LGBQT Representation in Media?

[edwest2]

This may be because many people–I’d guess the majority–do not agree with you that it is immoral for someone with same-sex attraction to have sex.

Besides…the goal of films and TV is not necessarily to show moral behavior, but to reflect the world around us.
If it was, we wouldn’t have films like The Godfather, Chinatown, From Here to Eternity, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.…etc, etc…

.

There is no evidence whatsoever that the media - TV and films - reflect the world around us. Not today. As a professional who works in the media, I’ve watched it slowly degrade itself over the last 40 years on all levels. The 1970s weren’t too bad, by the mid-1980s it was about 50-50. By the late 1980s, George Michael is yelling I Want Your Sex! on the radio. After that, into the abyss. Then shock jocks and the internet. And the volume was gradually turned up on sex and profanity, and now, graphic violence. A serial killer as the lead character? A doctor who has sex with just about anybody as the lead character? A meth maker and dealer as the lead character? I’m expecting the very nice family of cannibals next door next.

Oh yeah, EVERYBODY wanted all that desperately. Having spoken to people in Hollywood, I know it is a cesspool of dark, stupid and harmful messages and a source of extremely bad role models. Music? Same thing.

Standards? There should be standards. If you don’t agree with Church teaching about morality, why post here? Honestly.

Moral relativism leads to tribalism and a dysfunctional society. But, if you go to work, and disagree with what your boss tells you to do, you’re out of a job.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, be careful what you put into your heads.

God bless,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

Just because the government makes laws or the media airs TV shows that are not in line with Catholic teaching, it doesn’t mean they are “very anti-Catholic”.

They are anti-Christian and have been for a long time. As a media professional who thought Hollywood was one thing, I now know it is a garbage dump. That’s why I can’t watch much TV. The sex/profanity/gruesome violence are not good things nor do they qualify as “entertainment” in any sense of the word.

Ed

 

[WonderAndAwe]

There is no evidence whatsoever that the media - TV and films - reflect the world around us. Not today. As a professional who works in the media, I’ve watched it slowly degrade itself over the last 40 years on all levels. The 1970s weren’t too bad, by the mid-1980s it was about 50-50. By the late 1980s, George Michael is yelling I Want Your Sex! on the radio. After that, into the abyss. Then shock jocks and the internet. And the volume was gradually turned up on sex and profanity, and now, graphic violence. A serial killer as the lead character? A doctor who has sex with just about anybody as the lead character? A meth maker and dealer as the lead character? I’m expecting the very nice family of cannibals next door next.

Oh yeah, EVERYBODY wanted all that desperately. Having spoken to people in Hollywood, I know it is a cesspool of dark, stupid and harmful messages and a source of extremely bad role models. Music? Same thing.

Standards? There should be standards. If you don’t agree with Church teaching about morality, why post here? Honestly.

Moral relativism leads to tribalism and a dysfunctional society. But, if you go to work, and disagree with what your boss tells you to do, you’re out of a job.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, be careful what you put into your heads.

God bless,
Ed

To be fair, Walter White was never supposed to be seen as an ideal. Breaking Bad was an analysis of how he fell from an innocent mild mannered family man who would never get a parking ticket to a psycho drug baron who can kill rival peddlers without a second thought.

It doesn’t change much about the state of TV though.

 

[edwest2]

Evidence?
I’m not sure what you’d consider “evidence”.
Since cavemen chiseled on stone, writers and artists have historically expressed the world around them.
I can probably look up hundreds of interviews–and so could you–given by news reporters, TV writers, screenwriters, and directors saying they get their ideas from what they observe around them.
Of all the writers/journalists I know, I’d say 99 percent tell me this.
And as writer–in both fiction and journalism–I do the same.

I understand that you feel disappointed with the “message” the media expresses.

But this still does not mean that the media, film, and TV does not reflect the world around us.

.

Of all the writers and journalists I know, none of them tell me this. A person I know who holds a production position at a daily newspaper told me how the system works. I’ve been there to watch it first-hand. News is literally spit out 24/7 by various services. They get to pick and choose only so much. To say it is unfiltered would not be entirely true. I also subscribe to a number of trade publications and a news source that that is not available to the general public. The global media is controlled by a handful of giant corporations. I watched, in the 1990s, as certain laws and regulations changed. One day, a media giant could only own a certain number of TV stations, magazines and newspapers, but that began to disappear. I watched all that erode, along with the amount of time used for commercials increase and even commercials began to degrade. In the mid-1950s, there was a lot of independent media out there. Today, whatever the owners/producers want to promote is translated into scripts. Right now, the trend is to get more LGBT characters out there and the average character template for movies and TV falls under The Dysfunctionals. Yes, LGBT must become average, unremarkable and normal for all. No one called me to get my (name removed by moderator)ut.

