“Sex” Sells But Also Provides Some Teachable Moments

The “Sex” we’re talking about here is the film “Sex and the City”, which debuted at the box office over the weekend and came in at number one earning an estimated 55.7 million dollars. The film is based on the popular cable TV series that went into re-runs four years ago. And yes the powers that be in Hollywood are indeed already talking about a follow up flick.

What’s really frustrating, besides the fact that the movie like the series, is based on the “if it feels good do it” mentality, is that the majority of those who lined up to see the film during its opening were women. These same women bought tickets early on-line, met their friends at the theatre, and as many of the female movie goers told USA Today and other secular media outlets, this was the event they were waiting for.

Somebody help me out here! The characters of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda act like men behaving badly. And according to surveys many women in society are saying this is a good thing with one study done by www.engage.com finding that 43 percent of women questioned say that “Sex and the City” made it more acceptable for them to be unfaithful in their romantic relationships. 50 percent said big fans of the show and film are more likely think that having sex on the first date is perfectly acceptable.

I don’t plan on wasting my money and supporting a film that promotes pre-marital sex and other unhealthy activities that mock my faith and attack the true dignity of women but dicussions about the film’s content can certainly be used as teachable moments here. Kristen Fyfe with the Culture and Media Institute (www.cultureandmedia.com) has done a great story on the media hype of the new film and reminds us that when a friend or family member talks about seeing the movie there is an opportunity for us to ask some poignant questions. So you think it’s okay for a movie to blatantly promote sexual promiscuity? How does this movie portray women and especially the Sacrament of marraige? Do you think it is acceptable for women to be so obessed not only with sex but with materialism? What kind of message does this send to yonger women such as your daughters and nieces? Since when is the objectification of women a good thing?

One other question to ask especially for those women in their forties and older who say they have or are going to see the movie, could be based on the well known slogan from the old Virginia Slims commercial that claimed “you’ve come a long way baby.” I would ask the movie goers, have we really? If this latest number coming out of Hollywood is an example, I’d say we’re definately going in the wrong direction.

Cyber-bullying Case Sends Strong Messages about Internet Safety

As I wrote in my most recent column for Our Sunday Visitor, the case of 13 year old Megan Meier who hanged herself two years ago after receiving cruel e-mail messages from an on-line contact whom she though was a 16 year old boy, is a case that will hopefully raise awareness on the topic of Internet safety. Megan’s case is in the spotlight again because of the indictment handed down recently against Lori Drew. Drew is the woman accused of establishing a fake identity as a teen boy through a MySpace account. Drew allegedly engaged in the on-line activity to find out what Megan was saying about her own daughter, Megan’s former friend.

But will parents and others pay attention? I have my doubts. I still hear from so many families, including plenty of good Catholic ones, who say they just don’t have time to closely watch what their kids are actually doing on-line. Or they think that their children would never try to harass or insult any one through the Internet. As law enforcement experts and countless Internet safety groups point out, there is just too much at stake. How many more cases like this do we need before we take a close look at our own family’s media habits, do what I like to call in my book a “media reality check” and make some badly needed changes?
Move those computers out of the bedrooms and into an area of the home where usage can be monitored. Limit time on the Internet and make sure you have proper filters and other safety features installed. The web site www.stopcyberbullying.org along with www.netsmartz.org offer great information for parents, teens, and educators. There is also some great info on this topic from the Australian Bishop’s. Their very recent and very helpful letter on Internet safety is posted on the home page of their web site at www.acbc.catholic.org.au.

With all the knowledge and tools on this topic now available there is no reason that another child, God forbid, should perish and no excuse for any of us to ignore this critical topic.

Video Game Bill Would Help Protect Children

Grand Theft Auto Four: Liberty City went on sale April 29th and according to news reports this week has beaten the all time entertainment record in sales. Take Two Interactive Software reports around six million people purchased the game in its first week. That’s a profit of over 500 million dollars. That might be good news for the makers of the game but bad news for parents and other concerned citizens who want to keep this M (mature) rated game out of the hands of kids.

