Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Few Bright Lights in the Filth of Modern Entertainment

So maybe that's a little dramatic. If you paid any attention to the Britney, Lindsay, or Paris drama the last two years though, you might decide that it is not so far off the mark. The entertainment industry is efficiently making it more widely known that our society is steadily declining. Hollywood couples marry and divorce as though their spouses were fruit that had gone bad, supposing that Sunflower Market has a much better and much more attractive selection available to them whenever they are hungry. Movies like Saw make enough money that they produce five of them. Nelly Furtado became one of the hottest names in music by changing her "Like A Bird" image to "Promiscuous Girl". The Osbournes let America know that it is "perfectly normal" to scream and cuss at your family all the time.

Disclaimer: I am not completely free from this. I still get sucked in occasionally by shows such as "Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders". From time to time I even listen to the Yin Yang Twins or Snoop Dogg.

In the sea of filth there is some good out there. Extreme Home Makeover. Celine Dion and her really old husband. Brad Paisley and his music videos with his cute wife. Maybe we could even put Pimp My Ride or Overhaulin' on that list. Probably not Punk'd.

On a different tangent, my friend Tyler has discussed with me this subject a few times: if any of you have ever sat through a mormon fast and testimony meeting you might think that mormons led the most difficult lives conceivable to man. There are tears, everyone talking about trials and how this month or this week has been maybe the hardest of their lives. They usually have a happy "I have been blessed a lot" point toward the end, but it too often seems overshadowed.

The fact is, most of us live pretty good lives. We all have hard things. But far too often we allow that to outweigh the good. On the way home from church on Sunday I heard a song that I have liked since the first day I heard it, Just Another Day in Paradise. The Phil Vassar version, not Phil Collins. If you are not familiar with this song, or would like to listen to it anyways, click here.



Even though I do not particularly like Phil Vassar and think that he is creepy looking, it's a great song. His life isn't perfect, he doesn't have the house of his dreams, his kids cry as much as any others, appliances break. He can't even have sex because his kid has a nightmare!! But he has people around him that he cares about and that care about him. And he's happy right where he is.

Our world has a lot of chaos and a lot of bad in it. But there is still good. And there are still good people. And I think few people could truthfully say there is more bad than good in their lives. And I am glad that there are songs like this that help me remember that everything is okay.

6 comments:

indeazgirl said...

Is this all because I watched Family Guy with John the other day? Really?
Just kidding. There are a few country songs that make the world seem just how it should be. This is one. "She's Everything to Me" is one. "That's What I Love About Sunday." "I've Been Watching You." Songs that make the suburban dream life seem completely possible and our little innocent childhoods truly capable of being recreated.

Bridget "Fun" Lynott said...

Wow. That was intense. Have you added Dr. Phil to the list of shows you have been watching?

bradleyjohn said...

Dr. Phil is part of the downfall of America as well. I forgot to mention him. Oprah on the other hand . . .

RC said...

I believe there is a saying that "He never said it would be easy, only worth it". This applies to all of us. I hear so many tales of woe from folks who really have it so much easier than some others. You just need to keep things in perspective. Someone always is worse off and you have been blessed way more than you think. This attitude will help all of us "endure to the end".
Staying away from the evils around us is just a matter of choice. Free agency I believe is the correct way of expressing it.

Too many quotes may sound cheesey BUT my dear son, they are true.

And Opra is a POX on society!

Life is good, enjoy it to the fullest!

Anonymous said...

Craziness. Today, as I was driving home from my forever long CPR class, with the windows down, singing along to an amazing country mix made for me by this one really cool kid, this song came on. And as I sat and belted it, I could only think of how wonderful the song was, how much I loved it, and how absolutely incredibly awesome my life was. I was irrepressibly happy.

And then, I read this today for the first time. It just doesn't get much better.

Camille Elise said...

That is a good song!!!