As a professional editor, I see a lot of manuscripts. Most are really bad. The few that can be salvaged are salvaged. It’s rare to find a writer that listens to good advice based on experience. That appears to be the reason the e-book market is collapsing. Without sound guidance, people just published whatever they wanted for fictional reasons. According to a trade publication, the ocean of bad ebooks means it’s much harder for potential readers to find gems. And even more recently, print books have seen their best performance since the planned economic disaster of 2008.

The media defines the world. I urge everyone to ignore most of it. And of what’s left, be careful. The media is not your friend. It wants to sell immorality because it’s what producers and publishers like and they want us to like it too. That’s why death is so important to them. Serial killers, zombies, death by dope and more death.

No Limits was the boast for one cable channel. I wondered why they showed ballerinas in that commercial instead of their sick, twisted and perverse offerings.

What is good and wholesome, that’s what I write about. Good and wholesome are bad by the way. Evil, human depravity, zombie skulls getting crushed with a pipe… that reflects… a world, but not anything remotely like the one around us. The average person is not them.

Ed

 

[petitfleur]

To be fair, Walter White was never supposed to be seen as an ideal. Breaking Bad was an analysis of how he fell from an innocent mild mannered family man who would never get a parking ticket to a psycho drug baron who can kill rival peddlers without a second thought.

It doesn’t change much about the state of TV though.

I think Walter White is a good example of how moral corruption works. He really was a good guy starting out and how allowing yourself to do something immoral opens the “floodgates” of making another immoral descision. How it progresses and corrupts a person’s soul. I don’t think for one second ig glorified drug dealing.

 

[edwest2]

To be fair, Walter White was never supposed to be seen as an ideal. Breaking Bad was an analysis of how he fell from an innocent mild mannered family man who would never get a parking ticket to a psycho drug baron who can kill rival peddlers without a second thought.

It doesn’t change much about the state of TV though.

That’s called a really bad role model who they tried to sell as a toy at Toys R Us. I’m sure little Billy would watch the show and would have no clue about a way to have “fun” with this “toy.” How much more obvious do they need to be? A Dexter ™ serial murderer kit with various instruments to help dismember little plastic toys… boy, I’d realllllly NOT want my kid anywhere near something like that.

Ed

 

[petitfleur]

Of all the writers and journalists I know, none of them tell me this. A person I know who holds a production position at a daily newspaper told me how the system works. I’ve been there to watch it first-hand. News is literally spit out 24/7 by various services. They get to pick and choose only so much. To say it is unfiltered would not be entirely true. I also subscribe to a number of trade publications and a news source that that is not available to the general public. The global media is controlled by a handful of giant corporations. I watched, in the 1990s, as certain laws and regulations changed. One day, a media giant could only own a certain number of TV stations, magazines and newspapers, but that began to disappear. I watched all that erode, along with the amount of time used for commercials increase and even commercials began to degrade. In the mid-1950s, there was a lot of independent media out there. Today, whatever the owners/producers want to promote is translated into scripts. Right now, the trend is to get more LGBT characters out there and the average character template for movies and TV falls under The Dysfunctionals. Yes, LGBT must become average, unremarkable and normal for all. No one called me to get my (name removed by moderator)ut.

As a professional editor, I see a lot of manuscripts. Most are really bad. The few that can be salvaged are salvaged. It’s rare to find a writer that listens to good advice based on experience. That appears to be the reason the e-book market is collapsing. Without sound guidance, people just published whatever they wanted for fictional reasons. According to a trade publication, the ocean of bad ebooks means it’s much harder for potential readers to find gems. And even more recently, print books have seen their best performance since the planned economic disaster of 2008.

The media defines the world. I urge everyone to ignore most of it. And of what’s left, be careful. The media is not your friend. It wants to sell immorality because it’s what producers and publishers like and they want us to like it too. That’s why death is so important to them. Serial killers, zombies, death by dope and more death.

