What Does the Media Say About Sex in St.
Louis?
By
People often underestimate
the power of music and its influence over our thoughts and actions. When speaking
to St. Louis high school 
students
about the media, I often hear them say, “Music doesn’t affect me. I just listen
to the beat.”
So, I typically
retort back, “But does the music that you listen to
inspire you to become a better, more loving, kind, intelligent, honest,
self-controlled, well-spoken, patient, responsible and respectful person? Or
does it inspire ideas that are the opposite of these noble traits, such as
rebellion, vulgarity, irresponsibility, anger, violence, disrespect and lack of
self-control?” A lot of times I’ve gotten a response back something to the
effect of “Wooah,
Miss Emily, you trippin!”
Comedian-Actor
Chris Rock had this to say about today’s rap music: “I love rap music, but I’m tired of defending it! It’s hard to defend
[lyrics like], ‘I got hos in different area codes.’
It’s hard to defend ‘Move, b---h, get out the way.’ You go to the clubs and you
see girls dancing, just loving it. I feel sorry for the guys that got to pick a
wife out of this bunch…. Women who like rap don’t care what they are saying. If
the beats are right she will dance all night. I see girls on the floor dancing
to the nastiest lyrics ever made…And you know what’s real wild? If you mention
to a woman that the song is disgusting and misogynistic, they all give you the
same answer: ‘He ain’t talkin’
‘bout me.’ “
A very large
portion of young people in our St. Louis community are listening to hip-hop and
rap music. When asked about their future goals, the majority of the male,
inner-city students tell me that they either want to be a rap artist or an NBA
player. When I push them a little bit further and ask them why these two
professions are so attractive, the two driving forces are money and women.
Unfortunately, this get-rich mentality has inspired students to view higher
education as a waste of time. One student told me, “Miss Emily, I’m gonna make millions and have as many girls as I want.
Working hard is for all those fools who aren’t gonna
make it big like me.” Sadly, statistics show that a vast majority of St. Louis
inner-city students will end up in jail rather than go on to make six figures.
A cruel irony of
hip-hop music is that many artists who have been fortunate enough to escape the
poverty of the inner city – a poverty in large part
fueled by cycles of fatherlessness and illegitimacy –
have gotten rich singing about full-throttle sexual immorality. The media
clearly portrays the image that the best sex is to be had in an uncommitted
relationship. Love has been reduced to cheap and fleeting emotions fueled by
hype and hormones.
Godly love, in
contrast to what you see on TV, is a love that never seeks its own good, but
instead is focused on the other person. It is a love that always hopes for the
best in others without seeking something in return, and it always seeks to
benefit the person who is loved.
The recording
artist, Snoop Dogg has turned away from gangbanging
to God. When asked how he justifies his dirty mouth, porn involvement and
violent themes, he says, “We keep God in everything we do, and we try to be
more positive than negative.”
Now, I don’t know
what god Snoop’s worshiping, but the Bible
is clear that those who love God will keep His commandments, and that
blessing and cursing cannot come out of the same mouth. It seems the media will
allow anyone to profess their faith in God or even Christ as long as it fits their
idea of what “god” should be.
Just pay attention
to the latest awards show and watch how many “artists” come up to the
microphone to thank God for their latest success in the billboard charts.
“It is rather ironic that teenage girls with
breast implants and rappers with violent and misogynistic lyrics spent the
whole night thanking Jesus Christ of all people. It’s clearly by unchristian
means that these alleged ‘friends of God’ have made their millions.” –
Marilyn Manson.
We have an obligation
to reach out to the youth in our St. Louis community and help them to thrive,
not just survive. Media - including TV, movies, music, video games and the
Internet – is neither fundamentally good nor ultimately evil. It’s the messages contained in the media that are
moral or immoral, and you must be alert and become aware of those messages
so that they do not influence your decisions without your permission. When
the media is selling lies, don’t “just listen to the beat!”
