Although a major aspect of American culture, entertainment absolutely has the capacity to sabotage society. In a world where “Snooki” is probably as common a household name as President Obama, one is forced to wonder just how entirely entertainment and the social media have permeated the average American’s life. Today, entertainment is not just a leisure activity that a person can enjoy in theaters, but people are bombarded with entertainment through televisions, radios, technological devices, and more that just don’t seem to shut off. Modern forms of entertainment, such as television, music, and videogames, can have devastating effects on the morals of society, especially children and teenagers, whose moral compasses are most important as they contribute to the society of tomorrow.

The market for television shows in the twenty-first century is huge. With multiple channels vying for top numbers of viewers in specific time slots and show categories, advertisements and commercials for the continually increasing number of shows are everywhere. Most of these shows do not depict life in a realistic manner and some even promote corrupt morals that can detrimentally influence all watchers, especially the morally vulnerable children and teenagers. For example, one popular show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager’s plot revolves around a pregnant sixteen year old. She is shown raising her baby with the support of her family and friends. This show, along with several other shows and movies such as Juno and Teen Mom glamorize teenage pregnancy, a glamorization that can have horrible consequences for misled teenage girls who watch theses shows. Furthermore, another genre of television, “reality shows” can lead to problems for society as well. While it is generally known that these shows are scripted, some fans may not be aware of this phenomenon and believe that these shows represent real life. The real trouble begins when people try to emulate characters and lifestyles promoted by these shows. For example, Jersey Shore is a reality show about a group of people aged in their early twenties, who party nonstop. While a sensible person should know that this lifestyle is not desirable or even feasible, a person who watches this show could believe that this show sets a standard for college lifestyle and could try to emulate one of these troubled characters. In both of these cases, entertainment can truly ruin society one person at a time.

Just as television can be controversial, so can current music. One of the most popular genres of music for teenagers is rap music. Generally, these raps contain explicit words and phrases. While these words may be censored on radios and television, they certainly aren’t censored online or on these teenagers’ iPods and devices. Furthermore, many of these raps are grotesquely offensive to women, promoting their degradation and sexual objectification. Listeners to these raps could, over time, become desensitized and believe that these foul words and immoral attitudes and behaviors are acceptable and even encouraged. If people were to accept these derogatory beliefs about women, and if children were to grow up hearing and repeating offensive language, all morals could disappear and society could fatally fall into a downward spiral.

Another aspect of entertainment that can have a negative effect on society is videogames. Children sit in front a television screen for hours on end fighting virtual monsters and villains with a controller. These children are using valuable time on mindless video games that could be spent on schoolwork, games and playing outside, or interaction with friends and family. While some of these videogames can be educational and harmless, violence is a central theme of many of these virtual games. Exposure to brutal violence at such a young age must have adverse effects on the minds and morals of these videogame-addicted children.
Television, music, and videogames just skim the surface of the massive industry that is entertainment. It would be extremely difficult to find one American who has not heard at least one song or who does not know what television is. Therefore, immoral and subversive entertainment can have negative, and lasting, effects on society. Author Neal Gabler is not mistaken when he writes, “[entertainment’s] eventual effect would be ‘to overturn all morality, to poison the springs of domestic happiness, to dissolve the ties of our social order, and to involve our country in ruin’”. Perhaps it already has.