That’s why the Parents TV Council is praising the leadership of two congressman and their commitment to increased retailer accountability when it comes to the sales of these types of adult video games. Jim Matheson of Utah and Lee Terry of Nebraska, today introduced the new measure, the Video Game Ratings Enforcement Act. Even though the games are rated for mature audiences often times stores don’t follow through with identification checks and the games are sold to minors. While there are some voluntary measures in place from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the PTC says those measures are not very helpful because there are no consequences for retailers who don’t play by the rules. Let’s hope this measure gets the needed support and is not struck down by the courts. For more information go to www.parentstv.org

The Catholic Church, Media Awareness, and the Month of May

Happy May. May is the Marian month for Catholics and it is also the month where through the establsihment and the recognition of World Communications Day, the Church addresses the issue of media awareness and activisim. The Pope even highlights the Church’s cultural concerns through his prayer intentions for this month. Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for May is “that Christians may use literature, art, and the mass media to greater advantage in order to favor a culture which defends and promotes the values of the human person.” The Holy Father is following up on concerns he raised during his historic visit to the U.S. The Holy Father also reminds us that when we look at the culture and the media we should first look at our Blessed Mother as an example. One of her many titles is Star of Evangelizaiton since she was the one who says yes to the word made flesh and she did not hesitiate to spread the good news.

I also think it’s significant that the Church around the world continues to teach on the importance of media awareness and activism. The United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, the Australian Catholic Bishops, and the Bishops Conference in Spain are all addressing this topic in their own unique way, calling on Church leaders and the laity to encourage positive use of the media.

These efforts are extremely important, especially when we consider the media climate. Just recently Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most violent video games, hit the store shelves. Some people waited in line for hours at various stores around the country and in other parts of the world in order to be among the first to grab a copy. The Parents TV Council has also issued a shocking report on Rap music and how its being marketed to a much younger audience thanks to certain afternoon cable programs. All the more reason to make sure your family is doing what it can to protect itself from the onslaught of messages from the media.

A Kinder and More Gentle Media?

Maybe, at least a little bit kinder and gentler. At least that is my impression as the Pope is now back in Italy after his historic visit to the U.S. As I mentioned last week on this blog, early coverage of the Holy Father and his U.S trip was not good. The media were rounding up the usual unorthodox suspects who claimed to speak for the Church. The news papers and TV networks were also throwing out the usual lines calling the Pope a “hardliner”, a “traditionalist”, and a “conservative.” It seemed as if they were actually dusting off news scripts from the previous Papal visits of John Paul II, and just inserting Benedict’s name. It was so cliche and so very tiring and disappointing.

But by the end of the visit I did see some glimmers of hope Not that those of us who speak and educate on media awarenes and bias are going to be out of a job any time soon, but I do think there was a different tone to the coverage. The media were I think pleasantly surprised by the Pope especially after he was the first to talk about the big white elephant in the room -the priest scandal in the United States. Not only was he the first to bring it up –first discussing it with reporters on the plane before landing in D.C– but he also addressed several times publicly after that and then even a bigger surprise–he met individually and privately with several victims of abuse. That’s when the headlines and the tones of the commentators started to change and there was definately more spring in the media’s Papal coverage step as they could not help but be excited about the Pope’s visit— with the youth rally on Saturday a real highlight. The enthusiasm from the event at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers was contagious even for a jaded group like the secular press.

It was the Pope’s humility, directness, as well as his joy that I think caught the media off gaurd and resulted in coverage, that again was far from perfect, but a bit of an improvement over other coverage on Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church. Hey every little bit helps.

Just a reminder that coming up in the next edition of the national Catholic news paper, Our Sunday Visitor (www.osv.com) I’ll have a complete news anaylsis on the secular media coverage of the Papal visit.

I hope you check it out as well as stay tuned to this web site and to my radio show- Catholic Connection on EWTN Global Catholic Radio.

Until next time “Viva IL Papa!!!!!

