Tonight, my heart was deeply saddened. I watched as a crowd of thousands praised a music artist I looked up to growing up. I am talking about Beyonce's performance on the MTV Video Music Awards.Now, I grew up watching the VMA's at home with my mom and my three sisters. They always had performances on there where the artists gave 100%. The flashing lights, costumes, dance moves and talented singing and catchy music was what I looked forward to the most. There was nothing like seeing a celebrity whom I idolized perform.
I am now 30 and I have no desire to watch the VMA's anymore, because of what it has become. Not just the award shows, but T.V. in general.
As a singer/songwriter/musician, I was appalled by Beyonce's performance. As a woman, I was embarrassed. As a mom, I was grieved seeing the other young moms in the audience with their young daughters and their hands in the air.
"What did I just watch??!" was my exact thought after seeing this performance through a sponsored MTV ad on Facebook. What was I supposed to take away from her performance? It was nothing more than TrashTV. The world is immune to the sexuality that we chalk up as "entertainment."
We can even remove the fact that I am a Christian. Any person with decent morals would not be entertained by the amount of nudity and exploitation of body parts, not to mention the lyrical content. There was nothing positive about the messages in Beyonce's songs. And what's worse: There was no real solution to offer. It's okay to sing about real life situations, but the license to do whatever makes you happy is the wrong advice to give, especially for a woman of her caliber.
In my opinion, the entire performance was nothing more than unnecessary dramatization and poison. Especially for the young girls. This is what it's become. Gain a platform, perform half dressed and shake your rear end and use profanity. Wow. What an inspiration! Not. What a waste of expensive stage lighting, choreography, time and talent.
I had only one thought as the video finished: "Lord, I pray to never use my platform to lead young girls or anyone astray."
Whether they like it or not, celebrities have our future generations looking up to them. Why wouldn't they offer them life and hope in their music? They will say all day that their music isn't for kids; it's for adults. While that is true, that is how the children get to the music most times. It starts in the home.
We used to be able to turn on the radio and not worry about hearing some explicit message or simple (PG-13) cuss word. Man, have things changed! I am not impressed with today's music at all. I have a renewed mind because of Jesus Christ and I refuse to listen to "adult content" just because I am an adult. And I refuse to spread it to my children.
If we really stepped back and examined what we are listening to, we might see how infectious it is to the mind, which then shapes how we live. My goal is to make music that speaks and gives LIFE. LlifeMusic= Music that is life giving and life changing. Together, we can change our children's future by changing what they listen to.