The Thicke of it

There’s lots good to say about YouTube. Two young Croatian cellists post a Michael Jackson cover and the song goes viral. Elton John calls asking them to open for him on his next tour. Sony offers a record contract. And there was the duo, now called 2Cellos, featured on a PBS special Sunday night playing in Zagreb before thousands of fans.

For every such success story, there are a million reasons why YouTube is the worst thing since the bubonic plague, filled as it is with soft and not-so-soft porn. I wouldn’t mind if the porn were just aimed at lonely males sitting at home, but it’s become a major way to market songs to teenagers and younger buyers.

First came the raunchy Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke with its fully clothed males and naked women prancing about while the lyrics repeat: “I know you want it. But you’re a good girl.” In response, Miley Cyrus has a hit with Wrecking Ball. “All I wanted to do is break your walls/All you ever did was wreck me,” she sings while swinging naked on a wrecking ball, licking a sledge hammer lasciviously, and generally hanging out with phallic symbols. I’m not going to give the links. I’m sure you can find them yourself.

I pooh-poohed Tipper Gore twenty years ago when she fought foul lyrics and won some warning labels. There are no restraints today. Many parents are too busy to worry about controls on what their kids watch or can’t be bothered. And speaking of parents, Billy Ray Cyrus told Piers Morgan that his daughter is just “evolving” but “That’s still my Miley.” Alan Thicke is equally supportive of his son. He told The Globe and Mail“We’ve been looking at bums for years, and suddenly to take off your top is no big deal. There are no sex acts taking place.” Well, Thicke and Cyrus were as close as you could get with clothes on at the Video Music Awards as she gyrated near his groin.

Am I the only one who’s offended by all this? The trouble is that such behaviour leads to that incident at St. Mary’s in Halifax where young men and women chanted about raping underage girls. Everybody is growing up inured to flesh and sex. Respect has been lost in the soft-porn shuffle.