12/22/2007
from the Kennebec Journal
Finding shelter for those who serve their nation
Immigrant recalls her special greeting
State gains $85M in Homeland Security funds
Man arrested after swerve toward cop
School unit in limbo
Rain? What rain?
LEE LATCHES ON WITH THOMAS
Modern camping equipment takes it to the extreme
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
Civil War-era flag finds honored position
Residents wonder if the rain will ever go away
FAIRFIELD Sewage plant rejection irks man
Winslow's fireworks guy doesn't mind the obscurity
At holiday derby, the fun is catching
Vets' champion 'very passionate' about her work
Hersom deals with change
Sandals work for outdoor types
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
We hope not. In case you haven't heard, the hit show on cable television this season is MTV's "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila."
Tequila (real name Tila Nguyen) is a bisexual Internet porn star recruited to do a show for MTV. It's sort of a lust-filled ripoff of "Survivor," the network show where people one by one get voted off an island (usually) after doing things like eating bugs.
In Tequila's case, the cast of 32 people, half men and half women, all allegedly wanted to fall in love with her. If you've seen the show for a few minutes, you know they really talk about having sex with her. The 4-foot, 11-inch, tattoo-laden, thong-wearing Tequila puts them through hot tub tests, rap-singing contests and asks intimate questions. Then she rejects their advances one by one. Sophisticated, huh?
Last week, Tequila "found love." She narrowed the list of suitors to one, a man. We know that writing about this gives MTV and its parent company, Viacom Corp., a little more "exposure." That may be what they want.
But it's too important and gross to ignore. Shows like this demean women. They give casual, calculated, profit-driven sex legitimacy. They undermine loving, nurturing relationships -- the kind that make for good families and healthy children.
Here's a voice in Maine saying shame on MTV and its corporate parent. We anticipate one day being able to select cable television channels a la carte, and few of us picking MTV.




Reader comments
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I'm sorry to say I've seen this show a few times. What a waste of time! But anyway, sure, you could look at it as demeaning of women ... or men .. or both... The entire thing is just more mindless entertainment. Clearly, when you're featuring a show with a "bi-sexual" as the star seeking love, only not knowing if it's going to be male or female, the premise is inflammatory. I see these kinds of shows as similar to the right-wing garbage on the radio, only without the worthless, counter-productive, pandering Republican politics. The thing is that right-wing talk radio deliberately misinforms people about issues of war and peace, things that matter, and a show like this is just eye candy at best, or a complete, utter waste of time as worst. Right-wing talk radio is a MUCH greater danger to American democracy because it promotes divisive, exclusionary, ant-Democratic Republican policies.report abuse
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Furthermore - anyone looking to vapid entertainment mediums for instruction on 'good family' life and 'healthy children' needs to learn how to select a channel and why. The whole world need not be G-rated.
Don't hold your breath for a la carte cable TV, either. And for every puritan that forgoes MTV, 1,000 normal folks will opt FOR it. Of course, you do have the freedom NOW not to watch or to program MTV our of your television ... but then you wouldn't have petty nonsense to complain about, would you?report abuse
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