Grammy Awards Audience With Cardi B's Burlesque Show

We cancel books by Dr. Seuss because his influence on kids might be harmful. I haven’t seen any empirical—or even anecdotal—data to support that overblown, politically correct concern. Nevertheless, the youngins must be protected from hidden messages in Horton Hears a Who! and Green Eggs and Ham.

If wokesters were genuinely concerned about harming youth, why are they silent when the morally numb producers of the Grammy Awards throw a duo of crotch-stroking, stage-humping, stripper pole-fondling “artists” into our faces without a thought that maybe, just maybe, a few million kids might catch the act?

According to this report, “Households that watch the Grammy Awards are predominantly young families with children” who are “2.5 times as likely to have 2+ kids under the age of 6.”

With that in mind, watch Cardi B and Thee Stallion performed “UP” and “WAP” while humping the stage and each other—then tell me that’s appropriate “entertainment” for 6-year-olds . . . or worthy of anyone possessing a scintilla of modesty or decency.

In addition to common sense, there’s a host of scholarly analysis documenting the harmful impact of sexualized images upon youth, especially adolescent girls.

And then there Jesus who said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6 NIV).

And yet, CBS proudly offered their airwaves as a platform for these scantily-clad women to romp and cavort in a bed larger than the largest California King on the market.

CBS is the same network which prohibited Lucy Ricardo from using the “offensive” word “pregnant” during the I Love Lucy show. They also debated whether or not to permit showing a toilet in the pilot episode of Leave It To Beaver. And yet they have no issue today with leg-spreading public exhibitions of decadence.

Clearly, CBS is in the toilet today—as are the ratings for the Grammy’s which have been on a decade-long slide. Statista reports the audience share has been more than halved since 2012. And this year’s numbers were down 53% of last year.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of the cancel culture would be cancelling the Grammy’s—although they’re doing a pretty good job of losing the audience all on their own.

LucasFilm Cancels Gina Carano: This is the Way

She survived the Empire’s Death Star blast on planet Alderaan. Here on Earth, #Mandalorian mercenary and fan favorite @GinaCarano took a direct hit when LucasFilm and Disney+ vaporized all future appearances of the actress in any Star Wars projects. Her crime?

Was she arrested for reckless and drunk driving like Bruce Springsteen—causing JEEP to put the brakes on his Super Bowl Ad? Did she advocate explicit sex acts with multiple men like Cardi B does in her new No.1 Spotify single UP? Was she glorifying smoking pot and oral sex like CJ does in Whoopty? Nope.

The Gatekeepers of Diversity and Tolerance at LucasFilm were ironically intolerant and impatient with Carano’s pattern of “controversial” and “abhorrent” tweets including her:

  • Support of President Donald Trump

  • Refusal to include pronouns in her Twitter bio

  • Anti-mask beliefs and stance against the prolonged COVID shutdown

  • Call to open up churches and businesses

These tweets prompted LucasFilm Overlords to privately begin plotting a course to drop the rising star. But her post yesterday on Instagram was the final straw:

“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views.” [Emphasis added].

A thoughtful person understands Carano’s point: Having neighbors turn against their neighbors—as was the case under Hitler—is a bad thing and spawned the rise of fascism. It happened then. It could happen again. How is her observation of history anything but factual and logical? Clearly Carano is concerned about the rise of covid-snitching neighbors as evidenced in San Diego, Akron, Chicago, and Austin among many other cities.

Alas, LucasFilm and Disney+ executives fail to understand, as has been said elsewhere, there is a “distinction between banning hate speech and banning speech it hates.”

Ironically, liberalism portrays itself as being compassionate, loving, and quick to embrace diversity—except when you disagree with them. The adjacent sampling of hate-filled, profanity-laden tweets aimed at Carano by a fleet of “tolerant” Woke Commanders is an example of “Allodoxaphobia”—the fear of hearing other opinions.

Civil rights activist and author John Perkins is rightly concerned about a country “marked by the sins of racism, sexism, and all the other –isms, where we can’t disagree without also hating one another.”

