Title: The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture Author: Frederick S. Lane Publisher: Prometheus Publish Date: 2006 Pages: 367 Genres:: Non-Fiction, Political Studies Reviewer: J. Henry

Rating:

Frederick Lane has a lot of experience monitoring the media and what has become “free speech” in the entertainment age. Lane begins his latest analysis with a detailed account of one of the most publicized and expensive FCC/Corporate battles in recent media: the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl Half Time performance alternatively known as “Nipplegate.” This performance would become one of the biggest cases to detract attention from President Bush’s own issues as president and also served as a great distraction for bumbling politicians and revelation to more liberal Americans of what has become a more stagnate way of thinking of entertainment. In Decency Wars, Lane gives an extended “overview” of what has led to the censorship as well as the religious and ethical plight to “cleanse” America.

Our introduction to Decency Wars dwells on the outrage, outcries, and ouster of Janet Jackson in the public eye and the contentment of smarmy politicians to have the media concentrate on something outside of clumsy national or international policy. The number of perturbed viewers, along with the inner workings of the FCC (which was at the time headed by Colin Powell’s son Michael), the redemption of Justin Timberlake and the condemnation of Janet Jackson are interesting to learn about. From there, Lane promises us that we will learn why some Americans have become to be so conservative in their ideas of what should be considered entertainment and what should not.

Launching on such a sexual note that pertains to so many lewd connotations and suspicions, the rest of the Decency Wars tends to go back and forth between religious sentiment, inappropriateness, and racial & sexual segregation. Lane tries to incorporate too much information in these pages and in doing so creates a solid reference with little personality that contains weary facts with a pedantic historical textbook tone. This does not engage the reader as information of this magnitude should. What may be truly lacking is the reasoning for such disdain by those on the more conservative side. In his text, Lane chooses to condemn people such as Anthony Comstock who became a “hunter” with unlimited power in the 19th century of all things indecent, in particularly in written form. While the Puritans were doing just that in trying to “purify” America and distinguish the nation from the British even more, they also let religious excessiveness detail what was good and decent and what was not. Rather than try to explain the reasoning for these more religious types and their ideas of conservatism, Lane simply writes about the awfulness of their actions.

Not only do we get the lowdown on aspects of the media, the encouraged pushing of the envelope from a marketing and sales perspective was the advent of ‘jigglevision’ (known for the lack of bras worn by the ladies in Charlie’s Angels) or the overt sexuality in film such as breakthroughs like Midnight Cowboy and Taxi.

One of the most interesting chapters is chapter nine: ‘Ask Not for Whom the Wedding Bells Toll,’ which details the growing opposition to homosexuality particularly in America and not as much in the entertainment world. One of the most widely known and persecuted homosexuals was Oscar Wilde in his native England. The opposition by the Christianity sector wanted to maintain their distinctness by differentiating themselves from the laidback religious same-sex culture that seemingly pervaded Greek and Roman culture thousands of years ago became increasingly important. From there, Lane goes on to delve into reality, a culture that seemingly does not condone homosexual behavior, yet was embraced by advertisers as well because they were an untapped market and could do damage to those who opposed their lifestyle, such as noted “America’s Sweetheart” Anita Baker who was a big activist against same-sex marriage; yet she would realize that the base of her audience was homosexual.

But what delves from decency in the media turns to what should be decent in reality. While it is definitely not right to hate homosexuals or those of another race, and even to try and constrict entertainment nationally rather than domestically, yet there is always stronger reasoning for this apathetic feeling beyond people just being ‘conservative.’ This type of ideology stems from the barrage of objectives that others have experienced over time; how did this come to be in America and how are we (as viewers) trying to combat it?

Entertainment is an extension or reality or is it a form of escapism? Lane does not clarify. What would have strengthened Decency Wars would have been the reasoning as to why people complained about seeing Janet Jackson’s bare breast on television when viewers have been conditioned to expect the unexpected. While the text is a bit dry, there are also several interesting tidbits that Lane writes about, but it’s also in-depth on the information that does not always seem necessary, as the notes and index combined are more than 60 pages long. Lane’s information is important to know where censorship seemed to begin in terms of media as well as where it has ended up; he answers the who, what, when, where and how, but not the why’s.