The Pope and the Young People Makes for a Moving Event

Off all the events so far this week I have to say the Youth Rally at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York Satuday was number one for me. Most of the media have spent a lot of time this week comparing Benedict to John Paul II saying he lacks the same “rock star” quality or charisma or that he is shy compared to John Paul II who was an extrovert. But I think the secular press got hit between the eyes by the response of the youth to their German Shepherd. He loves them and they love him. It was evident by the Holy Father’s smiles and emphasis at certain points of his talk. He drew energy from the energetic crowd who cheered loudly during his powerful talk and responded overwhelmingly with applause when he told them “to have courage” and when he mentioned young people discerning vocations.
They were touched by his down to earth demeanor and his ability to admit mistakes. At one point the crowd laughed with him as he told them “I forgot my spanish.” It was a touching and very human endearing moment for his young sheep.

This Sunday morning I woke up and grabbed my Detroit Free Press. Disappointing but not surprising that the beautiful exchange between the Pope and the young people did not make it to the front page and many of the secular media, with the exception of the excellent coverage of Fox News, have started to bury the story making way for the Pennsylvania Primary this Tuesday. Not that the Presidential election isn’t an important story, but the media who don’t give yesterday’s events at St. Pat’s and especially the Youth Rally proper attention are really doing a disservice to themselves and their readers, viewers, and listeners.

I know I will be going back to his address the youth rally over and over again. I will also have fond memories of singing along prayerfully with the 25 thousand youth at St Joe’s as they went through, with the Pope leading them, the beautiful Litany of Saints. That segment of the program had me in tears.

Today it is Ground Zero and then Mass at Yankee Stadium. More later.

Has the Pope’s Humility Humbled the Press?

I was pleasantly surprised as I was listening to CBS Radio this afternoon. It seemed that even the hardened press core is humbled by the Pope’s humility in his decision to meet with victims of the priest sex abuse scandal. The CBS report was not only balanced but I sensed, from the tone of the newscaster’s voice, that he was impressed even humbled by the Pope’s sincere gesture. The newscaster seemed to be saying, “hey maybe this man actually practices what he preaches and this hope and repentance stuff might be true after all.”

Now of course we know the Pope did not meet with the sex abuse victims to silence his critics or the critics of the Catholic Church. He met and prayed with the victims because he is truly concerned about their pain and wanted to ensure them that he was doing whatever he could to address the problem.

This was the fourth time since his trip began that the Holy Father addressed this painful issue; first he addressed it before even landing in the U.S, talking openly about the issue with reporters on the plane. Secondly he stressed to Bishops Wednesday that there was still much work to do to address the priest abuse scandal, and then again at the Mass at Nationals stadium he told the 45 thousand plus Catholics gathered that the Church has been damaged by the scandal and that “it is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention,” and then finally with the private meeting with victims.

I have been monitoring some of the many other media reports and one interesting story from the Associated Press today had abuse victims expressing gratitude for the Pope’s efforts to reach out. This story stood in contrast to those earlier in the week with the victims complaining that neither John Paul II or Benedict had met with victims and the media outlets offering little balance.

It is really tough to go after someone who is so upfront as well as compassionate. He is doing the 1 Peter 3:15 thing, preaching the truth in love.The Holy Father has been tackling tough issues and telling Bishops to not only help victims of sex abuse and to work toward healing the Church in America, but to also be real shepherds willing to lead the flock, by not letting people get away with living a “private faith” or letting them think they are just fine spiritually if they act contrary to Church teaching.

I am sure before the end of the week the media will once again bring out the old women’s ordination and birthcontrol scripts but just for today any way, from what I could see and hear, the media seemed truly humbled by the Pope’s humility.

The Same Old Tired Media Song and Dance

It looked like an absolutely beautiful day in Washington D.C. Some 11 thousand people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House to hear from Pope Benedict XVI. The mood was upbeat. His words were encouraging. He was greeted warmly and the crowd and choir even wished the Holy Father a happy birthday in song. The Pope told the crowd and the live TV audience that his visit is part of a journey to spread renewal and hope. The Pontiff pointed to America’s tradition of promoting freedom and stressed that freedom is a gift that comes with many responsibilities.

