Music Videos

Before you read the rest of this post, I must admit that as someone with over a decade of classical music training, I am easily horrified by today’s ‘popular’ music, so this will very quickly turn into a rant. To me, the majority of it can’t even be classified as music; it’s just a collection of noises made on computer programs with illogical and uncreative words.

What’s worse is that these songs are usually accompanied by extremely sexual video clips.

“Anaconda” by Nick Minaj is the one that has been all over social media and music video shows such as The Loop (Channel Eleven, Saturdays 9am) recently.

Via Slow Robot

In a recent article on Huffington Post titled “No More Booty Songs, Please”, Jennifer L. Scott describes her viewing experience;

To say that the video shocked me is a vast understatement. Ms. Minaj writhes, grinds and twerks her way through nearly 5 minutes of a robotic song about, you guessed it, her buttocks. Mixed with samplings from the 1992 hit, "Baby Got Back," by Sir Mix-a-lot, the song itself is completely dire, plagued with raunchy, dumbed-down lyrics with a chorus that exclaims, Oh my gosh, look at her butt, over and over again. Sigh.

I came away from watching the video feeling slightly nauseous. I have two daughters, ages two and four. If music videos are this sexually explicit and devoid of merit now, what are they going to be like when my girls are teenagers?
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-l-scott/no-more-booty-songs-pleas_b_5853330.html)

This is the concern of many parents, and hence why at Right at Night we are so passionate about inspiring change. By aiming to bring this issue into the forefront of the media, we hope to stimulate conversations by people of all demographics around what they consider appropriate content, and ultimately protect those who are currently voiceless.

If you need any further convincing, the video and lyrics of Anaconda are below…

My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun

Boy toy named Troy used to live in Detroit
Big dope dealer money, he was gettin' some coins
Was in shootouts with the law, but he live in a palace
Bought me Alexander McQueen, he was keeping me stylish
Now that's real, real, real
Gun in my purse, bitch, I came dressed to kill
Who wanna go first? I had them pushing daffodils
I'm high as hell, I only took a half a pill
I'm on some dumb shit, by the way, what he say?
He can tell I ain't missing no meals
Come through and fuck him in my automobile
Let him eat it with his grills and he tellin' me to chill
And he telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal
Say he don't like 'em boney, he want something he can grab
So I pulled up in the Jag, and I hit him with the jab like
Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun

My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun

Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
(Look at her butt)
Look at, look at, look at
Look, at her butt

This dude named Michael used to ride motorcycles
Dick bigger than a tower, I ain't talking about Eiffel's
Real country-ass nigga, let me play with his rifle
Pussy put his ass to sleep, now he calling me NyQuil
Now that bang, bang, bang
I let him hit it cause he slang cocaine
He toss my salad like his name Romaine
And when we done, I make him buy me Balmain
I'm on some dumb shit, by the way, what he say?
He can tell I ain't missing no meals
Come through and fuck him in my automobile
Let him eat it with his grills, and he telling me to chill
And he telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal
He say he don't like 'em boney, he want something he can grab
So I pulled up in the Jag, Mayweather with the jab like
Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun

My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun

Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
(Look at her butt)
Look at, look at, look at
Look, at her butt

Little in the middle but she got much back
Little in the middle but she got much back
Little in the middle but she got much back
(Oh my God, look at her butt)

My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun
My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't
Don't want none unless you got buns, hun

Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
(Look at her butt)
Look at, look at, look at
Look, at her butt

Yeah, he love this fat ass, ha haha!
Yeah! This one is for my bitches with a fat ass in the fucking club
I said, where my fat ass big bitches in the club?
Fuck the skinny bitches! Fuck the skinny bitches in the club!
I wanna see all the big fat ass bitches in the muthafuckin' club
Fuck you if you skinny bitches, what?! Kyuh
Ha ha, ha ha
I got a big fat ass (ass, ass, ass)
Come on!

21st Century Parenting

I came across an article today called "Simple solutions to high-tech headaches", which discussed how "Today's parents have a whole lot of new things to deal with".

They interviewed Kathy Walker, a child development consultant, and one of her suggestions was only allowing "half-an-hour a day maximum TV and computer screen time for those aged two to five and no more than one hour for those aged six to 12".

Ideally most parents dream of being organised and in control at all times, with never ending energy and time for their kids. Realistically though, many are juggling a combination of full time work, house work, multiple children, time with their spouse as well as trying to stay sane, so being able to turn on the TV to have a moment's peace can be a real help.

That's one of the reasons why we believe television stations should ensure their programming is in line with regulatory and community standards - parents want the confidence to know that if they have to leave the room momentarily, their children are not going to be exposed to content they are not comfortable with them seeing.

 

Walker also identifies that one of the things parents wrestle with is when to allow their children to watch a PG or M rated movie. We agree that parents consider this a big decision, because they are ultimately deciding what their children are being exposed to. As parents they should be afforded this right, television stations shouldn't be able to circumvent the law and community standards to play inappropriate content during family time slots. (Interesting fact though: Per the ACMA guidelines, M content can be played between 12pm-3pm on school days)

Have you ever seen anything inappropriate while watching television with your children? Do you approve of M content during the day? And how do you control TV watching in your house? 

Big Momma's House

Our first submission comes courtesy of Big Momma's house 2, aired on GO! at 7.30pm on Friday Night, 5 September 2014.

For those unfamiliar with the premise, a male FBI agent goes undercover as an elderly female nanny to a family being investigated. This movie is rated PG, and played during a PG time slot.

Concern was raised from viewers about a scene that took place in a spa change room (some of which is included in the trailer below).




Young women are seen walking around in lingerie and various states of undress while Martin Lawrence's "Big Momma" is in character. One walks right up to Martin/the camera, asking for assistance to unhook her front bra clasp.

The scene does nothing to further the plot line, so could easily have been removed by the programming staff when they chose to air it.


Also, the movie ends with a sexualised dance performance from young 7 year old girls, while the camera is zoomed in for extreme close ups. This too can feel inappropriate and unsuitable in a children's movie



What did you think? Were the complaints justified? Would you feel comfortable with your children watching these scenes? Let us know below

Play by the rules

Did you know there are rules governing what commercial television stations show?
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has a Code of Practice that regulates which programs and advertisements can be shown in certain time slots.

It is our goal at Right at Night to ensure television stations abide by these zones, as well as to ensure that community standards in relation to classifications are considered.
We want to encourage audiences to voice their concerns, queries or opinions about television programming, and generate conversations about these topics.

If you see something on television that you consider inappropriate, post a photo or comment on our Facebook page, or tweet using the hashtag #RightAtNight
For any questions about the campaign, you can contact us anonymously via the 'Contact' tab above.

View the full code here