- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
- 250
- 85
Do we care about the quality of entertainment being made/distributed in the USA? When we distribute Playboy magazines, pornography, MTV rock-videos featuring scantily-clad dancing women, what messages are we sending to your youngsters?
The Internet has made access to all kinds of images/pornography quite convenient to kids and adults alike, and parental controls/supervision are vital in this modern age of media. How should we conceive of spiritual guidance in this era of high consumerism?
Take for example this hypothetical vignette/scenario about a Catholic missionary named Father Francis who travels from America to Puerto Rico to visit a village in that country being aided by a humanitarian relief group helping the country recover from a devastating hurricane by distributing toys/art to the refugee children/survivors of the hurricane. Father Francis wants the humanitarian group and the governing body overseeing their efforts to take a more 'proactive role' in the monitoring of the method/manner of play that the refugee kids engage in with the toys/art they're receiving from the USA (from the humanitarian relief group).
For this age of entertainment, consumerism, and media, we have to be sure that entertainment/toys representing complex subjects such as racism (e.g., African Barbie dolls), nudity (e.g., racy pseudo-pornographic MTV music-videos), and vice (e.g., crime-themed dolls/robots) do not make us 'morality-slaves' to our own indulgent apathy(!).
What do you think?
By the way, the Evil Elf drawing at the bottom is my own creation, so there are no copyright concerns...
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"My name is Father Francis, and I'd like your permission to inspect the kinds of American toys this Puerto Rican refugee village is receiving from American relief efforts/groups. My concern is that the aesthetics of the toys reaching these underprivileged children will affect the manner of their play and imagination. I'm certain you understand the philosophical implications of such a mission, since I can report to humanitarian groups about the quality of relief-care being managed by major social work oriented organizations."
{Father Francis}
"There is one particular toy/avatar that I'm concerned with that these Puerto Rican children in this invested village of underprivileged youth are receiving as gifts from the involved humanitarian relief group. The toy/avatar I refer to is the fictional Transformers (Hasbro) robot Cyclonus, a purple-colored wolfish evil 'first-knight' robot of an evil army of robots called the Decepticons. Cyclonus transforms into a lethal jet-fighter and represents pure mischief and conceit and arrogance towards anarchy and violence. I'm concerned about the 'message' these Puerto Rican children receive/absorb when they play with their Cyclonus toys and art."
{Cyclonus}
"Father Francis, we're impressed by your level of involvement and concern, and we can concur that this fictional toy robot avatar 'Cyclonus' is indeed a 'malicious' character whose features and design obviously signify a representation of rebelliousness, terrorism, and mischief. If you feel there are 'supervisory procedures' that these Puerto Rican refugee-children should receive upon receiving their Cyclonus toys/art, please advise, and we'll coordinate with a connected group of high school private-school students from America who have volunteered to play with these Puerto Rican kids and the toys/art they're receiving from the involved humanitarian relief group trying to help this challenged country after the devastating hurricane which ravaged the land."
{Private-School Volunteers}
"I was confident that your governing body would see the wisdom of my advice and see the merits of such 'participant' play and educational interaction with these Puerto Rican refugee children who've survived the terrible hurricane. As you know, I'm an ordained Catholic priest, and I've grown up admiring American entertainment and Peanuts (Charles Schulz) cartoons and the disheveled affable child-character Pig-Pen who is always dirty but always affable. If we coordinate entertainment avatars with proper parental guidance, we can deal with modern age issues (relevant to our media-culture) such as racy themes (e.g., slavery) and taboo topics (e.g., pornography) since the Internet and TV offer a broad access to imagery to our kids who are very naturally curious/inquisitive. Naturally, you understand my interest in encouraging a more 'passionate' approach to the presentation of youth-oriented entertainment in this era of great spiritual intrigue created by globalized commerce and trade (e.g., Wall Street, Toys 'R Us, Nickelodeon, MTV, Playboy, YouTube, etc.). Thank you for your confidence!"
{Pig-Pen}
"Father Francis, we're continuing our confident investment in your 'educational approach' to the youth-play of these Puerto Rican refugee children and have trained our high school private-school volunteers from America to interactively work with these kids by sharing with them ideas regarding the proper ethics and stimulation linked to the creative/offbeat toys/art they're receiving from the humanitarian relief group working to help this nation rebuild after the devastating hurricane. You'll be pleased to know, Father Francis, that one of our American high school private-school volunteers named Ethan is creating play-themes involving Cyclonus and another 'mischief/evil' themed toy/avatar the refugee kids received from the humanitarian relief group, a Marvel Comics 'demon' named Menace. Ethan plans to use Cyclonus and Menace to tell our refugee kids in Puerto Rico that imaginative play is vital to optimism in times of great crisis/calamity and that Cyclonus/Menace symbolizes interactive ethics visualization."
{Menace}
"I am delighted that your governing body has invested seriously in this humanitarian relief effort and that efforts are being made to coordinate more active educational/imaginative play between the volunteer private high school students and the refugee kids in this Puerto Rican 'village.' I'm also pleased to learn of Ethan's bright plan to use Menace and Cyclonus in guided play-sessions with the refugee kids so the kids feel like they're feeling closely watched and stimulated in this time of post-calamity recovery. If we take a more active role in the lives of our youngsters, we can more confidently claim that we're serious about the psychological development of our future generations. It was my great spiritual pleasure to work with your group and see these refugee children flourish under your assistance programs. Thanks again for your passion. I've left Ethan a stick-figure drawing a Christmastime consumerism-fun avatar named Evil Elf, which I hope Ethan will use in future play-sessions/lessons about the imagination-value of visualizing ethics and values during play with toys/art. There can be much learned from this experience for American entertainers/artists/film-makers creating new age stories/films/images about virtue/value for mass audiences. This is a nice boon for the MTV generation as well!"
