I was watching The Insider and Entertainment Tonight, when I saw a story come on that involved Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Donny Osmond. Donny Osmond may currently be starring in a Las Vegas/“Sin City” show alongside his sister Marie, but he is known for his squeaky clean image as a young pop star and his strong Mormon religious convictions. So for me this sounded like a very intriguing combination.
Donny Osmond is upset about Lady Gaga’s new “Telephone” video, which features Beyonce. The full-length racy video features women fighting in prison, Lady Gaga dancing around in a bikini, semi-nude – – her backside is exposed within this women’s prison as well as Lady Gaga and Beyonce teaming up to poison patrons in a diner.
Donny’s argument during his Donny Osmond radio show on Wednesday, March 24th was:
“I’m all for freedom of speech and against any form of censorship, but all I know is that I’m a parent and I’m upset about this. I wouldn’t want my child to watch this video. Would you? What do you think? Should these two extremely gifted female role models for millions of young girls, maybe, have given a little more thought to the effect it might have on their core audience? Unlike 20 years ago, in today’s modern, viral world in which content becomes instantaneously available irrespective of age, I wonder whether the music industry might need to rethink its marketing policies with regard to making an explicit music video containing profanity, sexual exploitation, nudity, and graphic violence available to anyone with Internet access.”
For the most part I agree with Donny. I’m also a big fan of Lady Gaga and Beyonce. I think they are very talented entertainers. I also agree that it is important to have free speech as I have learned through the book The Law of Public Communication, because it provides: 1) A Check on Government Power; 2) A Change with Stability or a safety valve that allows people to express themselves freely over the Internet rather than seek influence through antisocial acts and 3) Fulfillment – – the theory that speaking and publishing enriches one’s life. Whether or not Lady Gaga and Beyonce accept or acknowledge it they are looked up to by many young girls. But what I question is, is it the parents’ responsibility to monitor, filter and block what their young daughters are watching over the Internet or is it the music artist’s responsibility to make a video that is acceptable for the young girls who look up to them to watch?
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