Top of Utah Voices: Don't look for moral certainty from anyone outside yourself
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By ALLISON BARLOW HESS
Commentary
First Eliot Spitzer became "Client No. 9" and quickly resigned as New York Governor, then Lt. Governor David Paterson waited just 24 hours after being sworn in to drop his own bomb shell: he and his wife both had extra-marital affairs, during a "rough patch" in their marriage. The Salt Lake County District Attorney, Lohra Miller, just admitted to local media she failed to get business licenses for the law practice she ran out of her home.
Looking to others to find moral certainty seems like looking for firm footing in quick sand. Those who should lead us often let us down. Emulating those who entertain us doesn't produce the quick laugh or the quick fix portrayed on TV.
A colleague recently told me her grown daughter often exhibits poor judgment. Her marriage is on the rocks as are her relationships with her children, parents and siblings. My colleague's daughter spends a lot of time watching TV and there finds her role models and justification for bad behavior.
Recently, a Ph.D. candidate from Penn State visited the department of communication at Weber State University. She's intrigued by Americans' relations with morally ambiguous characters. She says they are all around us and are increasingly prevalent on TV. Maja Krakowiak has made that the focus of her doctoral dissertation.
"I think there's definitely potential for people to say, 'Hey it works for this character on TV, why shouldn't it work for me in real life?' Krakowiak said. "Children are probably most susceptible to that kind of social learning and modeling of behavior."
She points to characters such as Jack Bauer on 24 who saves the world but has to resort to torture; Dr. Gregory House who saves his patients but has no patience with others and no regard for authority or manners; and Tony Soprano the likable mafia hit man.
We are all more influenced by what we see than we care to admit; therefore, we must actively and consciously choose the kind of behavior we will emulate, rejecting what will lead to negative consequences for ourselves and others.
"The third-person effect, this famous media effects theory, which is continuously proven is that people will say that media has more influence on others than it has on themselves," Krakowiak said. In fact she said even after researchers prove to subjects they've reacted differently because of what they've just seen on the TV, people aren't convinced.
"They deny it; they say that's not possible. How could I be influenced by this?" Krakowiak said.
Faults, flaws and foibles are part of the human experience and Ed Spangler, a WSU adjunct film professor, who has taught for more than 20 years, says good art must examine the true human character with all its frailties.
"You go back to the origins of Greek theater you have comedy and tragedy," Spangler said. "Comedies deal with the minor infractions the misdemeanors of life and tragedies and dramas were about the big flaws that people had."
Spangler said viewers don't learn much from two dimensional, black and white characters. "We used to have this old TV show called Marcus Welby M.D." Sangler said "He was just always able to drop whatever and help. The American Medical Association publically condemned the show because it presented such an unrealistic portrayal of what people can expect from a doctor's time and abilities. For better or for worse you have to accept people in your workplace and your family who are going to have all of these facets, and you just can't simply ignore them. So I argue that it's really just part and parcel of real life. "
What we must do with the characters on TV, as with elected officials, sports figures, artists and other cultural icons is to recognize moral ambiguity even from beautiful and famous people. We must reject everything from rudeness to violence, minor infractions to felonies and flirtations to affairs. We have to teach the same to our children.
"On TV there are almost no consequences for negative behavior for these popular but morally ambiguous characters. They get away with all types of things, so it has to be really clearly explained to children in particular," Krakowiak said.
Moral ambiguity leads to unambiguous consequences: embarrassment, mental and physical anguish, loss of prestige or even liberty. From morally ambiguous characters, we can learn and laugh and be entertained. What we can't do is act the same way.
Reader Comments
Well done. The morally ambiguous television character that immediately came to mind was Lucille Ball's role of Lucy Ricardo.
Groucho Marx, too. The way he and his brothers were always trying to flim-flam people. No wonder I'm morally confused.