Oh no! You’ve lost your manners? ???

You click on this red icon, Nonna,” explained Gab.  “And notice how a floating service station pops up?  Now, you can gas up your flying turbo machine, but remember to save your fuel cards.” How did my grandson figure this one out, instantaneously?

This is the good news.  The young ones are so technically proficient that they can bring each computer device to life and work on it.  They know how to download reference material, games, and video-sharing websites like YouTube. 


I also use YouTube.  Sometimes, in a fit of nostalgia, I’d click on its extensive collection of the performing arts and classical movies.  The scenes, music, and dialogues were pure genius and delight.  




But sadly, not the latest YouTube video of Korean rapper and Gangnam sensation, Psy, called Gentleman.  It highlighted the exact opposite of its title.  The producers skirted any sense of decency by passing it off as slapstick humor enhanced by highly energized choreography and bawdy, off-color actuations.


Worse, it championed crass behavior:  Breaking wind or flatulence is hilarious if you make a woman smell it?  If a person has an urgent need to relieve a bombed stomach, a “gentleman” should press all the buttons in the elevator to torture and watch him climb the wall?  Offer a chair to a woman — then pull it away — and viewers will find it rib-tickling?

Notice how Psy was the only one laughing. 

This video will creep insidiously through the subconscious minds of viewers.  It will lay in wait until it corrupts and rots one’s thoughts and opinions until unbecoming behavior, like rudeness and insolence, become as common as morning news.     


Why was decency junked through this so-called musical extravaganza?  



It wasn’t too long ago when good, wholesome entertainment was the norm.  Radio, movies, and television followed stringent rules not to warp viewers.  If movie scenes had to be traded off, especially those that screenwriters believed were relevant to the story, they were handled delicately. 



Take the movie Psycho released in 1960.  At that time, this film was already considered extremely radical, going against the usual storylines with predictable endings.  It garnered awards for its psychological impact, being the first Hollywood film to address the sensitive (and shocking) subject of matricide (killing of one’s mother). 

 It did not, however, exempt its director, the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, from conforming to certain civility rules.  For example, nudity was not allowed, so actress Janet Leigh did not strip naked.  However, to make it appear like she was undressed, she wore an elastic skin-colored suit that covered her entire body.  Frontal shots were restricted to the neck and the head.  In the editing room, Hitchcock worked on a montage of photos that the camera shot in succeeding frames, giving the illusion that the hair-raising, 45-second shower scene was enacted on film.


The buildup of suspense, the eerie sets, the dark lighting, and the bone-chilling sound effects heightened the tension and anticipation of the viewing public.  It was a classic example of the thriller genre.   



In the 1957 movie on shipboard romance, An Affair to Remember, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr kissed tenderly but again, it was subtly implied.  Deborah Kerr discreetly took two steps up the ladder and Cary Grant followed, for the clinch.

Sex was not lumped in with the vulgar, crude or dirty.  The message was clear:  True love was generous and kind.  The lovers look out for the welfare of the other which leads to the beginning of a beautiful, lasting relationship. 

          

“What did the movie teach you?” Mom would ask.  She knew that movies were the surest way to catch our attention and enthusiasm.  In the middle of banter and elation, we had to pinpoint the exemplary virtues that saved the hero and banished the villain.

We spotted heroism, compassion, integrity, friendship, undying love, care for man, beast and nature, and faith in God.  These are values that reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or what ought to be.  It carries a degree of warmth that exudes kindness. 

 â€œPeople should be treated with respect and dignity,” said my mother.  She was lecturing us without being overbearing or patronizing but always a teacher eager to pass on valuable lessons.  

Of course, there were times when we slipped, made boo-boos.  As punishment, we were grounded.  I was sent up to my room, hungry and contrite for breaking house rules.  Worse, I missed Saturday night’s jam session, the height of teenage angst.  When the punishment was lifted, I was quick to make a firm resolve not to commit the same mistake or ever forget it.     

      

So, the question remains:  How do we revive the standard for good behavior?

 Start from the most basic:  When you leave the cinema, please bring out with you the litter from your snacks and drinks.

It’s a good way to confirm what you are made of.

Surely, of better and stronger stuff than junk food.