What is quality entertainment? What makes a TV program, video, or movie
good?
How would you answer these questions? The typical response by today’s young
person is typically “It was funny,” “It was exciting,” “It was sexy,” etc.”
But they have a hard time answering question, “Was it any good?” I’d like
to share a story I heard recently that may help you answer that question.
As a father was doing his best to teach his children to make wise
entertainment choices, he kept getting frustrated by their combative
response. They didn’t care that the program might not be appropriate for
their innocent minds; all they were concerned about was what their friends
had to say. Their father tried explaining that if they put garbage in,
garbage was going to come out.
They didn’t care. They had all the excuses. “It was just a little sex scene.
They really didn’t show anything. They all have it. I hear more profanity in
my gym class. I don’t let it affect me. It’s just a movie, what’s the big
deal? You just want to keep me from having fun.”
Nothing the father said made any difference. They wanted to watch what their
friends were able to watch and if they didn’t they were going to be angry.
He didn’t want to lose communication with his children but he couldn’t make
them understand by telling them it was wrong. Maybe if he tried a positive
approach?
On the next Saturday morning, he announced that he was going to be making
his “world famous” brownies as a special treat for that night. He was well
known for his brownies and his children always looked forward to this
special treat. He didn’t use the boxed brownie mix. He made them from
scratch and he only used the best ingredients. He even bought extra rich
chocolate chips to make them real gooey. As an extra special treat, he
bought the family’s favorite ice cream to top it off.
After dinner, the children could hardly sit still. The brownies were still
warm from the oven. Dad cut each child an extra large slice and topped it
off with ice cream. Just as they started to dig in, he reminded them that he
only used the best ingredients. He also, reminded them that they were real
gooey because he used extra chocolate chips. And they were extra flavorful
because of all the chopped walnuts he put in.
They couldn’t wait. They all started to dig in again. Just before they
brought the treat to their mouth he added, “And I only put in a little dog
poop. It’s not very much and I mixed it in really well. You probably won’t
even notice. Go ahead eat up.”
For obvious reasons, his family refused to eat the brownies. No matter how
good his ingredients were, they weren’t going to put something in their
mouth that had dog poop in it-no matter how well it was mixed in. It was
then that they began to understand the point he was trying to make about
entertainment.
You can read more of Al’s Analysis at http://www.almenconi.com
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