Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Steve Allen was one of the last bright and articulate Hollywood personalities. Any... complaint to this effect is greeted by mindless intonations of "censorship".... Censorship means governmental restrictions of speech. Allen does not advocate this. He argues for discernment and reasoned action. After surveying the decline of culture--as evidenced by obscenity, indecency, and outright stupidity everywhere--Allen calls for a return to clean, creative, and interesting art.
Allen argues from common sense and not explicitly from religious ideals. (He take a few unwarranted pot shots at religion, but I'll let that go, given the importance of his book. The overall tone is not hostile to faith.) He advises those concerned about the rottenness and perversion of culture to demand something better.
This is mere sanity. Culture counts. Art is not morally neutral. It affects people for good or evil. Those who listen to Marilyn Manson, for instance, imbibe his ugliness, hate, and horror. (He named himself after Charles Manson and Marilyn Monroe.)
I was particularly struck by two of Allen's comments.
1. Civilization is fragile (p. 281). It requires an ethical core that is eroding.... More and more of culture is becoming "an occasion to sin" (p. 107)...Allen has many insider insights that make for interesting reading. However, he needed a more active editor. The book is somewhat repetitive and could have been shorter. ...Mr. Allen, we will miss you. I don't expect to find anyone like you in Hollywood in near future, and for that we will be poorer.
--Douglas Groothuis
Click Here to see more reviews about: Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio--Raising the Standards of Popular Culture
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