Oooh, a Wiseguy, eh?

Check out today's letter to the editor in response to
my most recent Beacon article.

Here's the email I sent him today. Enjoy!

Levi,
Thank you so much for the letter you sent to the editor of the Beacon regarding my MTV column! You have helped my case immensely by proving every single word of my argument to be entirely true. See, you have officially declared yourself a product of the corporate mammoth known as MTV, which is run by the bigshots at Viacom. It shouldn't surprise me that you are a marketing major, except that I would guess you'd be more aware of the tactics of the entertainment industry and thus less vunerable to them. I clearly guessed wrong.

The best approach here, I believe, is to respond to your letter point-for-point. So here it goes:

"MTV has upstanding lessons for young America. Criticizing MTV for only manipulation of gender is an undermined statement that needs to be clarified. MTV gives moral and cultural advice to young America about how to make a difference in the American society."

Ok, for starters, I'm not sure what "undermined statement" is supposed to mean. Were you going for a different word, perhaps, like "erroneous?" From the get-go, I wonder if you even read my article, because I criticized MTV for a lot of things, not "only manipulation of gender." In fact, I'm pretty sure I said anything at all about gender itself being manipulated. As far as the "make a difference" stuff, that's pretty vague. A difference isn't always a good thing. Hitler made a difference, didn't he?

"MTV stands for what is right in today’s culture. The program has two main goals of getting young people to do the right thing. The two goals include the “Fight for AIDS” and “The Right to Vote” commonly known by the slogan “Vote or Die”. “Fight for AIDS” is a program that teaches young people that AIDS is not a joke and getting tested for STDs is a major part in keeping the society healthier. The program tries to raise donations to help the people in Africa in fighting AIDS and to help those here in America in the same sense. “Vote or Die” also motivates young America in teaching them that voting is a privilege and that they can make a difference in voting for what they think is right and also putting the person they believe will make the right decisions in running our country. Statistics have shown that through these two programs MTV has made the right step in helping those around us in need and increasing the amount of young voters in choosing the perfect person for the top leadership job in this nation, the president of the United States."

I hate to break it to you, but the "two main goals" of MTV have nothing to do with "the right thing." We are talking about an entertainment network here: This is a business, not a humanity project. The two main goals are money and power.
If you HAD read the article (again, I have my doubts), you would have read the section on the voting campaigns, and you would have seen that, on the surface (which is apparently all that matters), these are great programs. Now, here's your chance to use the word "undermined" correctly, as that is exactly what the extremely biased nature of these programs are doing to the inital goal of getting kids involved. They are explicitly geared toward one party. How is limiting options supposed to help the situation?
As for the AIDS fight: Again, important movement undermined by MTV's overall message. MTV speaks out about fighting AIDS, then turns right around and advocates risky sexual behavior and promiscuity in its programs. Explain that one...
I notice you toss the word "right" around a lot. This is interesting, since you don't really define the term in your own words and seem to rely on the entertainment industry to do it for you. That's scary.

"People need to look more in depth of the advantages of MTV and what they are contributing to America. Truth being, MTV does have a different prospect on entertainment, whether it be partying, Spring Break trips or signals of manipulation, but the program definitely has the upper hand in contributing to the decisions that young people make in bettering their lives and those around them."
In order to look more in depth at any message MTV is trying to send, you would have to have some depth to work with. You can't go diving in shallow water, yknow. And what do you mean by "signals of manipulation?" Did you actually just admit that MTV does manipulate people, after writing this entire letter to disprove that? You're certaiinly right in saying MTV has the upper hand in influencing young people--as I said before, you are living proof, my friend.

"Stand up for what is right, and stop putting MTV on a pedestal of manipulation. Start looking at the real goals of MTV and the changes they are trying to accomplish in American society"

There's that word again-- "right." Gee, I sure am glad we have a multi-million dollar corporation around to tell today's youth what is "right." I can sleep peacefully knowing that the "real goals of MTV" have clearly been accomplished, as they have no trouble lining their pockets and dominateing the behavior of their favorite people, the mush-minded consumers of the young generation. Thanks, MTV, for saving the world. My hero.

Regards,
Crystal Humphrey


I'm such a little smartass.