Entertainment Hits and Misses

PBS's Frontline: This week's installment of Frontline, "Inside the Teenage Brain", was one of the most insightful episodes of the award-winning investigative series yet. Using recent, cutting edge research on adolescent brain development, Frontline painted a picture of adolescence that demystified the confusion most adults see during this period of life.

Far from being the irresponsible, absent-minded, entertainment-fixated, hormonally challenged freaks they are often made out to be, teens, it turns out, are simply going through the most radical period of brain maturation since birth. What sort of maturation? Well, let's start with the brain's frontal cortex, which it turns out, goes through massive development in early puberty. This means that the stimuli given a teen at this time of life are crucial in the hardwiring of pathways that will exist the rest of one's life. Those pathways that are used become cemented; those that are neglected whither. This gives new meaning to the word "discipline". Allowed to their own devices, teens can be easily influenced by the plethora of distractions that exist in today's society. These distractions, if indulged too much, can actually be quite detrimental at the fundamental developmental level.

In addition to these developmental issues, the episode also highlighted other important aspects of successful navigation through the teen years. At the top of the list is sleep. That's right, sleep. Teens need more than nine hours of slumber each night. But with televisions, computers, video games, sports, school and other activities, today's teens are racking up huge sleep deficits and paying the price for it in the classroom.

All in all, the episode was a true eye-opener. Parents interested in learning more about adolescence, and Muslim researchers of anthropology and sociology can consult: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/

The Misses

The State of the Union: One typically wouldn't consider a presidential address entertainment. However, after Tuesday night's State of the Union address, it was clearer than ever that George W. Bush is just another actor in an elaborate production of political theater. From the hyperbolic number of standing ovations, to the catch-phrases of Bush's speechwriters to the canned rebuttal by Dick Gephardt, the entire event was nothing more than entertainment. And to the chagrin of many a child, it was adult entertainment that preempted the regular primetime schedule.

Rife with inflammatory language (Bush even called Iran, Iraq and North Korea the "axis of evil") the speech was meant to stir nationalist fervor and rally opinion in the midst of a nebulous war and a faltering, sputtering economy. According to most journalists and analysts, the speech succeeded. But for Muslims, the only success it should have had was in convincing them that GW is asleep behind the wheel, with so many puppet masters pulling his strings. That's entertainment.

CBS's 48 Hours: It is unfathomable that any credible news organization could give Steven Emerson even a minute of their airtime; yet at least two of them have given him a bully pulpit for his ad hominem attacks against Islam and Muslims. Not only has NBC taken him on as a "terrorism analyst", but CBS chose to feature him on its news magazine, 48 Hours. When will people wake up and realize that he is a self-styled expert who stands to do the United States more harm than good with his lopsided, uninformed, and grossly biased opinions.