The Image
Research in the behavioral and neurological sciences has demonstrated that behavior is preceded by a mental picture of that behavior. The image is transduced by the brain into a program that activates and plays out the image in expressed behavior. Action follows image.

We have recently learned that observed actions (what we see others do or “models”) also produce internalized programs which are then expressed by the actions of the perceiving individual.

We are all influenced by models. The human nervous system is wired to learn behaviors from the observation and study of others. Young children, in particular, are model susceptible.

For example, research has shown that newborns are able to imitate the facial features of its parents. The newborn has no thinking or verbal language skills to analyze what he/she sees and then consciously convert it into movement. The image is seen and the brain automatically transforms it into behavior. 

Children, up to the age of eight years old are susceptible to and influenced by the images (behaviors, attitudes, values, etc) modeled in their environment. This susceptibility is a survival mechanism that enables children to become self-regulating in the quickest way possible. The images modeled in the child’s environment become the foundation for the child’s future adolescent and adult behavior.

After eight years old and even into old age, we are still susceptible to the behavior-altering power of images but this susceptibility is somewhat diminished by rational thinking and the exercise of will. Nevertheless, even as adults, the pre-dominant images we expose ourselves to, either observed or imagined, govern our thinking and behavior.

In short, images are like seeds. What you sow is what you reap. If you allow images of corruption and immorality to enter your mind, like noxious weeds, they will ultimately find expression in your behavior. If you entertain images that are ennobling and uplifting to the human spirit, your thinking and actions will be likewise. The scriptural maxim “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” is an eternal truth. To think in one’s heart is to “think” with images and with all the powerful emotions that attend the images.

This knowledge throws light on something of very great importance-- the impact of the images we see modeled on television, video, and film. And this impact, if what we say is true about the power of images, needs little explanation. The implications are obvious for both children and adults.

The Super Bowl

With this understanding, I have become increasingly alarmed with the rapid moral degradation and baseness of network television programming. How bad network television really is was brought home to me and my family yesterday as we watched the Super Bowl on CBS television. We were excited to not only see the game and the halftime festivities, but also the commercials that were supposed to be the expression of the best and brightest creative minds. The game itself fulfilled our expectations of entertaining competition but the festivities and commercials were, to say the least, bothersome.

The Commercials

CBS charged $2.3 million this year for each 30-second Super Bowl. The commercials command such steep prices because the broadcast commands a unique audience: nearly 100 million viewers who don't channel surf for four-plus hours. Among that audience were millions of children between 6 and eleven years old (a 22 rating) and teens (a 27 rating).

Base juvenile humor seemed to dominate the Super Bowl commercials. Gags such as a flatulent horse that sprayed his processed intestinal contents in the face of a woman and a crotch-biting dog made for the most “popular” ads during the game. Numerous commercials were aired about male impotence. The newest entrant in the prescription drug category, Cialis, offered romantic scenes of couples in commercials that asked: "If a relaxing moment turns into the right moment, will you be ready?"

A “humorous” Bud Light ad focused on men suffering similarly difficult experiences. Sierra Mist soda explored the same territory with a kilt-wearing bagpiper wearing a certain piece of football gear as he gets relief from the heat by exposing himself to blasts of frigid air from a subway grate.

The Half-Time Festivities

Singer Janet Jackson set off a Super Bowl firestorm during the half time celebration when her right breast was bared for all the world to see. Michael Jackson’s little sister ended Justin Timberlakes” Rock Your Body” with Timberlake ripping off the leather cup that covered her breast as he sang, "Gotta have you naked by the end of this song."

"I am outraged at what I saw," Federal Communications Chairman Michael Powell said in a statement. "Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt. Our nation's children, parents and citizens deserve better. "

Quite a statement for the man who has ruled it is OK for television networks to use the “F” word if it is used in a non-sexual way. CBS was the first network to break the language barrier when it aired a music awards show in which U2 rocker Bono used the word when accepting an award on a live broadcast.

What to Do?

The Super Bowl, compared to the rest of network television’s program offerings, is mild when it comes to offensive programming. The networks broadcast on a daily basis soap operas that model and glamorize pre-marital sex, adultery, and homosexuality. Prime-time programs are even worse. And late night programming is disgusting.

We have been warned by living prophets of the dangers of media. Elder Russell M. Ballard, in his October 2003 General conference talk said: 

“Choosing the trendy, the titillating, the tawdry in the TV programs or movies we watch can cause us to end up, if we're not careful, choosing the same things in the lives we live.

"If we do not make good choices, the media can devastate our families and pull our children away from the narrow gospel path. In the virtual reality and the perceived reality of large and small screens, family-destructive viewpoints and behavior are regularly portrayed as pleasurable, as stylish, as exciting, and as normal… This pernicious evil is not out in the street somewhere; it is coming right into our homes, right into the heart of our families.”

Then, Elder Ballard challenged us not only to avoid this type of media but to do something about it:

“The time has come when members of the Church need to speak out and join with the many other concerned people in opposition to the offensive, destructive, and mean-spirited media influence that is sweeping over the earth…

“We need to raise our voices with other concerned citizens throughout the world in opposition to current trends. We need to tell the sponsors of offensive media that we have had enough. We need to support programs and products that are positive and uplifting. Joining together with neighbors and friends who share our concerns, we can send a clear message to those responsible.”

CleanTV.Net

In response to Elder Ballard’s challenge, I am in the process of completing a website that allows concerned members of the church and others to “tell the sponsors of offensive media we have had enough…to send a clear message to those responsible.” The website, www.cleantv.net employs an automated email technology that allows users to send simultaneous personalized emails to local television stations and local advertisers with a simple click of the mouse.

Here’s how it works (for a more detailed explanation go to http://www.cleantv.net/About/index.html)

We have local volunteers watch programs and log the offensive content and list the advertisers who support the offensive content.

We send a daily log of the content to the local advertisers so they are aware of what specifically they are supporting.

The program logs and advertisers are posted on the website for all to see.

Concerned individuals send “Action Now” emails to local stations (asking them to stop the offensive programming) and to local sponsors (telling them they will no longer support their products or services).

Usually what happens, if the local sponsors get enough emails, they will threaten to pull their advertising if things don’t change. If sponsors don’t respond, then we organize local boycotts (picketing, local press, etc) until the local sponsors get the message through public exposure.

If the stations refuse to change, we will do the same.

We first start on a local level. There are approximately 285 local media markets in the United States. We will work with volunteers to set up a CleanTV “Action Now” site in each market area. The cumulative result will be dozens of local network affiliates demanding the network to change due to the loss of local advertising revenues. The networks will have to listen or lose their affiliates. After we develop a critical mass of Action Now users across the country, we will then target our large numbers on the networks and national advertisers.

Yesterday, before the game, one of my married daughters came by to visit. She said the topic of pernicious television programming came up in her relief society meeting that morning. One of the sisters asked why no one has mobilized an effort to oppose such programming. My daughter mentioned the CleanTV website to the group. One lady said, "Imagine if all 4 million Relief Society sisters sent e-mails to offending advertisers and stations. Do you think they'd listen?"

I think they would and CleanTV.net provides a vehicle for change. So check out the site and contact me if you would like to help volunteer in your area. Then, in a few weeks, we’ll be able to mobilize and to fulfill the challenge offered up by Elder Ballard and other church authorities.