Music TV

This is from the BC edition of Report/Newsmagazine - not one of my favorite periodicals, mind you, but occassionally everybody makes sense.

"Ask parents about the effects of television on their children, and the answer is easy to predict. Some of the most offensive material is found on channels that are directed specifically at teens--the music channels. Not only are the stations' music videos replete with near-explicit sex acts, violence and other vulgarities, but their regular programming is often offensive too.

In Canada, the worst offender is MuchMusic. In the U.S., it is MTV, the granddaddy of the music video channels. There is no sign that anyone associated with either station has the foggiest idea about the deleterious effects of their sexually charged programming, but at least one prominent 'ex-MTVer has seen the light.

She is Martha Quinn, an original MTV video host. I happened to catch a radio interview with her while I was driving through Washington state over the summer. What she had to say about her old place of employment is worth repeating.

"MTV has introduced sexuality to our children at a much younger age," she observed. "And I regret that...It's very sexualized. And I think that's a shame. I see it in my child's ballet recital. Instead of doing the Nutcracker Suite now, they're all doing Britney Spears. And instead of doing plies, they're shaking their booties. And I'm talking about four-year-olds. And to me, that's a shame."

But isn't it more than a little ironic that she will not let her child watch the channel that made her famous? "It is ironic," she agreed. "But I guess the pull of motherhood is stronger than the pull of hip iconhood. When I was on MTV, I used to think that parents who didn't like MTV were so completely clueless and so completely square, and I would never be like that. And now I am so like that."

Martha Quinn, welcome to adulthood."