INTERVIEW, Page 54Bringing Satan To HeelTired of sex and violence on the air, the Rev. DONALD E. WILDMONhas discovered that the quickest, most effective route to thenetworks' conscience is through their pocketbooksBy Don Winbush and Donald E. Wildmon
Q. What is it about television that you find objectionable?
A. Primarily the value system that undergirds so much of
television. Specifically, the excessive, gratuitous sex, violence,
profanity, the negative stereotyping of Christians.
Q. What is the evidence of anti-Christian attitudes by the
networks?
A. I could probably count on one hand, or certainly two hands,
the number of programs in which a Christian depicted in a
modern-day setting is shown in a positive manner. They're usually
depicted as con men, rip-off artists, adulterers, murderers,
rapists, thieves, liars.
A person who is wearing a cross, carrying a Bible or standing
behind a pulpit is usually mentally deranged, at best incompetent.
Q. Can you give some examples?
A. On ABC, March 19-20, The Women of Brewster Place: a preacher
propositions a woman after his sermon. The next scene features them
in a sex act. On an NBC program titled UNSUB, April 7: Bishop Grace
murders two teenage girls in his congregation. On NBC's Quantum
Leap, April 7: a scene in which the series' hero is preparing for
sex with his live-in lover has Amazing Grace playing in the
background. On NBC, In the Heat of the Night, Jan. 31: Rev.
Haskell, who dies, had been having an adulterous affair with one
of his parishioners.
Q. Why do you think the portrayal of gratuitous sex and
violence is increasing?
A. I have a theory, obviously: the networks are in a game of
exploitation. And when you exploit, you always have to go one
degree further and one degree further. The people who are
responsible call themselves the creative community. From time to
time they do have something that's creative. But it's less work and
a lot easier to exploit than to create.
Q. Are you just protesting, or do you have goals you're trying
to accomplish?
A. Obviously I think we have goals. In our minds, television
has the potential to be the most constructive medium man has ever
devised. The goal we would like to see is that television reach
that potential instead of being used in a destructive manner as it
currently is.
Q. Why not approach the networks?
A. Oh, we have. Early on, when I started by myself, I did it
several times. Back in '86, a group of seven or eight executive
members of Christian Leaders for Responsible Television spent a day
and a half visiting with all three networks and expressing our
concerns. In essence, their response was "Thank you for coming;
we're doing a good job. We'll talk to you anytime you want to talk
with us."
I talked about decency and the concern for society and the
children and these other things. And they used the same words that
I used. But we certainly didn't mean the same thing by them.
Q. So your response has been?
A. We don't do business with the networks. We do business with
advertisers. Advertisers don't give you a cold shoulder. They want
to be your friend.
Q. Is that approach fair to the advertisers?
A. My response would be "Why not?" I think it's helpful to the
advertisers. They're putting their money into a program to get you
to buy their products. If putting money into that program is going
to cost them money instead of make them money, it seems only fair
to let the advertiser know this.
Q. You asked your supporters to boycott PepsiCo because of
their Madonna promotion.
A. For one year, unless they pulled the Madonna commercial.
Q. But it wasn't the commercial itself that you found
offensive. It was the video, correct? Like a Prayer.
A. It was not only the video, but we did indeed find the video
offensive.
Q. So isn't it unfair to link Pepsi and Madonna?
A. I didn't link Pepsi and Madonna. Pepsi linked Pepsi and
Madonna.
Q. But why not boycott Madonna concerts? Why not boycott the
video instead of the sponsor?
A. Why? Because Pepsi said to our young people in this country,
"Here is the role model we think worthy of $10 million in support."
Here is a pop singer who makes a video that's sacrilegious to the
core. Here's a pop star that made a low-budget porn film. Here's
a pop star who goes around in her concerts with sex oozing out,
wearing a cross. Now Pepsi is saying to all the young people of the
new generation, "Here is the person we want you to emulate and
imitate." They can do that. They've got every right to give Madonna
$10 million, put it on television every night if they want to. All
I'm saying is "Don't ask me to buy Pepsi if you do it. You've got
the right to spend your money where you want to; I've got the right
to spend my money where I want to . . . " and obviously, evidently,
I was somewhat right in that because Pepsi agreed. They canceled
their commercial and their world tour.
Q. Well, did they agree or were they frightened away from it?
A. Having talked with them, I know they agreed with my
interpretation.
Q. What you're doing has been referred to as economic
terrorism. How do you respond?
A. I respond very simply: the networks can show what they want
to show. The advertiser can sponsor what he wants to sponsor. And
the consumer can spend his money where he wants to. What the
implication is there is that I must spend my money with these
companies to help support these programs that I find offensive. I
don't believe that.
Q. What led you down this path?
A. I sat down one night to watch television with my family. All
I wanted to do was be entertained. Very shortly into the program,
somebody was jumping into bed with somebody else's wife, a scene
of adultery. Of course it was normal, approved -- you know, there
was no kind of condemnation or showing it as being wrong. I asked
the children to change the channel. I got into another program,
which we watched for five minutes or so, and the first thing I
know, somebody has called somebody else an s.o.b., but they didn't
use the initials. And I asked my children to change the channel
again. This was in 1976, and we had three networks plus PBS. I got
involved in a pretty good mystery, and all of a sudden the scene
changed and one man has another man tied down and is working him
over with a hammer. I asked the children to get up and turn the set
off. That's all I'd ever been told to do: If you don't like what's
on television, turn it off. Then I realized that I'm a part of a
whole, larger social group, and what goes on in society, especially
in the television industry, is going to affect me and my family and
my children -- they were small at that point. And I then realized
that I should try to do something about this.
Q. Isn't it hard to draw the line as to what percentage of sex
and violence is acceptable? Are you comfortable drawing that line?
A. The networks draw that line.
Q. Well, they're drawing a line that says to you that this is
too much.
A. They're saying that to me. Now they are obviously saying
the same thing to a lot of other people.
Q. Do you realize there's a chance you're infringing on others'
rights?
A. I'm not infringing on anybody's rights. I have as much right
as any other individual in this society to try to shape society.
I have as much right to try to influence people. I have as much
right to create what I consider to be a decent, good, clean,
wholesome, moral society. I'm very cognizant of other people's
rights. All I'm asking is for them to be cognizant of mine.
Q. Are you concerned about being self-righteous?
A. You know, that's the least concern. The last thing I want
to be considered is a super-Christian. I'm not even a good
Christian. The last thing I want to do is manipulate somebody. When
you talk about my being self-righteous, I'm a sinner. I know what
I am. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
Q. As your support grows, isn't there also the chance that
you'll go too far and have a chilling effect on creativity?
A. I don't think so. If I go too far, number one, the networks
will let me have it, and you better bet your bottom dollar they
can. Number two -- more critical -- my supporters will back off.
They'll no longer support me. And they shouldn't, and I hope they
won't. But I don't think they're ever going to have to make that
