Rock bottom
Inadvertently I found myself watching children's television ,last Firday. The programme was called Crackerjack, and the host in charge was Michael Aspel, who seems a sensible enough fellow. On the show, however, was a pop group led by (or called) 'Gary Glitter ', whose male members were made-up with lipstick and other cosmetics, and who sang, or mimed, a song which went something like this: "Do you wanna touch me ", "Where?", "There ", "Oh yeah ". They twitched as they bawled; the small children in the audience shouted and twitched with them; and my own youngest son, aged five, who was presumably typical of the audience being aimed at, twitched and jumped to the tune. I found the performance vulgar and offensive; but that is not •the point. Surely it was quite unsuitable for young children, either in the studio audience or at home? Am I mad to think this? It is programmes aimed at children and at young teenagers, particularly those involving pop stars and groups, that, to my mind, are easily the most offensive and potentially the most degrading and corrupting of all television programmes. I suppose ITV uses the profit motive to justify its excesses; but what conceivable purpose can the BBC possess to justify it putting out such rubbish?
I was glad to see that the Independent Broadcasting Authority banned a Guardian advertisement from its screens. This advertisement showed a school-teacher asking a ten-year-old boy and girl "Would the committee agree to mixed showers in the new school block?" The advertisement was intended to promote the Education Guardian, which appears weekly. The Sun's television advertisements this week for its series "The Yes Generation" — and the series itself — will tend to encourage promiscuity and premature sexual activity, or feelings of guilt about sexual inexperience, among teenagers. The Sun is out for circulation, and is not too particular about the way it gets it. The Guardian, too, wants more circulation — which publication doesn't — but somehow I was more shocked by the Guardian's proposed advertising then by the Sun's.
Still, all this said, in my view the BBC's Crackerjack programme last week, given its intended audience, struck rock bottom.
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