[.ca] Vulgarians At The Gate (ISBN 1573928747)

good synthesis of sleaze facts:
Allen's book may not seem like anything new, because many have gone before him on this topic. Nevertheless, _Vulgarians_ is an excellent synthesis of current theories about the effect of media sleaze on young people. Allen doesn't propose outright censorship, but he reminds us that that self-policing by the media congloms is never going to happen as long as sleaze remains profitable. He also explores a point that is sometimes missed by media critics: The CEOs of the huge companies that sponsor the TV shows, as well as the CEOs of the huge media congloms, are "country club conservatives" who no doubt support Bush and conservative politics. Yet they mysteriously become amoral when it comes to propagating media garbage because they'e making so much money from it. FOX network comes to mind... Allen observes, ironically, that few of these people would want their own six year-old daughters to be exposed to the junk they're selling, but they don't mind exposing the masses' children to it.

Worthy topic. Worthy author. Unworthy results.:
It's very interesting reading the reviews on Amazon.com for Vulgarians At The Gate: people seem to either love it or hate it. In my opinion, Allen offers a few good insights. Unfortunately, the book ultimately fails to fully persuade, and Allen comes off as more than a little cranky & bitter. Steve seemed to fall into an obvious trap in considering that the period in which he was involved with television as the medium's "golden age." In my opinion, television never had a "golden age"! The vast majority of television programs have been infinitely banal, slavishly imitative, and/or predictable shock-garbage. Steve gripes about how TV now resorts to "depraved vulgarity," whereas his era's comedians were cleanly funny. The only problem is that, by in large, the comedians of that era were NOT funny. How can anyone find the obnoxious ranting & screaming of Jackie Gleeson or Danny Thomas funny? The television of that era was dominated by the sexist view that a woman is either a screwball (I Love Lucy), a naive wife-child (Leave It To Beaver), or a verbal, and possibly a literal punching bag (Honeymooners). In this light, I guess TV has actually made some progress. Allen's arguments are also more than a little confusing. He complains about the "tastelessness" of a Grey Poupon commercial that implied flatulence, yet praises Benny Hill! He (rightly) criticizes the role religion has historically played in censorship, yet encourages religious groups to boycott dubious programs. He disdains the "fourteen-year old mentality" of TV's earlier era programming, yet seems to want to return to the banality of The Brady Bunch. I do believe that Steve makes some very good points. The vast majority of TV shows ARE puerile garbage. Without a doubt, the television has dumbed-down America considerably; and taking into account that we have never been the most intellectual of societies, that's quite an achievement! The oafish self-promotion of Madonna, Howard Stern and Jerry Springer are rightly criticized by Allen. There is a definite line between vulgarity and pornography; the chapter on rap lyrics really demonstrates this. I personally cannot believe that music that espouses sentiments like rape, murder and necrophilia are actually available to kids. In case you are wondering, I'm not a 60-year old conservative, but a 27-year old liberal. I most definitely do not endorse blanket censorship; I do believe, however, that the "parent advisory" stickers are worse than useless. If a buyer is required to be of a certain age before he or she can purchase cigarettes, porn, or alcohol, then buying this crap should require the same discretion and maturity. I propose that music such as this should be "behind the counter," and not available to kids at all. Unfortunately, Allen seems to really lose it when he praises the former movie censorship code. He states that classics like Citizen Cain were made despite the code. Citizen Cain is indeed a classic; unfortunately, many classics would NOT have been made if that code were still in place. He also states that artists should have a responsibility in providing "clean" entertainment for children. The fact of the matter is that great art is never merely entertainment. For my money, the greatest artistic achievements of the Western world in the last thousand years are William Shakespeare's plays and Richard Wagner's operas. These works are rife with murder, rape, incest, and violence. They amount to MUCH more than that, of course. But what gives them their power is their emotional scope, and censorship doesn't allow that latitude. Finally, Allen rightly criticizes the state of Kansas for banning the theory of evolution from its school textbooks. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. The problem is that Steve seems to want to court the support of those social conservatives who made an atrocity like that possible. It seems that liberals are fighting a two-front war; on one side is puerile, lowbrow shock-garbage, the other is religious fanaticism.

Getting America out of the gutter and back up on sidewalk:
Mr. Allen doesn't say that certain expletive words are bad, in and of themselves, but that used for simply shock value they lose their appeal and meaning. His book reminded me of a PBS special I saw a few years back with Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart from the old Show of Shows program when I was a toddler. It was Mel Brooks who made the astute observation as Steve Allen does so well in this book, that as television became more available to the masses, often an uneducated masses, television dumbed down. That when television first came out, only those with money and alas the education to have a great job could afford a television. And it was this same population that being well educated, didn't need things spelled out for them. They could hear an innuendo in a joke and "get it". But as more and more people could afford a television the more crude shows became. Steve Allen was one of the biggest supporters of the late comic genius Lenny Bruce who in December 2003 month, was granted a posthumous pardon by the Governor of New York, George Pataki, for his (Lenny Bruces) 1964 conviction for using obscene language in a Greenwich Village nightclub act. Lenny Bruce appeared in nightclubs where his act included routines on controversial themes (religious, political and social) often done in very strong blunt language. He isn't advocating censorship, but some way of getting dumbed down America out of the gutter and back up on the damn sidewalk. And he fully supports Lenny Bruce style "mature" humor which Bill Maher (whom I like) does. Mr. Allen wants to prick the readers consciousness and get them to think for a change and raise the level of intellect so that the Howard Sterns of the world are seen for the sophomoric people they are and the Lenny Bruces and Mort Sahl's are respected for being the social, religious and political genius provocateurs that they are, by using language often harsh or profane, for intellectual discourse and positive change.

Everyone who is a TV fan, should read this book.:
Steve Allen was a man of many talents, comedian,actor, writer,pianist,song writer. Every word he writes,in this, his last book, is the truth. He is very serious in writing this information. Read the book and you'll see what I mean.

A Big Disappointment:
When I first saw this book, I was immediately interested because I agree with the author that much of what is broadcasted as part of the "shock" radio and "schlock" television phenomena is pure garbage. Unfortunately, Mr. Allen spends a lot of time whining endlessly about the use of foul language on contemporary radio and television programs. He also seems to have concluded that things were somehow much better back in the "good old days" of the 1950's and 1960's. The fact is that television was garbage back then too; remember "The Munsters" or "Green Acres"?. He holds up the work of Jackie Gleason, among others, as a shining example of good, old-fashioned taste. Married couples slept in separate beds on "The Honeymooners" television show and Jackie Gleason never used profanity, but no television actor has ever managed to behave more like a vulgarian than Jackie Gleason regardless of the profanity they use. Gleason's Ralph Cramden was an obnoxious, loud-mouthed bully who got laughs by abusing his wife. Is this Mr. Allen's idea of what constitutes quality programming? Sure, kids (and adults) should be protected from the (garbage) on television. The best way to accomplish this is to get rid of your television set. I have friends who did just that before their first child was born and have reaped the benefits of a television-free home ever since. This book is very poorly organized. It meanders from one topic to the next in a sort of random fashion frequently repeating the same statements several times over in the course of only a few pages. Aside from the unrealistic nostalgia and the lack of proper editorial review, Mr. Allen has a few good points to make and they could have all been made in a book less than one-third the length of this one.