He’s right. We can lob verbal grenades in social media all day long and even fire them from their jobs—or, preferably, we can follow the Lord who said, “come and reason together” (Isaiah 1:18).

This is the [better] Way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Weeknd Report: Super Bowl’s Epic Fumble

The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t the only ones to fumble their Super Bowl LV performance. I’m calling a flag on the play over the decision makers who picked Abel Tesfaye A.K.A. “The Weeknd” as the halftime entertainer for the largest TV audience of the year.

After more than 1,300 complaints were filed from 48 states with the FCC after 2020’s salacious belly dancing, booty shaking, crotch thrusting-fest with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, you’d think the NFL would look for a more family-friendly option in 2021.

Nope. Not even close.

Granted, The Weeknd didn’t sport black leather dominatrix getups, or prance around stage cavorting with a stripper pole as did J.Lo. That’s a plus. But his lyrical content is far more perverted, morally bankrupt, and sexually graphic than J.Lo’s inappropriate display. Think I’m exaggerating?

Take your pick of The Weeknd’s lyrical exhibition of genital gymnastics. Consider “Often,” “Love in the Sky,” or “Gone.” Google the lyrics and get back to me. Then there’s “Or Nah” which I guess is The Weeknd’s idea of a love song. He sings:

Can you lick the tip then throat the dick or nah? Can you let me stretch that p—y out or nah? . . . P—y so good, I had to save that sh-t for later, Took her to the kitchen, f—ked her right there on the table . . . I’m tryna keep that p—y wet, I’m tryna f—k her and her friends.”

Frank Sinatra he’s not. Imagine the conversation at the NFL headquarters when this sexual pervert and predator was recommended to take center stage in the living rooms of more than 100 million households on Super Bowl Sunday.

NFL COMMISSIONER: Who we got for halftime?

STAFF: Definitely go with The Weeknd

NFL COMMISSIONER: Who? Never heard of that.

STAFF: Um, sir, The Weeknd is a he . . . he’s from Toronto Canada, and he’s B-I-G. His “In Your Eyes” video has almost 90 million views. He’s got 2.5 billion streams and has 8 Top 20 hits on the GLOBAL Top 200 list with 4 global No.1s. And The Weeknd’s won 3 Grammys.

NFL COMMISSIONER: I’m liking that. Gotta love the international aspect of a Canadian artist. Any downside?

STAFF: Well, let’s just say his lyrics can be a bit . . . risqué . . . but most parents don’t won’t know the first thing about him—and he’s promised to keep his clothes on so we don’t anticipate any “wardrobe malfunctions” or “Nipplegate” issues.

Indeed. The Weeknd kept his clothes on, so what’s the big deal? Consider this.

The price of a 30-second Super Bowl LV commercial was $5,600,000. The Weeknd performed for about 13 minutes which means the international exposure to promote his brand—comprised of smutty lyrics and violent videos—was valued at roughly $145,600,000, along with the implicit NFL Seal of Approval.

Aren’t there more worthy artists to pick for the coveted halftime slot? Why does the NFL insist on picking morally bankrupt performers? What might that say about them? And, why do American families allow such depravity to take center stage in their homes?

The person of faith has a higher bar to set regarding their entertainment choices. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4a says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;  that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust.”

Does The Weeknd pass that test? Not even close. The NFL has fumbled their entertainment pick. But your family still has a choice whose voice they’ll to listen to this week.

Cardi B and the Year the World Got Sick

When I say the world got sick, I’m not referring to the corona virus. I’m talking about the complete and utter moral failure and lack of discernment by youth around the globe enabling Cardi B, a morally bankrupt hip-hopper, to be named “Woman of the Year” by Billboard magazine.

Does that sound like an exaggeration?

Take a moment to look up the lyrics to “WAP”—brace yourself, they’re explicit. Go ahead. Do it. Then explain how this pornographic song hit the No.1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart—for four weeks—if it didn’t have a massive listening audience. In fact, “WAP” also became the first No.1 song on the Billboard Global 200 chart. You might want to read that again.

