X Rated X Factor

Madonna on tour in 1987

Cher and Lady Gaga in their most notorious outfits at the 2010 MTV Awards

Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, author and playwright, once remarked – The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.  

The entertainment industry is an industry like any other, and thus the pressure is on celebrities to be more shocking, more outrageous, in order to increase ‘product awareness’ in the market.   

As Jenny notes in her post, Applying critical interpretations to Reality TV, marketers are taking advantage of the widespread appeal of ‘reality TV’ and adopting new ploys to reach a wider audience.The growing phenomenon of cross-promotional appearances has resulted in ‘reality TV’ shows, classified for family viewing, increasingly featuring scantily clad music artists gyrating suggestively, eagerly watched by a young and impressionable audience.  Inevitably, complaints ensue.  There is ‘public outrage’.  TV and music producers depend on it.  

One of the unfortunate side effects of ‘moral panics’ is that they frequently tend to ensure that ‘offensive’ material reaches an even larger audience, as this recent article in British newspaper The Daily Mail, demonstrates.  The article purports to be a serious news story about stricter broadcasting guidelines being implemented in Britain, following a large number of complaints about the ‘inappropriate’ costumes and choreography of guest performers on the X Factor’s final show of the season, aired in December 2010.  

However, as Brendan Behan, paraphrasing Wilde, succinctly states – There is no such thing as bad publicity.  The article manages to simultaneously adopt a tone of moral outrage while gratuitously including multiple “graphic” images of the offending performances, thereby providing the artists with the kind of coverage publicists dream about.  

While Thompson (2010, p397) argues that “sexualised behaviour is generally considered appropriate for adults (assuming it is expressed in socially acceptable ways)”, I question whether the sexualised behaviour exhibited in popular media would be considered ‘socially acceptable’ if displayed in other contexts or by adults other than celebrities.  

Images 

Cher and Lady Gaga. Retrieved from 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/13/lady-gagas-meat-dress-photos_n_714117.html#144466

Madonna. Retrieved from  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2053271/Madonnas-24-year-old-corset-busts-pre-sale-estimate-making-45k-auction.html

References

Thomas, L. (2011) At last... Rihanna and Co told 'you'll have to cover up if you want to appear on X Factor', as Ofcom cracks down on the sexualisation of children. The Daily Mail. 1st October 2011. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2043762/X-Factor-Acts-like-Rihanna-Christina-Aguilera-told-cover-Ofcom.html

Kirrilly Thompson (2010): Because looks can be deceiving: media alarm and the

sexualisation of childhood – do we know what we mean?, Journal of Gender Studies, 19:4, 395-400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2010.533492

Face the music.

Debate about the possible negative effects of popular music and television on children and young people is not new.  As far back as 1956, there were concerns raised about the appropriateness of permitting Elvis Presley’s  “provocative and sensual movements” (Rosenberg, 2011) to be broadcast.   

In 2008, following a Senate inquiry into the sexualisation of children in contemporary media, the Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts recommended “ that broadcasters review their classification of music videos specifically with regard to sexualising imagery” (page v, Recommendation 4). 

Yet how effective is classification in protecting children from viewing ‘inappropriate’ music videos? 

A couple of months ago, one of my friends shared this Youtube clip on his Facebook page.

While I was impressed by the girls obvious enthusiasm, energy and flexibility, I was somewhat disturbed by the costumes and the choreography of the routine.  The choreography is clearly based on that in Beyonce’s music video  , and the girls’ movements suggest they themselves are very familiar with the music video.  However, the costumes worn by the girls in this clip are more sexually suggestive than those worn by the performers in the original music video.  As the girls in the clip are only seven years of age, I think it is fairly safe to assume that adults have selected their costumes and choreographed their dance routine. 

The Report of the Senate Inquiry states that preventing children’s exposure to sexual content and imagery is the responsibility of “broadcasters, publishers, advertisers, retailers and manufacturers” (Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts, 2008, page v, Recommendation One), and that parents and other adult carers of children cannot realistically control their children’s exposure to ‘inappropriate’ material (2008, p 7).

Yet some parents are clearly not concerned about the possible negative consequences of exposing their children to the ‘inappropriate’ images seen in contemporary media, particularly music videos.  In a case of ‘life imitating art’, the early scenes in the following video montage from the American ‘reality’ television show Toddlers and Tiaras, are reminiscent of the final dance scene in the movie Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton & Faris, 2006). 

While parents may not be able to shield their children from exposure to ‘inappropriate’ content in all forms of contemporary media, there is an easy way to restrict the television viewing of young children.  It’s called the ‘off’ button. 

References

beyonceVEVO. (2009). Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It). [video file] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY

Dayton, J., & Faris, V. (Directors). (2006). Little Miss Sunshine [Motion Picture].

Rosenberg, J. (2011). 1956 - Elvis Gyrates on Ed Sullivan's Show. Retrieved from About.com Guide: http://history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/qt/elvissullivan.htm

Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts. (2008). Report of the Senate Inquiry into the Sexualisation of Children in Contemporary Media. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/sexualisation_of_children/report/report.pdf. 

 

TheEdSullivanShow. (2010). Elvis Presley "Hound Dog" on The Ed Sullivan Show [video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOvUdZgl7vo  

TLC. (2011). Toddlers & Tiaras - Most Outrageous Outfits [video file] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSl0OGmbmpQ&feature=related

YourDanceChannel. (2010). Single Ladies Dance (7 years old- Original). [video file] Retrieved   from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8BO4-7DkM