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We heard it throughout the Election 2000 campaign. America needs to recover from a serious moral crisis and rediscover family values.
Well, the people who tell us what to buy, how much to pay for it, and why we really need it – the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) – have come up with a solution to some of America’s social problems.
At least, they think it is a solution. However, we as Muslims would be wise to give the ANA’s efforts a close look before jumping on the proverbial bandwagon.
A few years back, Muslims and other people of conscience were shocked when the star of the prime-time sitcom, Ellen, came out of the closet and declared her lesbianism to the world on television. Since then, other shows have contained countless other references and innuendoes to alternative lifestyles (read: consenting adults can do anything!).
And, if you think the most recent line-up of “hilarious” sit-coms is the result of demonic forces in Hollywood only, think again. Meet the Family Friendly Programming Forum (FFTP).
Yes, there is such a thing as the FFPF, and it is high time that Muslims took notice of just what it is and of why we may not be well-served by FFPF’s endorsements of television programs.
The FFPF is comprised of more than forty-three of the largest companies in America, all members of the ANA. These companies survive, and thrive, because of their ability to hold audiences in a trance while marketing their products and services in ads interspersed between the bombardments of one-line jokes we face in prime-time sit-coms.
Why has the FFPF been established? Because there is a decline in the availability of television programs that the public considers family-friendly.
Seems harmless enough, and may even seem altruistic to the untrained eye. But read along further on the ANA website and you find that primetime, the period between 8pm to 10pm, is actually “prime” because viewers during those hours provide “the environment in which we (FFPF members) want to advertise.”
To avoid sounding too cynical, it is better to quote the FFPF’s statement regarding its concerns. “As members of American society, we are concerned about the TV imagery, role models, themes and language to which our young people are exposed.” A noble but misguided concern.
It is a noble concern that, probably, no mature, sane adult would challenge given that, pretty much, the country is in agreement about its social and moral crisis. That the FFPF is misguided despite its stated mission, however, is evident in the fact that it recently chose to showcase Gilmore Girls as an FFPF endorsed program.
Together with Warner Brothers, the FFPF invited “talented” writers to come up with eight family-friendly programs. When the writing was done and the laughter had stopped, one script, namely Gilmore Girls, had survived.
The stars of this family-friendly comedy? A thirty-two year old unwed mother and her sixteen-year old daughter. Hardly a model family to help America stabilize its moral crisis.
Although the FFPF did not actually influence the writing of the show’s script, Time Magazine noted that FFPF members were happy with the final product. One even justified the program in saying, “Would I have been happier if some of the language wasn’t there? Probably. But I don’t think it went overboard.” (Time,11/6/00).
Didn’t go overboard? On the daughter’s first day in private school, the mother jokes that she offered “to do the principal” (read: to sleep with) to get her daughter accepted (Time, 11/6/00). Pardon us, but words and ideas expressed between 8pm and 10pm in front of entire families shouldn’t serve as a testing ground for what is and is not going overboard!
Families should seriously consider any program backed by the FFPF before whole-heartedly accepting it. What is needed are pro-active efforts on the part of Muslims in cooperation with other people of conscience to influence the FFPF in its selection of programs to endorse. The FFPF has the right idea. They would like to offer suitable programming for viewing by the entire family.
However, left to choose from the offerings of Hollywood, the FFPF will end up doing what many Muslims felt they did in choosing the most recent presidential candidates: “They will choose the lesser of two evils.”
At least in the case of Gilmore Girls, the FFPF has made a bad choice. And Muslims and people of conscience should be aware and alert enough to not just go along with any program simply because the FFPF has approved it. Why? Because although a program may be about a family, it is not guaranteed to be family-friendly!
Editor’s Note: For more information on the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. and the Family Friendly Programming Forum, visit www.ana.net
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