While the Pope’s message is hopeful and upbeat, so far many of the major media outlets are responding to the positve message with the usual negativity and poltical spin and this is only the first full day of the Papal visit to the U.S.

Already ABC News has labled Benedict as “controversial.” The network has referred to him more than once as a “hardliner” who is “more conservative than many American Catholics.” Not too much difference when you grab the remote and click on NBC or CBS with both of the other major broadcast networks focusing on the priest abuse scandal, even though the Holy Father confronted that issue head-on before landing at Andrew’s Airforce Base. CBS and NBC are also fallling into the same tired old media song and dance; trying to convince their viewers that the Church needs to change to meet the political and social interests of Catholics in this country-people who identify themsevles as Catholic but support birth control, abortion, and so-called same sex marraige. The networks like to roll out the polls that claim most Catholics want a more liberal Church. They never bother to explain that those polls usually questioned Americans who identify themselves as Catholic but don’t practice their faith and have little knowledge of Church teaching. CBS also labled the Pope a “hardliner” and rolled out the usual suspects, liberal left wing priests, to comment on the Church and the Papal visit.

I am hoping that by the end of the week the mass media in America will allow for some balance by making the most of solid Catholic sources. But right now, it doesn’t look too promising.

The Secular Media and the Pope: Beware the Spin Doctors

Over the next few days I will be following the coverage of Pope Benedict’s historic visit to the United States. I am not only covering the media angle of the story for my national radio show, Catholic Conenction, but also for Our Sunday Visitor, the national Catholic newspaper. I’ll be submitting a news anaylisis on the coverage which will be published in OSV next week. But keep an eye on this blog to get the latest concerning the spin from the secular media which by the way began even before the Holy Father arrived safely on U.S soil Tuesday.

For starters, in a Newsweek editorial published over the weekend, one writer said Benedict is “not the man for the job”. Other outlets claimed that he is not very well known in America and refer to him as a “conservative” or “traditionalist” who is against birth control, abortion, and same sex marriage. Imagine that –the Pope, against those things that go directly against the major tenets of the Catholic faith? Go figure! Pardon my sarcastic tone but the fact that reporters think or suggest that the leader of the Catholic Church should or could actually support such things really gets my Italian up and I think underscores just how poorly educated the media are regarding all things Catholic, especially how the Church operates and the role of the Vicar of Christ.

It’s important to note that some of the networks and mainstream papers are at least making an attempt to provide more balanced coverage. Several outlets are using faithful Cathoilcs, instead of the normal pretend variety, as commentators on air, or bloggers. The New York Times even has great Catholic writers such as Amy Welborn and Colleen Carol Campbell on board to help keep readers up to date on-line. So that at least is a bit of good news.

In an interview on my radio program Monday, EWTN News Director Raymond Arroyo suspects the secular media coverage will die down after Wednesday mainly because the secular media don’t see Pope Benedict in the same “rock star” capacity as they did John Paul the Second.

Stay tuned as they say to this blog, and of course EWTN Radio and TV including my daily radio show “Cathoilc Connection” heard Monday through Friday on EWTN Global Catholic Radio. You can check us out on-line at www.ewtn.com

Women Engaging the Culture

Thanks to travel, speaking engagements, holidays, and then more travel this year -it’s been a long time since I blogged. Speaking of travel, I just returned Sunday night from Rome after attending a very unique and important event concerning women, Catholic women in particluar, and the culture.

The conference was sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity and was held to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter “Mulileris Dignitatem/On the Vocation and Dignity of Women. The international congress featured Bible scholars, theologians, researchers, and Church leaders all discussing the challenges facing today’s women since the release of John Paul II’s Letter. What I found very interesting, is that even in Third World countries, women cannot escpae the onslaught of cultural influences thanks to the saturation of the mass media and entertainment industy. These cultural forces have had a direct impact on marraige, family, and especially on women’s dignity even in far away places we think are untouched by the world.

More on this conference and global cultural influences in my next update.