Superhead

The name Karrine Steffans might not actually mean a lot to you. But, if you've watched BET or MTV Sucka Free, you've probably seen her before. She's one of those girls in rap videos setting everyone back by prancing around scantily clad and shaking her ass. But, she didn't get to where she is by just doing that. Oh no. She's slept with pretty much every major rap star and Black athlete in the world. She didn't get the name Superhead for nothing.

She's written of her exploits once in a book called Confessions of a Video Vixen. It turns up that she is writing a new book called The Vixen Diaries, where she will now recap all of her affairs since she published her last book up to the month of June. June 2007 that is. In this book, she claims that she has slept with Lil' Wayne and Ne-Yo amongst others.

I'm actually not going to do what you think I am. Steffans has made a career out of opening her legs for rap stars. I can't actually hate on her for it, even though I wouldn't hit that for a couple of reasons. The fact that she is trying to juice me for my (non-existent) papes is one. The second is I know my ass would end up in this book, especially if I was famous and knew that she had already written one book about the same damn thing. I know I'm not, but, if I were, I would not be trying to get with this chick because she is only using me to keep her name in the press for no other reason than the fact that she craves the limelight; being a background dancer in a rap video is not the best way to get the constant media attention that all mainstream rappers receive.

This brings me back around to the rappers. They are the idiots here. These dudes know that they are going to get caught up in some bullshit with this chick, but they still go to her anyway. They know that she is just piggybacking off of their talent and celebrity, but they still carry her on their arm. I don't roll like this. To quote Phife: "You didn't want me then/ so, hon, don't want me now" But, rappers are too busy trying to prove they're men and thinking with their dicks instead of their heads.

As long as this is the standard, do your thing, Superhead. Do the damn thing.

Television: A Personal Appeal

The United States Congress has had a great interest in protecting the youth of America from the brutality of modern television programming, with its simulated violence and sex. Yesterday, the Senate Commerce Committee investigated the effect of media violence on children. My senator Jay Rockefeller feels that it is necessary for the government to step in and defend children. His rationale is reported as such:

Big Media companies are putting more emphasis on profits than the well-being of kids, he said, while hiding behind ineffective Band-Aids of voluntary action. Rockefeller said he expected broadcasters to argue for parental responsibility and content-control tools, which they did, but said that has not worked and the government was going to need to step in. He didn't seem to have a lot of takers on the committee.

Rockefeller also called the $300 million TV Boss ratings/V-chip education campaign that had been spearheaded by the late Jack Valenti "farcical" and a joke.

Rockefeller called the industry "cowardly" for putting the onus on parents to control their kids TV viewing, saying it was not always possible. Then, saying he wasn't sure if his colleagues knew how violent TV had become, aired a video montage--put together by the Parents Television Council--to demonstrate.

It was that video, which included a now-famous forced oral sex scene from FX's The Shield, that prompted the legislators to register their general disgust. The video was cut short after Rockefeller and company appeared to have had their fill.

I have to say, as someone who has grown up during this oh-so-violent time on television, that my senator is completely wrong on this issue. Firstly, as the rest of the article notes, no one actually agrees with Rockefeller. Democratic colleagues like Frank Lautenberg have no interest in censoring television. Like the Republicans, everyone knows that this reeks of Big Brother. Regulating television is a complete overstepping of governmental boundaries. The government does not have the right to tell me what is appropriate and what is not.

Now, with that said, forced oral sex on television is a bit over the top. But, as with all of FX's night programming, it is all lead off with very explicit warnings telling the viewer what the show contains and to display discretion. Discretion is the key word here. Good parents make the effort to watch television with their kids by not putting a television in their room and placing the television in a centralized spot. Such incidents are not unusual. In fact, they are quite the norm. If this is not possible, parents take care to look at what their kids are watching. If you don't want your kids to watch the show, you will turn the channel or explain to them that they can watch it when they get older. But, this is a game-time decision. Some kids are able to handle the violence. Others cannot.

From a personal standpoint and as someone who watched a lot of ridiculously adult programming at an inappropriate age (I saw License to Kill when I was eight, and I watched Oz in its original airing), the connection between violence and television is very much overblown. It is not real. It is a fantasy, a non-realistic presentation of day to day life. Shows that are reality programs that aren't game shows or news-based programs are just as fake. The fact that people who watch television and can't tell the difference should be greatly concerned. I was always able to tell the difference. I didn't think that I should do what I saw because it was illegal and pretty dumb. Also, I wasn't really trying to shank a bitch. My state aside, I don't think that the free speech allowed to broadcasters should be restricted. The Shield, when not forcing oral sex, is a very interesting program that should not be silenced because some stiff old guy has a problem with it. What will be silenced next? Will they start regulating authors? Will hip-hop no longer be allowed on the radio? Will they stop Barry White? I hope that you can see what I'm getting at here...

The fact that people are doing what they see on television aside from trying to construct something from The New Yankee Workshop or cook something from Barefoot Contessa is what the real problem is. Those people need to be studied to understand why they think it is a good idea to go and set things on fire or push their friends in shopping carts into curbs so the person falls out. If these kids are so desperate to do something, they really should try to build something from The New Yankee Workshop. Have you seen that show? There's so much work involved. Those restless kids will be busy for days!