National Public Radio (NPR) lost all credibility with me when they listed “WAP” as their No.1 Song of the Year for 2020—a song they described as “raunchy fun.” NPR isn’t alone in their drooling over the latest hip hop smut-fest. With 93 million first week streams by jaded listeners, last year “WAP” set the world record for the “most streams for a song in a single week.”

As of this writing, there have been more than 205 million views of the video and just shy of 1 billion global streams of “WAP.” That’s sick.

Billboard’s December cover story gushed that 28-year-old Cardi B’s “unapologetic voice resonated far and wide in 2020 when the world needed it most.” Seriously? The world needed yet another XXX-rated hip hop song pumped into the kids AirPods at a time when parents have lost their jobs and, in turn, their homes?

How does a salacious sex-romp benefit family businesses which have been forced to close their doors forever?

How are lewd lyrics helping children, who have been deprived of friendships and peer interaction, cope with isolation, depression, and thoughts of suicide?

I’m still struggling to understand how Cardi’s “unapologetic voice” is what the world “needed most.”

For her part, Cardi acts surprised by those who would take issue with her vulgar lyrics. After all, she grew up listening to hardcore female rappers. She told Billboard, “I’m so used to listening to raunchy female rap music since I was a little girl” that “WAP” “to me was just a regular raunchy female rap song.” She adds, “I represent America.” I sure hope not.

For better or worse, America—and the world—are listening.

What are the implications for this generation of young listeners who stream her music? Who is helping teens process Cardi B’s fixation on genital pleasure and her “filthy bit of joy” (NPR) in light of God’s gift of sex and human sexuality? Who is raising a biblical standard of purity in a culture which has largely traded love for lust and where courting has been replaced by copulating?

Focus on the Family remains an excellent resource for moms and dads as they navigate their parenting journey in these turbulent times. Click here to learn more.

A final thought. The darker the night, the more we need light. When it comes to entertainment choices in our homes, Philippians 4:8 provides a spotlight to live by: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (NIV).

That’s what the world needs most.

The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy Is On Your Screen

I never met New York magazine columnist Jonathan Chait. If I have the opportunity to meet him one day, I’ll be sure to buy him lunch. After all, finding an honest liberal commentator on pop culture these days is about as rare as sighting an albino crow.

In his piece, The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy Is on Your Screen, Chait admits what conservatives used to argue, namely, that TV programming is a vast wasteland of liberal indoctrination.

Regarding Hollywood’s impact, he notes that “A trio of communications professors found that watching Will & Grace made audiences more receptive to gay rights.” Furthermore, “When Joe Biden endorsed gay marriage in May, he cited Will & Grace as the single-most important driving force in transforming public opinion on the subject.” Although I’d suggest Glee made Will & Grace look like a couple of lightweights by comparison.

If conceding that a connection exists between extreme liberal values on TV screen and a values shift in the culture wasn’t brave enough, this self-proclaimed “liberal hawk” does something I can’t say I’ve ever witnessed any liberal journalist do—he invites his reader to empathize with conservatives:

“…think of it from the conservative point of view, if you don’t happen to be one. Imagine that large chunks of your entertainment mocked your values and even transformed once-uncontroversial beliefs of yours into a kind of bigotry that might be greeted with revulsion. You’d probably be angry, too.”

However, he rightly points out that conservatives have largely stopped publicly holding Hollywood accountable for the daily dose of excrement they shovel into our living rooms via TV. Which begs a question: Why do millions of people in fly-over country wear a muzzle when Follywood producers mock, trample upon, and vilify their core beliefs?

Chait confessions “The more uncomfortable reality is that the culture war is an ongoing liberal rout. Hollywood is as liberal as ever, and conservatives have simply despaired of changing it.” Some might argue that we shouldn’t impose our values on others. Ah, yes, but clearly Hollywood doesn’t have that issue, do they?

That said, it’s decades after the fact—but hats off to this brave soul for having the hutzpah to say we conservatives are right about Hollywood’s role in corrupting our culture. I wonder if he saw the light because he got married and had two children . . . funny how that works.