No Limits was the boast for one cable channel. I wondered why they showed ballerinas in that commercial instead of their sick, twisted and perverse offerings.

What is good and wholesome, that’s what I write about. Good and wholesome are bad by the way. Evil, human depravity, zombie skulls getting crushed with a pipe… that reflects… a world, but not anything remotely like the one around us. The average person is not them.

Ed

Trying to see your perspective. To some point I do mostly with sexual relationships portrayed on TV. I think a lot of the shows are trying to be thought provoking on how bad descisions harm a person in the long run, and not glorifying immorality, except for all the graphic sex. Many great shows are ruined by that for me.

 

[BrassAnkles]

I understand that you feel disappointed with the “message” the media expresses.

But this still does not mean that the media, film, and TV does not reflect the world around us.

.

Of course it reflects the world around us.

However, just because something exists does not mean God desires it. After all the Bible says Jesus will judge everyone and some will go to hell, clearly establishing they did things that God did not wish them to do.

 

[edwest2]

I think Walter White is a good example of how moral corruption works. He really was a good guy starting out and how allowing yourself to do something immoral opens the “floodgates” of making another immoral descision. How it progresses and corrupts a person’s soul. I don’t think for one second ig glorified drug dealing.

It certainly does. Oh yes. Walter planting a car bomb and when his savvy rival decided something was amiss, having to crawl under the car to remove it… must have been embarrassing but I’m sure a few people were watching this “how to” part of the episode. Or how about luring this rival into the room of an elderly man with a bomb on his wheelchair? Time to take your notebook out again as Walter shows us the ways to kill your rivals.

He’s just your average heartless killer who could care less about the lives he’s destroying by producing his meth.

It’s immoral voyeurism. I only watched enough so I could get a first-hand look as a writer and editor.

What a bad show.

Ed

 

[edwest2]

Of course it reflects the world around us.

However, just because something exists does not mean God desires it. After all the Bible says Jesus will judge everyone and some will go to hell, clearly establishing they did things that God did not wish them to do.

And without real standards, we end up with sex, profanity and graphic violence. The time to warn people is now.

Ed

 

[WonderAndAwe]

That’s called a really bad role model who they tried to sell as a toy at Toys R Us. I’m sure little Billy would watch the show and would have no clue about a way to have “fun” with this “toy.” How much more obvious do they need to be? A Dexter ™ serial murderer kit with various instruments to help dismember little plastic toys… boy, I’d realllllly NOT want my kid anywhere near something like that.

Ed

They aren’t made for kids, they’re made for the fans of the show who like owning collectable merchandise.

Plus, TRU tends to be the only place niche stuff like that is sold anyway due to limited mass retail appeal.

 

[BrassAnkles]

They aren’t made for kids, they’re made for the fans of the show who like owning collectable merchandise.

It was poor judgment to say the least. That is why Toy R Us pulled the toys.

 

[Peter_Plato]

Yes. What is the real danger here? It is pretty widely accepted that being gay is not a choice.

You have no idea how epigenetics works, do you? Environmental factors could massively impact epigenetic determiners. A couple of generations of the promotion and normalization of gay behaviour could, in fact, bring about an entirely altered epigenetic profile with regard to human sexual behaviour. That is why promoters are loathe to allow open research and target researchers who don’t get the narrative “right.”

 

[cena]

Glad you agree on this. Ed2 is not in agreement.

I’d agree with you in general that just because something exists, it doesn’t mean a God desires it.
On the flip side, it would also be true that just because something doesn’t exist, it doesn’t mean that a God does not desire it…
Of course, different Gods seem to desire different things. So that’s tricky. And, a God can also change their mind, it seems.
There was a time when one God desired animals to be sacrificed and wanted men to get parts of their private parts cut off. This was the God that Jesus believed in and followed in the Jewish religion over 2000 years ago.
That God does not seem to desire or require these things anymore, to be happy.

.

there is one God, that was the same God

Sodomy being wrong is a moral law. Circumcision and diet laws are not moral laws.
Your evidence that this is no longer required? St. Paul told the early Christians that circumcision and the old diet laws were no longer required but he listed sodomy as one of the sins that would keep one out of heaven. I haven’t seen any evidence anywhere that this was changed

I mean things like idolatry and adultery weren’t changed, but the rule on sodomy was? Where is the evidence for this?

