song on the album, Woohoo… there’s not much to say. Here’s a glimpse at the lyrics:

You know you really wanna (hey)
Wanna taste my (woohoo)
You know you wanna get a peak
Wanna see my (woohoo)
You know you wanna put your lips
Where my hips are (woohoo)
Kiss all my (woohoo)
All over my (woohoo)

All the boys think it’s cake
When they taste my (woohoo)
You don’t even need a plate
Just your face, ha (woohoo)
Licky, licky, yum yum (woohoo)
What a great guy (woohoo)…

One of the sad elements of this song if you listen to the entire thing is that it is so casual about drinking and hooking up, with, of course, no mention of the numerous consequences to this physically, emotionally and spiritually. I’m not the only one upset by this kind of irresponsibility.

Another interesting thing about these lyrics– notice how Christina never uses any cuss words or says anything outright. (I mean… yes… HELLO! It’s as blatant as ever… but I can hear kids now, “What are you talking about mom! The song is clean!”) Interesting enough, iTunes still has labeled the song explicit. I say “interesting,” because they and many others didn’t label the “clean version” of Lil Wayne’s Lollipop (also about oral sex) explicit. They just edited out the cusswords, but left all references to licking the lollipop… and poof… it was “clean.”

Parents… listen up.

It’s a simple tool called Google. When your kids want to download a song, just pop on Google, type the artist, the song name, and then type the word “lyrics,” and hit search. In this case, you would type: Christina Aguilera Woohoo lyrics.

Read the lyrics and then have a conversation with your kids. Don’t tell them it’s wrong. Have them read the lyrics out loud to you. Then ask them. “What’s this song about?”

I’ve written an entire article about this process here: Dad, Can I Download this Song?

Keep having these conversations. Because as long as the Christinas, Britneys… and even Mileys of the world are out there, we need to teach our kids discernment with their media choices.

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The PG-13 Epidemic

Posted on: 06/2/10 1:02 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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I am growing to hate PG-13 movies.

Just give me straight R… at least you’re being honest with me about what I should expect. Don’t give me this false expectation that this content is okay for 13-year-olds somewhere.

Last night my wife and I rented the fairly new to DVD/Blu Ray movie, Valentine’s Day... rated PG-13. The preview for this film looked pretty good. It’s a Gary Marshall film and it has an all star cast. Seriously… you’ll be surprised how many stars are in this.

So we gave it a try– just me and Lori, no kids.

I got a sour taste in my mouth about 12 minutes into it. Name it: hooking up, talk of threesomes, phone sex…

Now, I realize that not all “date flicks” are totally clean. I really like The Notebook… and that’s got some pretty steamy moments. I like Big Fat Greek Wedding, and that has premarital sex. I like Say Anything… again… premarital sex. But Valentine’s Day was in another league. I guess they are targeting all these women that love Sex and the City.

I guess that’s why I wrote the article years ago: Why I Allowed my 12-year-old to See Rater R… but Not PG-13!

You can catch my official review of Valentine’s Day on our movie review page here.

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New Narnia Film

Posted on: 05/20/10 2:08 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Okay… I’ve always been a huge fan of the Narnia books… so the films have always peeked my interest.

Next one is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, directed by none other than Micheal Apted (Amazing Grace). No offense to the past director… but I’m glad to see they’re bringing in a real Hollywood hitter for this one!

The “teaser” poster just released for this Christmas’ most anticipated film. Check it out:

Gotta love Aslan!!! (and check out Reepicheep)

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Who Wants to Be Skanky?

Posted on: 05/16/10 9:20 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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It’s like a new game show. “Who Wants to the Be the Most Skanky!” And the winner… Christina Aguilera, by a landslide with her new #1 video, Not Myself Tonight.

The competition for trampiness has been tight lately.

And that’s just in the last week. How do you top that?

Well… leave it to Christina; and I guess her plan worked, because this weekend her insanely sexualized Not Myself Tonight video hit the #1 spot for downloaded videos on iTunes.

Sex sells…. indeed.

Here’s a glimpse of the lyrics of this song:

I’m dancing a lot and I’m taking shots
and I’m feeling fine I’m kissing all the boys and the girls
Someone call the doctor cause I lost my mind…

Cause I’m doing things that I normally won’t do
The old me is gone, I feel brand new
And if you don’t like it, f*** you

(how interesting that she quoted II Corinthians 5:17)   🙂

I thought about showing you a screenshot from the video… but in all honesty, it was hard to find one that I felt like I could even post. If she’s not half naked, then she’s licking the tongue of another girl or being groped by her male dancers. This shot is about the cleanest glimpse I can give you.

Isn’t it comforting to see that our kids can just click the “preview” button and see all this?

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Billy Ray says, “It’s what people her age do.”

Posted on: 05/14/10 11:28 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Hey parents… don’t worry if your 16-year-old girls are literally “grinding” with men on the dance floor, “It’s what people her age do.”

Whew! That’s a relief. And I thought I should be worried! It’s so nice to know that this is just normal.

With Miley, the news just gets worse and worse. May 12th, TMZ posted this video footage of Miley grinding on the dance floor last summer with the director of her most recent film, The Last Song. Wow! And I thought her new music video was bad! Miley never ceases to shock me.

Sadly, if you’ve ever been to a school dance, you see this all the time. But it’s still hard to watch the camera close up on Miley’s posterior as her director literally grinds his crotch against her. When you watch it, you can’t help but ask, Is this really what parents think they should just let “people her age do?”

This week my Youth Culture Window article focuses on many of Miley’s recent decisions, especially her brand new racy music video. This new “grinding” video just confirms what was said in that article. But the sad fact is her father’s response to this video of her grinding. “It’s what people her age do.”

The timing of Billy’s statement is hilarious. I’m in the airport right now heading to NJ to teach a parenting workshop to help parents raise their kids with Biblical values in this highly sexualized culture. I’m going to assure them, “You’re the parent. You don’t have to sell out to this!” You bet we’ll be talking about this incident.

Sigh.

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TV Viewing Delays Development

Posted on: 05/11/10 12:21 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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TV watching has been quite the buzz lately, especially since both Nielson and Kaiser have recently confirmed that TV watching is by far the largest consumed media across all age groups.

Now a Canadian study has found that too much television for young children is bad for your child’s health and brain development. (Surprise, surprise!) This isn’t the first study we’ve seen talking about how too much media could hurt kids’ health.

It’s funny… at the last parent workshop I taught, I asked the parents attending which entertainment media source the average kid spent the most time in front of. Most parents voted “internet” or “music.” It’s a common misconception. Believe it or not, TV still reigns (you can look at my blog about Nielson’s results here or our article about Kaiser’s study here). Even with the increase in online downloading of shows, normal “traditional” TV watching wins.

So it’s no surprise when this Canadian study discovered not only that kids were watching too much TV, but it affected their social skills, math skills and even their heath!

Here’s a snippet about the study from the Montreal Gazette:

The parents of 1,314 children were asked how much time their little ones spent in front of the box at 29 months and again at 58 months. When the children were 10, researchers used academic records, interviews with Grade 4 teachers and body mass index measurements, weighted against factors such as temperament, family makeup and how far their mother went in school to tease out a portrait of how TV watching as a toddler shaped a child’s ability to focus, process complex information and think logically.

“We found every additional hour of TV exposure among toddlers corresponded to a future decrease in classroom engagement and success at math, increased victimization by classmates . . . a more sedentary lifestyle, higher consumption of junk food and, ultimately, higher body mass index,”

That’s a no-brainer.

Hey… I’ve got an idea: monitor your kids’ TV watching! (Brilliant, huh?)

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