====
The Internet has made access to all kinds of images/pornography quite convenient to kids and adults alike, and parental controls/supervision are vital in this modern age of media. How should we conceive of spiritual guidance in this era of high consumerism?
Take for example this hypothetical vignette/scenario about a Catholic missionary named Father Francis who travels from America to Puerto Rico to visit a village in that country being aided by a humanitarian relief group helping the country recover from a devastating hurricane by distributing toys/art to the refugee children/survivors of the hurricane. Father Francis wants the humanitarian group and the governing body overseeing their efforts to take a more 'proactive role' in the monitoring of the method/manner of play that the refugee kids engage in with the toys/art they're receiving from the USA (from the humanitarian relief group).
For this age of entertainment, consumerism, and media, we have to be sure that entertainment/toys representing complex subjects such as racism (e.g., African Barbie dolls), nudity (e.g., racy pseudo-pornographic MTV music-videos), and vice (e.g., crime-themed dolls/robots) do not make us 'morality-slaves' to our own indulgent apathy(!).
What do you think?
By the way, the Evil Elf drawing at the bottom is my own creation, so there are no copyright concerns...
====
"My name is Father Francis, and I'd like your permission to inspect the kinds of American toys this Puerto Rican refugee village is receiving from American relief efforts/groups. My concern is that the aesthetics of the toys reaching these underprivileged children will affect the manner of their play and imagination. I'm certain you understand the philosophical implications of such a mission, since I can report to humanitarian groups about the quality of relief-care being managed by major social work oriented organizations."
{Father Francis}
"There is one particular toy/avatar that I'm concerned with that these Puerto Rican children in this invested village of underprivileged youth are receiving as gifts from the involved humanitarian relief group. The toy/avatar I refer to is the fictional Transformers (Hasbro) robot Cyclonus, a purple-colored wolfish evil 'first-knight' robot of an evil army of robots called the Decepticons. Cyclonus transforms into a lethal jet-fighter and represents pure mischief and conceit and arrogance towards anarchy and violence. I'm concerned about the 'message' these Puerto Rican children receive/absorb when they play with their Cyclonus toys and art."
{Cyclonus}
"Father Francis, we're impressed by your level of involvement and concern, and we can concur that this fictional toy robot avatar 'Cyclonus' is indeed a 'malicious' character whose features and design obviously signify a representation of rebelliousness, terrorism, and mischief. If you feel there are 'supervisory procedures' that these Puerto Rican refugee-children should receive upon receiving their Cyclonus toys/art, please advise, and we'll coordinate with a connected group of high school private-school students from America who have volunteered to play with these Puerto Rican kids and the toys/art they're receiving from the involved humanitarian relief group trying to help this challenged country after the devastating hurricane which ravaged the land."
{Private-School Volunteers}
"I was confident that your governing body would see the wisdom of my advice and see the merits of such 'participant' play and educational interaction with these Puerto Rican refugee children who've survived the terrible hurricane. As you know, I'm an ordained Catholic priest, and I've grown up admiring American entertainment and Peanuts (Charles Schulz) cartoons and the disheveled affable child-character Pig-Pen who is always dirty but always affable. If we coordinate entertainment avatars with proper parental guidance, we can deal with modern age issues (relevant to our media-culture) such as racy themes (e.g., slavery) and taboo topics (e.g., pornography) since the Internet and TV offer a broad access to imagery to our kids who are very naturally curious/inquisitive. Naturally, you understand my interest in encouraging a more 'passionate' approach to the presentation of youth-oriented entertainment in this era of great spiritual intrigue created by globalized commerce and trade (e.g., Wall Street, Toys 'R Us, Nickelodeon, MTV, Playboy, YouTube, etc.). Thank you for your confidence!"
{Pig-Pen}
"Father Francis, we're continuing our confident investment in your 'educational approach' to the youth-play of these Puerto Rican refugee children and have trained our high school private-school volunteers from America to interactively work with these kids by sharing with them ideas regarding the proper ethics and stimulation linked to the creative/offbeat toys/art they're receiving from the humanitarian relief group working to help this nation rebuild after the devastating hurricane. You'll be pleased to know, Father Francis, that one of our American high school private-school volunteers named Ethan is creating play-themes involving Cyclonus and another 'mischief/evil' themed toy/avatar the refugee kids received from the humanitarian relief group, a Marvel Comics 'demon' named Menace. Ethan plans to use Cyclonus and Menace to tell our refugee kids in Puerto Rico that imaginative play is vital to optimism in times of great crisis/calamity and that Cyclonus/Menace symbolizes interactive ethics visualization."
{Menace}
"I am delighted that your governing body has invested seriously in this humanitarian relief effort and that efforts are being made to coordinate more active educational/imaginative play between the volunteer private high school students and the refugee kids in this Puerto Rican 'village.' I'm also pleased to learn of Ethan's bright plan to use Menace and Cyclonus in guided play-sessions with the refugee kids so the kids feel like they're feeling closely watched and stimulated in this time of post-calamity recovery. If we take a more active role in the lives of our youngsters, we can more confidently claim that we're serious about the psychological development of our future generations. It was my great spiritual pleasure to work with your group and see these refugee children flourish under your assistance programs. Thanks again for your passion. I've left Ethan a stick-figure drawing a Christmastime consumerism-fun avatar named Evil Elf, which I hope Ethan will use in future play-sessions/lessons about the imagination-value of visualizing ethics and values during play with toys/art. There can be much learned from this experience for American entertainers/artists/film-makers creating new age stories/films/images about virtue/value for mass audiences. This is a nice boon for the MTV generation as well!"
====