 

[cena]

Sodomy, of course, includes anything other than intercourse.
So oral sex, then, would also be a “sin that cries out to heaven” and worse than adultery.

According to the catechism, sodomy is on par, sin-wise, with “injustice to the wage earner”…as in, if anyone takes advantage or defrauds a employee.

Just an fyi.

.

Murder is a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance, and I don’t know about you, but I think murder is a lot worse than homosexual sex

The catechism said murder, homosexual sex, defrauding labors of wages, oppressing the poor cry out to heaven but they don’t do it in the same degree. Obviously not paying someone enough won’t offend God as much as killing someone

sodomy
[sod-uh-mee] Spell Syllables
Word Origin
noun
1.
anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex.
2.
copulation with a member of the same sex.
3.
bestiality (def 4).

 

[cena]

I believe it’s “no reasonable other options,” not “no other options.”

Yeah that sounds better

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Homosexual actions are wrong because they are immoral not because they aren’t “normal.”

You’re the one who’s arguing from the position of it being wrong because it wasn’t normal! If you’re so intent on making a case for the Church position, at least be consistent. Unless you immediately concede that your initial assertion…

Homosexuality =/= Bad =/= Normal

… is wrong, you’re essentially pumping a shotgun into your foot.

What’s funny is that I don’t even care so much about homosexuals save that my brother is one and I’m one of those hardcore hetero guys who hits on lesbians as much as regular girls.

No, what I really couldn’t let slide is the fact that you’re arguing for what’s normal when there is nothing normal about Christ, God, the Church, and everything else this faith stands for. Frankly, it’s the most ironic and self-contradictory position you could take.

The idea of normalcy is only one of the biggest lies humanity ever tells itself. The Church alone is no more crazy than the people who march on pride parades.

So please, if you’re going to argue, try it from any other place except Normalville.

 

[cena]

You’re the one who’s arguing from the position of it being wrong because it wasn’t normal! If you’re so intent on making a case for the Church position, at least be consistent. Unless you immediately concede that your initial assertion…

Homosexuality =/= Bad =/= Normal

… is wrong, you’re essentially pumping a shotgun into your foot.

What’s funny is that I don’t even care so much about homosexuals save that my brother is one and I’m one of those hardcore hetero guys who hits on lesbians as much as regular girls.

No, what I really couldn’t let slide is the fact that you’re arguing for what’s normal when there is nothing normal about Christ, God, the Church, and everything else this faith stands for. Frankly, it’s the most ironic and self-contradictory position you could take.

The idea of normalcy is only one of the biggest lies humanity ever tells itself. The Church alone is no more crazy than the people who march on pride parades.

So please, if you’re going to argue, try it from any other place except Normalville.

I’m sorry i did say it wasn’t normal, it was on the first couple pages and I forgot about it. Homosexuality is bad and not normal. The reason it is immoral is not because it is not normal.

When it is portrayed as normal then it is portrayed as morally neutral or morally good.

 

[BrassAnkles]

I’d agree with you in general that just because something exists, it doesn’t mean a God desires it.
On the flip side, it would also be true that just because something doesn’t exist, it doesn’t mean that a God does not desire it…
Of course, different Gods seem to desire different things. So that’s tricky. And, a God can also change their mind, it seems.
There was a time when one God desired animals to be sacrificed and wanted men to get parts of their private parts cut off. This was the God that Jesus believed in and followed in the Jewish religion over 2000 years ago.
That God does not seem to desire or require these things anymore, to be happy.

.

So you are in essence an Atheist? That would explain a lot.

 

[commenter]

This topic should be considered in comparison with “Christian representation in the media”.
How are church goers depicted on TV and movies today? Heroes are usually presented as moral “in themselves”, not apparently obedient or reliant on any church or scripture for guidance. The good guys are respectful, or rather tolerant, of those who (still) feel the need for Christianity, like the elderly, but not something they themselves have any interest in. Clergy are invariably depicted as dangerous, prejudiced, greedy hypocrites, exploiting those who still have that religious “need”. Little by little, the TV viewer can be brought to the point they don’t need Christianity either.

If it is right for the media to present minority groups (like LGBQT) favorably, why is the anti-Christian bias in the media so tolerated? Shouldn’t there be tolerance towards all minorities?