Vulgarians At The Gate [Hardcover]

It can't be a lack of talent, after all this a man who authored over 1000 songs,(name two), countless books, (name one besides this one), and hosted several failed TV shows, (remember the one where he sat around with actors dressed as Jesus, and Freud?)

Allen blames the demise of his career and Western civilization on Howard Stern, Madonna, and David Letterman. Allen cannot stand the fact that these show-biz powerhouses whom Allen, of course, views as far less talented than he, are successful and he is not.

Allen makes a case for the criminalization of off-color entertainment that is about as convincing as his toupee. For Lawrence Welk fans only.

Steve seemed to fall into an obvious trap in considering that the period in which he was involved with television as the medium's "golden age." In my opinion, television never had a "golden age"! The vast majority of television programs have been infinitely banal, slavishly imitative, and/or predictable shock-garbage.

Steve gripes about how TV now resorts to "depraved vulgarity," whereas his era's comedians were cleanly funny. The only problem is that, by in large, the comedians of that era were NOT funny. How can anyone find the obnoxious ranting & screaming of Jackie Gleeson or Danny Thomas funny? The television of that era was dominated by the sexist view that a woman is either a screwball (I Love Lucy), a naive wife-child (Leave It To Beaver), or a verbal, and possibly a literal punching bag (Honeymooners). In this light, I guess TV has actually made some progress.

Allen's arguments are also more than a little confusing. He complains about the "tastelessness" of a Grey Poupon commercial that implied flatulence, yet praises Benny Hill! He (rightly) criticizes the role religion has historically played in censorship, yet encourages religious groups to boycott dubious programs. He disdains the "fourteen-year old mentality" of TV's earlier era programming, yet seems to want to return to the banality of The Brady Bunch.

I do believe that Steve makes some very good points. The vast majority of TV shows ARE puerile garbage. Without a doubt, the television has dumbed-down America considerably; and taking into account that we have never been the most intellectual of societies, that's quite an achievement! The oafish self-promotion of Madonna, Howard Stern and Jerry Springer are rightly criticized by Allen.

There is a definite line between vulgarity and pornography; the chapter on rap lyrics really demonstrates this. I personally cannot believe that music that espouses sentiments like rape, murder and necrophilia are actually available to kids. In case you are wondering, I'm not a 60-year old conservative, but a 27-year old liberal. I most definitely do not endorse blanket censorship; I do believe, however, that the "parent advisory" stickers are worse than useless. If a buyer is required to be of a certain age before he or she can purchase cigarettes, porn, or alcohol, then buying this crap should require the same discretion and maturity. I propose that music such as this should be "behind the counter," and not available to kids at all.

Unfortunately, Allen seems to really lose it when he praises the former movie censorship code. He states that classics like Citizen Cain were made despite the code. Citizen Cain is indeed a classic; unfortunately, many classics would NOT have been made if that code were still in place. He also states that artists should have a responsibility in providing "clean" entertainment for children. The fact of the matter is that great art is never merely entertainment. For my money, the greatest artistic achievements of the Western world in the last thousand years are William Shakespeare's plays and Richard Wagner's operas. These works are rife with murder, rape, incest, and violence. They amount to MUCH more than that, of course. But what gives them their power is their emotional scope, and censorship doesn't allow that latitude.

Finally, Allen rightly criticizes the state of Kansas for banning the theory of evolution from its school textbooks. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. The problem is that Steve seems to want to court the support of those social conservatives who made an atrocity like that possible. It seems that liberals are fighting a two-front war; on one side is puerile, lowbrow shock-garbage, the other is religious fanaticism.