Gentlemen No More

It takes a lot for me to turn off a Bond movie when I catch it on television.  Maybe I have plans and have to go out.  Perhaps it's bed time (and I can just watch it from my bed while I fall asleep).  But I recently turned off a Bond marathon once I realized something.

I was watching it on the Esquire network.

I have recently decided to boycott the Esquire network due to the discovery of a show they promote that is the complete antithesis of good sportsmanship:  Friday Night Tykes.

If you're unfamiliar with the show, Friday Night Tykes is a reality show that depicts the horrors of youth football in Texas.  Normally, youth football isn't a terrible thing.  However, the network promotes this show as such a good thing, rather than as a vehicle to expose what is wrong in our youth sports.  The show features teams of 8 and 9 year olds being coached by adults who yell obscenities at these kids to motivate them to play hard.  The adults not only curse, but they reference violence and encourage their kids to practically rip the heads off of other kids.  I'd write some of the direct quotes here, but this is a family blog.

In short, this is just another reality show that chooses to get ratings and viewers by putting the worst junk they can find on television and letting the public enjoy watching others suffer.  It is the prime example of what all reality shows do:  the exposure of people who have misguided priorities, and the opportunity of the common television viewer to laugh at those on the screen rather than look inside and try to better themselves.  But now, innocent youth suffer the brunt of this propaganda.

The tip of the philosophical side of these arguments resides in the name of the network.  If you look up the definition of the word "esquire" beyond its meaning in the American legal world, it has a tone of representing gentlemen.  The network prides itself in being themed towards the male mind as he aims to be an old-school gentlement, commenting on the finer, more posh things in the categories of fashion, cocktails, politics, and women.  And yet, promoting such a television show is the exact opposite of what a gentleman might do.

Being a gentleman is about respect, not about the acquisition of title, assets, women, and other possessions.  The misuse of the term in its form today (especially as associated with the network) plays on our primal desire to act in superficial, selfish ways that have been promoted by a shallow society.  Basically, a network that claims to be about gentlemen is doing the exact opposite, especially with the exploitation of children.

Don't watch the show.  Don't watch the network.  Take a stand and promote some morals for once.