speed channel and MTV wtf?!?!?
 

Speed channel and MTV have apparently joined forces in a new series that I accidentally stumbled upon.
Pimp my ride, and Tuners are a series where a group of "renegade" mechanics team up and transform factory (honda,Toyota,Mazda) cars into "STREET MACHINES"
THis is probablly the single most ridiculous programming venture that I've probablly ever witnessed, more so than the Donnie and Marie show.
I watched both of these programs and basically felt empty afterwards save for some anger towards the J.O.'s that owned the cars that believed that adding a graphics kit, 20's and nitros to their cars was "Tweakin' YO!"
Compare those programs to my classic car and hotrod Television where cars are actually prepared appropriatly for higher speed ventures and not driving dangerously on our streets. At the end of one of the programs (the one with the new FUGLY RX8) the guy who owned the car drove off like a retard and almost slammed into a telephone pole at the end of the parking lot chosen for his unveiling. I saw it again and that part was edited out to protect their message I'd guess.
My 11 and 9 year old watched the program with the RX8 and didn't get it at all, they thought the car looked worse after the Mods had been implemented and didn't understand the guys attitude towards his car. Basically he was a dork at the beginning of the show and dorkier after he got his supposed cooler than he was car.
They thought it was pretty stupid.

I don't understand why everyone is freaking out at Howard Stern and Janet Jackson, they should be more concerned at how our news casters are dressing and what is being jammed down their throats on prime time television. Powell Jr can bite my ass if he thinks he's doing anyone a favor by sensoring the media, he's looking in the wrong direction ala, Napoleon.Crusaders are Notorious for doing more Damage than assisting the masses.
Frank B

I couldn't agee more!

A MEN!

FWIW - I saw that RX-8 and it ledft me thinking "so...'tuned' is really nothing more than a bottle of NOS and some stickers?..."

It was sad - I'm glad I didn't watch the whole damn show.

exactly my point. it's just more shallow Bull***** that teenagers are buying. NOt all teenagers obviously, but more than I'd guessed initially. I see more "tweaked" Honda's and Cavaliers on the road now than I did last fall, and 90% of them drive like their late for a date with a crackpipe somewhere. Most of who I see pulled over is some kid in a winged bodykitted hyundai or 15 year old Accord with 20's blingin' away.
I'm glad that Pennsylvania is raising their driving age. I wish they'd riase it higher.

why is their so much hatred towards the current tuner market in this forum? i can't stand fart-cans and big spoliers as much as you guys do but who cares wtf teenagers, speed channel, and mtv does. it frankly surprises and makes me wonder why some of you seem to get so personally offended by these shows/trends

I agree! Don't get all upset over this....look at it as something to laugh at. I haven't seen it yet...but I look forward to laughing at these clowns who think they've "got one phat whip"....haha

The only time to get upset about it is when some kid sends in an application to the show for his 944....at that point we should get really mad!!!

Comparing this to Janet Jackson's move is a stretch.....:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I hate ricers and I hate the ricer trend, mostly because hardly any ricers know what they're doing but act like they do. Most of the time they slap on a few decals, a tacky body kit, a coffee-can exhaust, and an unpainted rear wing, along with minimal "tuning" - "cold-air" intake, et al - and actually drive around challenging people to race. Like I've said all along, all my respect to the guy that can turn a Civic into a 10-second car... but most ricemobiles are probably SLOWER than stock thanks to all the added weight (and downforce from the wing). Ignorance and poseurs are what I hate.

That being said, I've caught one episode of the show on MTV... a kid wanted his Diahatsu van turned into a pimpmobile. The good news is that they never claimed to be "tuning" anything; the bad news is that the impression they gave of this white kid was that he was trying to copy urban culture, when it was pretty obvious that the pimped van was sort of a joke to him. Oh well, better a Diahatsu van than yet another Honda Civic

Society is going to hell! The more we turn our heads away the worse it gets. These sort of things warp the minds of the younger generation. Money talks! Stations such as MTV will go where the money is. Sex, drugs, violence, vandolism, etc. MTV used to be about the music, now its about what sells.

The more we look the other way and permit more things, the worse it will get.

The world is filled with greedy stupid people!

Guys, the fact that Janet Jackson flashed her left Jug on television to get a reaction is no different than anyone on the evening news wearing a low cut blouse the objective is to just get your attention. The purpose of MTV gettiing involved in something like a car show is simple, it's popular. They'll do anything to hype something they feel they can garner an added dollar from. Giving kids the impression that modifying a "very safe" factory car like a honda or toyota or.. whatever make car into a street machine is as dangerous as just handing out guns and grenades to irresponsible people whith no regard for safety. The premis is to "Kick Ass" with their new street machine, which means speeding racing. blowing yellow and redlights all in favor of breakin the rules. I think the comparison between Janet Jackson, howard Stern and useless/dangerous "Tuner" shows is definately a good debate. It shows us that our government wants us to keep on speeding, driving recklessly but god forbid you see a nipple on television or hear howard stern say the word Penis on the radio, the reason the government is pissed and putting the hammer down is simple, they can't make money off of it, but, they can make money off of insurance companies who have for decades given kickbacks to the state, and oil sales in the form of gasoline, so they'll let just about anyone drive even if they're not old enough to buy a gun, which is less dangerous than driving a car.
You're crazy if you disagree with me and don't see the point. If you do disagree you've obviously been had again by our wonderful Free political system.

