Wednesday, February 04, 2004
More on Circus
This article seemed to fit well into what I was arguing about the overblown coverage of Ms. Jackson.
His suggestion to have great patriotic moments presented during halftime instead, is a noble idea, but I really doubt that it'll happen:
He continues by pointing out that this is one of the few time many families are gathered in front of the television:
Jesus said give to Caesar what is his and to God what is His. Caesar's is money, and that is why the NFL will not show such celebrations of culture every year; the ratings wouldn't be high enough and they would make less money on ads.
Perhaps that point speaks more about degradation than the NFL's decision to repeatedly contract such base displays for halftime. The circus won't come to town if no one will by a ticket.
The American people are voting with their remotes, and with this vote declaring, "All Hail Caesar!"
UPDATE: There is a NYT Editorial on this cultural problem in America.
Michael Novak on Halftime & Super Bowl on National Review Online: "Football is a great game of hard work, sacrifice, the endurance of pain, precision, discipline, the love of brothers for one another, guts, spirit, the will to overcome adversity, and intense and sustained determination. Why, then, has the NFL been so dense as to allow its halftime show, year after year, to be a celebration of decadence and degradation?
If the moral morons the NFL hires to produce these shows set out to dramatize the last days of the Roman empire in all its legendary sickness, what would they do differently? Who are these seemingly drugged, indifferent, writhing pagan figures they now throw around the platform? These are not living human beings in action, these are sacks of flesh, writhing, grinding, pawing, acting out no higher appeal than bodily functions. They evoke no virtues of the human spirit. It is as if they wish to suffocate any spark of Jewish or Christian womanhood and manhood. It is as if they mean to corrupt, seduce, degrade. A more radically anti-Jewish and anti-Christian assault, embodying the sort of Wagnerian images of pagan disgust and decay that enraptured Hitlerian audiences, would be hard for them to produce."
His suggestion to have great patriotic moments presented during halftime instead, is a noble idea, but I really doubt that it'll happen:
"There are so many beautiful events in the history of our nation that our children and our families deserve to know, so many glorious episodes to dramatize. Why doesn't the NFL stage a ten-year sequence of halftime shows that tell the great story of the Founding of our nation? For this story embodies all the virtues required by championship football, and many others besides.
And it can be done, beautifully and affectingly. One year (was it the Super Bowl after 9/11?), the NFL did stage a very moving tribute to the American Founding and its basic documents; I remember Jack Kemp, among others, reading those resonant words, in a decorous and solemn setting that filled all who saw it with resolve and purpose. But this may have been a film produced in advance, and shown only in the stadium, with pageant and color in silent motion spread out below the giant stadium screens. It may even have been only the pre-game show."
He continues by pointing out that this is one of the few time many families are gathered in front of the television:
For no other event during the year are more Americans focused together on the same liturgical celebration, especially as families, than at Super Bowl halftime. An NFL halftime should feed our minds and souls, and our sense of nobility and beauty, and remain forever a memory cherished by children and families alike.
Jesus said give to Caesar what is his and to God what is His. Caesar's is money, and that is why the NFL will not show such celebrations of culture every year; the ratings wouldn't be high enough and they would make less money on ads.
Perhaps that point speaks more about degradation than the NFL's decision to repeatedly contract such base displays for halftime. The circus won't come to town if no one will by a ticket.
The American people are voting with their remotes, and with this vote declaring, "All Hail Caesar!"
UPDATE: There is a NYT Editorial on this cultural problem in America.
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