Bed-hopping TV characters skip right over reality

[Thom Little]

By Sylvester Brown Jr.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005


Television makes me feel like an old fuddy-duddy. After watching "Joey" or "Jack" or "Samantha" jump from bed to bed with total strangers on "Friends," "Will & Grace" and "Sex in the City," I find myself thinking things like: "Hey, Joey, that's somebody's daughter!" or "Samantha, do you even know that guy's name?"

Has anyone in Hollywood even heard of AIDS? It wouldn't seem so.

A report released this month by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a private nonprofit group focusing on health issues, revealed that sexual scenes on TV have nearly doubled since 1998. That's an average of five scenes an hour. There's small but good news. There are more "safe sex" references on TV shows (with "sexual content") today than in 1998 - but only 6 percent more.

According to the "Sex on TV" study, the fear of contracting HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) seems to be waning among America's young. One out of every three sexually active teenagers reports that they did not use condoms the last time they had sex. The study added that 50 percent of all new HIV infections will strike people under the age of 25.



http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/sylvesterbrownjr/story/385BBD2D7A88A591862570C80037CF49?OpenDocument

[acmavm]

1. They do remind me of horny rabbits on speed. That's why I don't watch

what either offends my intellect or sense of whatever.

[FloridaPat]

2. There was an article just this week about how dead bodies on TV

has grown significantly over the last few years. Then there's all those reality shows. It's bread and circus time for the crumbling empire. Just like Rome with the fights with the lions and Christans. Keep the people occupied while the emperors and his band of senators destroy the empire.

[Mutley]

3. That's what parental controls are for.

If someone doesn't want to watch the sex scenes, block the channel!

[patricia92243]

4. Yes - and the same for the computer. Any computer has all kinds of securi

security/privacy/ratings controls. There is absolutely no valid reason that children are in chat rooms where they should not be or watching pornography - or whatever the PARENT thinks is the incorrect thing for their family.

[Mr.Green93]

5. String Warts

Amaze your friends.

[PowerToThePeople]

6. How's it skip over reality? n/t

[Lerkfish]

8. I think they mean its more popular than "reality" shows

[Kailassa]

7. Sex is just like baseball.

Great if you're doing it yourself, but pathetic as a spectator sport.

[Deja Q]

9. Maybe people are too depressed to care; they see no future?

So let it spread.

Deprive people of hope for a future and they will want to die.

Especially for people under 25, they'd rather die by making love - not war, it seems.

Of course, if our corporate and political leaders woke the fuck up and decided to be pro-life and pro-society they'd use their clout and power to change things around. Though I fear the almighty dollar means more to them. (or the euro, if bill gates transferred 'his' money from the dollar to the euro, who hasn't by now?)

[Loonman]

10. Sex and the City was the dumbest fucking show

Basically it said if women aren't dating powerful men, they're not worth a shit. Sarah Jessica Parker is ugly as sin, too.