Sugar-Coated Vility

I remembered reading an NST article online last week while scouring the net for news - it made me think about the world, how it is today. The article was about how kids these days are exposed to sexually suggestive materials at such a young age that they do not even understand the severity of what they are watching/listening/imitating. The writer mentioned watching a little girl barely out of her toddler years gyrating to some hip hop songs, which seemed cute at first but upon pondering deeper, was disturbing.

It's shocking how some parents actually think such acts are cute or adorable, and they encourage their kids to perform these seemingly innocent dances for friends to watch. The truth is that most of us don't think and analyse whatever we see or hear anymore. We have become like rubbish cans, consuming anything that is thrown at us. These days, we can't afford to be too lax about common day-to-day things which we are exposed to. Think about it. Every day as we drive to work or walk to class, we are likely to see at least a dozen billboards or pin-up advertisements. Without us knowing it, we are gradually being brainwashed to 'want' to live a certain lifestyle or 'own' a certain product or 'yearn' to eat a certain food. Advertising and media have adopted a subtle way of weaning us into thinking that "bad things" aren't "that bad after all."

I don't mean to be preachy, but I've found that this has already happened to me. It really is a surprising discovery for me, and at times I worry that I might just sway towards the wayward side if I am faced with a decision at any future time in my life. I guess ultimately I will never know how I'd react until I cross that bridge.

Not long ago, I was listening to my iTunes DJ and came across Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl, which got me thinking of the said article. I must admit that I find this song very addictive. The tune just gets into your head and sticks there for hours! Kudos to the song writer. However when you listen attentively to the lyrics, it's not something that you would recommend your younger sister to listen (for the record, I do not have a younger sister... I'm using that phrase just to prove my point). It's disturbing how so many negative messages are nicely wrapped up in seemingly fun and innocent packages. And the worse part is that we accept these things willingly into our lives, sometimes even making it our favourite songs/videos.

Moral of the story is that we should take everything with a pinch of salt. Always spend some time to meditate on what we are about to consume.