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Why I hate MTV

"It decides what we like, what we eat, and even who we vote for. As if that were not enough, we get an anorexic bimbo to share with us how "un-cool" we are if we aren't wearing certain clothes..." This angry letter landed in The Music Magazine mailbox

When I was a young lad, I remember MTV was new. I remember watching it for hours on end. I remember when it was nothing but music. Twenty-four hours of virtually nonstop music videos. What more could a Gen-X kid ask for?

Apparently our generation asked for a lot. We asked for stupid game shows. We asked for horrible "VJs". We asked MTV to tell us what to listen to and when. We asked for MTV to decide what we like, what we wear, what we eat, and even who we vote for. We let a multibillion dollar corporation run our lives.

The first reason I hate MTV is simply because they don't play enough music. They play whatever trendy songs three-four times an hour and fill in the rest of the time with commercials. There is no spectrum of music. There is no education. There is nothing for us to broaden our horizons. Instead we get four videos repeated over and over and 24 hour marathons of the "real (ha ha) world". If there's any spare time, we also get an anorexic bimbo to share with us how "un-cool" we are if we aren't wearing certain clothes or driving specific cars. We do get lucky from time to time and get to watch a moronic game show that actually decreases our intelligence. As viewers we deserve more than this.

The second reason I hate MTV is that I hate being told what and what not to like. I'm not saying that everything trendy is worthless. I am saying that people should not base everything they do on a television channel. Everywhere I go I see kids acting like, dressing like, and in essence being someone from MTV. They vote because someone from MTV told them to vote and who to vote for. MTV has taken lifestyles and made them "cool". For instance... I firmly believe that because of MTV, it is widely accepted and even cool for girls to either be bisexual or to experiment with bisexuality.

If a person is bisexual or gay, that's just fine by me. But it's not "cool" to be gay. It's not "cool" to be straight or anything else. Society has completely changed its views on this due to the attitudes displayed on MTV.

Don't believe me? I encourage you to ask around. I guarantee that people are more accepting and receptive to a woman being bisexual than a man. I must reiterate that I think there is nothing wrong with bisexuality or homosexuality. I just can't stand the way it's made to be the "hippest thing since sliced bread".

I'm not saying that MTV is the only enemy. That's not the case. There are many evils lurking in our homes, and we let them overtake our lives. The reason I target MTV is because it's the one reaching and changing the kids. Being able to think for ourselves and make our own decisions is our real freedom. To wear what we want and listen to music we like is freedom. Yet, we've allowed MTV and others to tell us what to listen and we base everything on what's cool. Nothing is cool. Everything is cool. It's up to us. WE as individuals decide. Take back the one freedom we really have. And that is why I hate MTV.

Mark Harmon

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