Race, Sex and Religion
Friday, November 19th, 2004It’s really about race
Controversy surrounding Owens’ MNF promo touches deep social issues
Before I say anything… for the sake of some of those who have commented. Gluttony is a sin… it’s hard to pin down a lot of direct references, but I believe it falls under selfishness. Not that this has anything to do with the article below… but I wouldn’t want to be accused of only dealing with sexual immorality. Even though it seems to saturate our culture.
Moving on…
What is it about football and sex this year? I don’t even like football and I can’t seem to avoid it this year!
Personally, the skit didn’t bother me one bit. What the segment did do, however, was make me wonder if America was ready to see a naked, blonde, white woman with her arms wrapped around an outspoken, controversial, highly paid black man.
Isn’t that what this is really all about? Once we get past all the people complaining about how inappropriate the skit was for the Monday Night Football audience and how so many children will be scarred after being exposed to such a tawdry scene before their bedtime and all the decision-makers in the NFL who have raced away from this topic as if it were a time bomb, this is an issue that comes down to race.
You know… why was it so important to have a naked blond woman embracing anyone on tv during prime time television!? It was obviously an attempt to garner “sensation” and “shock value”. Regardless of the feelings of individuals about race, it doesn’t change the fact that such explicit material shouldn’t have been aired during prime time (at all, in my opinion) ! Stop trying to sidetrack the discussion. Racial feelings aside… it was still morally wrong!
“I guarantee you that if Peyton Manning had been the man Sheridan jumped on, there wouldn’t be half the controversy. If it had been Eva Longoria, the Latina co-star of Desperate Housewives, there also wouldn’t be as much of an outcry. Two minorities locked in a sexual embrace isn’t as shocking a thought in some of those red states. “
I suppose it bears repeating. Racial issues aside… it’s still morally wrong.
“Everything I’m talking about here points to one central issue — how comfortable America is with black men as sexual objects. “
Why can’t/doesn’t the issue revolve around why people have to be portrayed as sexual objects at all?
As an aside, I just noticed that the primary advertising space on the Sports Illustrated Scorecard page is currently Viagra… “get back to mischief.” I don’t think there can be any argument that their opinion is a little biased. And just in case you still disagree with me… let’s consider the reason for the existence of the SI Swimsuit Illustrated…
