Posts Tagged ‘Television’
Why Kids Shouldn’t Be On Reality TV
This story, if true, illustrates something I’ve said for a long time. Children shouldn’t be on reality television shows.
This Daily Mail article, taken from a report in the New York Daily News, says that Kate Gosselin told her daughters, “You embarrassed mommy,” after they didn’t “defend her” during an interview on NBC’s Today Show.
I know I’ve said it to people I know, and I think I’ve written about it and/or talked about it on podcasts. What have I said? That kids shouldn’t be on reality shows. It’s not fair to them. They aren’t able to make an informed decision about their privacy.
Now, what do I mean by “kids”? I would say “18 and under” but that’s both unrealistic and a little silly. What would be reasonable, though, is 13 years old. That’s the age used by COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
COPPA establishes rules for websites collecting information about children under the age of 13. Seems reasonable, right? Maybe we could apply the same cut-off age to whether or not a kid is allowed to be on a reality TV show.
Now, you might say, “what about child actors?” Well, there are laws about child actors — the hours they are allowed to work, what happens to the money they make so that unscrupulous parents can’t spend it all. Also, those kids are ACTING. They don’t have cameras in their homes recording their real lives.
Yes, I am aware that “reality television” isn’t reality. These shows have writers on staff, and much of what is purportedly real is staged. (I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before by hundreds of other people. If this is the first time you’ve heard it, my apologies.) Still, would you like to grow up and discover that you were a reality TV star when you were two years old?
Here’s an idea. As the Marx Brothers said, there is no sanity clause.
But maybe there should be. It doesn’t seem fair that young children should be allowed to have their lives broadcast on television, even with parental consent. Many news outlets fuzz out the faces of kids in photos. Why? Presumably because they respect the idea of a child’s right to privacy. Why not extend this same right to reality TV?
Kate Gosselin tells twins they ’embarrassed mommy’ at Today show appearance | Mail Online.
James Holmes’ Father Goes To Colorado, and Reflections on TV News, TMZ, and Kids Doing Journalism
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwqFgnl4rMs]
James Holmes, the man accused of shooting dozens of people at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, will get a visit from his father.
From where did I get this news? TMZ.
Yes, that TMZ. Weird Al did a song parody of Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ called ‘TMZ’ on his recent album Alpocalypse. Whenever I hear “TMZ”, I think of that song. (This is why there’s a Weird Al video at the top of this post.) I certainly don’t think “trenchant news reporting”. So I was surprised to find that this particular TMZ broadcast did a nice job of reporting on the Colorado shooting.
Here are some of my thoughts about the awful event in Colorado, how it was covered in the media, and kids practicing the ancient art of journalism from their bedrooms. Read more »
Dad Night on America’s Got Talent
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mL3A_D3jbs]
Finally got to watch Howard Stern on America’s Got Talent. Big highlight? Howard’s dad, Ben Stern. There were lots of other dad-oriented moments. Here are the ones I can remember, along with video clips from the show.
Why Are We Still Debating The Benefits of Bilingualism?
I’m not going to bother reading this New York Times essay titled The Benefits of Bilingualism.
Why not? First of all, I’m busy. Second, I’d rather write this post and I really am kinda busy right now. Third, and most important, I truly cannot believe that there are people in the world who don’t understand that it is a good idea to know how to speak more than one language. (And Klingon doesn’t count. Sorry.) Read more »
Kourtney Kardashian and ‘Teen Mom’ Farrah Abraham Bitter Twitter Battle
Kourtney Kardashian and ‘Teen Mom’ Farrah Abraham engaged in a Bitter Twitter Battle recently. This may be a sign that the end of the world is nigh. We also think it’s tacky. Read more »
Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Actually The Governator
Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually The Governator. No, not just his nickname. An animated character.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing a cartoon where he plays a character called The Governator.
Seriously.
Real news is sounding too much like The Onion.
Quotes from Ah-nuld: Read more »
Young Justice Cartoon Will Air November 26
The new Young Justice cartoon will air November 26, according to a report from New York Comic Con on Poptimal.
We’re always excited about any new superhero cartoon. For some reason, it was hard to find an exact date anywhere online. But we did — Cartoon Network will air a one-hour premiere of Young Justice on November 26, 2010. The series starts up for real in Spring of 2011. Which isn’t specific enough for my taste, but whatever.
What is Young Justice? It’s kind of like Teen Titans, but different. You’ll see the young heroes/sidekicks like Robin and Speedy, but some things will be different. UGO.com says that the Young Justice cartoon will “reboot the reboots“, which could be OK as long as it’s not “Infinitely Finally The Last Crisis Ever No Really We Mean It” type of nonsense.
For those who want even more background on Young Justice, it all started with comics, as usual. There were some issues written by Peter David (one of my favorite comics writers), and there are trade paperbacks although some, such as Young Justice: Sins of Youth, are out of print. Then there is the 2-issue miniseries JLA: WORLD WITHOUT GROWN-UPS, which is being reprinted as a plain ol’ overpriced comic book under the title DC Comics Presents Young Justice #1. My guess is that there will be more of these reprints leading up to the premiere on November 26; hopefully they will reprint the Peter David issues, because I like his writing. And let’s face it, it’s all about my needs.
Here’s the official video preview with the Young Justice cartoon producers Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman discussing the characters.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiOjAmXDjW4]
And here is five minutes of slightly shaky Young Justice footage from a New York Comic Con panel.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsnuMjbaqbM]
Poptimal also has video of the producers discussing the show.
What do you think? Looks good? Gonna watch? Read the comics? Let us know!
NY Comic-Con 2010: Young Justice Preview : Poptimal.com