Frank

i'm don't disagree with you, frank, but i just don't understand the anger. it's obvious you have very strong opinions and criticisms regarding our current society but in my experience anger doesn't help and only stresses yourself out more. why not take a more noble route and offer suggestions/solutions and look to inspire instead of criticizing.

hahahaha...MTV WILL do anything to make $$...can't disagree there....

Move to Europe Frank.....maybe there the government won't be stealing money from stupid kids like they are here.

951 - MINE!!
Opinion - MINE!!
Low Insurance Premium - MINE!!

who said I was Angry? I'm just disgusted in regards to what people hold in high regard, anyone who defends these street machine shows is a total moron, these aren't track cars they're "street" machines. Everytime I see one of these numbskulls on the road I get out of the way because I have no idea what he/she is going to do, like weave in and out of traffic, wait a few seconds before leaving a traffic light just to rev up the engine and peel away like his heroes in Fast and the Furious, it's stupid and done with blatant disregard for anyone's safety including his/her own. Believe me I'm not angry, I'm terrified. My kids think Janet Jackson didn't need to do that and thought she was cool before the boobie flash, now they think she's as wacked as her brother and sister (latoya) are. I'm for changing the channel or radio station, but you can't just close your eyes when you are driving and ignore what is going on right in front of or behind you, because you'll become another statistic that your insurance company uses to raise your rates.
NOt angry,
Frank

Sabyre, I couldnt agree with you more!!

People are jumping up and down about Howard Stern, and what a pig he is. The crap you see on MTV and such is way more offensive and harmful.Nobody *****es about that?:confused: Kids today are taught that "flash"and money is all that matters.
You have pro athletes, especially basketball players that are convicted criminals, that are made to look like heros. Rap"stars" are idolized even though they are drug dealers and violent criminals who buy thier way out of trouble. I open the newspaper and see the headline "Rap star so and so shot to death" "Star"???, the guy is a noname local thug who is only known by his few friends. but the media has to put this crap on the front pages. Nine times out of ten he got shot because he was involved in some kind of criminal activity. Just so nobody thinks im being racist, the biggest lowlife out there has to be Eminem, my kid came home with his CD one day , I freaked out, i took it snapped it in half, and gave him the money for it. I sat down and tried to explain to him what a lowlife dirtbag he is. Of course it went right out the other ear but. at least i tried.

Unfortunately It's only gonna get worse , society has takin a downhill ride and has lost it's brakes.:( :( :mad:

it's soooo easy to criticize "society" and talk about how bad it has become but it is only reflection on us, especially regarding the media. we can all agree that the programming the media chooses is all driven by money therefore they are gonna show what we want to see hence we only have ourselves to blame. again, using the janet jackson fiasco as an example, the fact that we are discussing it right now in a porsche forum means that we are allowing those MTV execs. to succeed. why not rise above it and simply turn our heads like we would if a dog was taking a s**t on the ground.

Well done Vin.
I am musician, and been involved in several hip hip/R&B sessions as well as rock and new age stuff.. I've pretty much experienced it all.
MOst of the Hip Hop guys I've worked with are pretty much underpriviledged individuals that are dissillusioned about they're current state of affairs, they live in a slum and wear $180.00 sneakers and wear more jewelry than my grandmother did when she was alive, (which says alot) THey don't have a clue as to what is really going on in the world, just what's happening on MTV and their neighborhood, and this is reffering to any type of hip hop musician, black white yellow whatever. I've seen almost no difference in anyone of them, they like the whole Jigga B!tch lifestyle and act like Gangstas until a real Gangster show up to discuss the money situation then they freeze knowing they've been had.
The rock guys aren't too swift either but are way more concerned about they're girlfriends drug problems and whether or not their cats have been fed today or not. The R&B guys are the best in my opinion, they have it down, show up, make alot of noise and boss everyone around including their "Artists", they take the cake period.
As far as race goes, it doesn't matter what color you are if you act like a total Jerk0ff then you are one, it's pretty simple. I've been treated horribly by black and white individulas until they learn to "trust" me and let me in to their secret societty because I was white, this was done to me by all colors of people. It's all based on fear because these people aren't usually used to being challenged and confront everything that opposes them with anger and retribution... ala the gangsta lifestyle.
MTV utilizes this culture flaw and turns it into a fashion trend to sell advertising and make money, they don't give a rats ass about anyone except their lawyers and their bottom line, so of course MTV will stab Janet Jackson in the back, her record sales are low. I let my kids listen to anything they want to because it's just music and it's art. Listen to a radio station or watching televion never hurt anyone, but running a redlight and plowing into a minivan full of kids and a dog definately does more damage.
I think Devo said it best with their song "freedom of choice"
Frank

Oh and I am referring to society, and It's getting scary.
Everything is extreme even sports. Mountain biking is extreme now... well, actually it's alot safer now than it was when it wasn't considered extreme but considered insane and "why aould want to do that?!?!" Riding bikes down hills wih no suspension save for your arms and legs at speeds rivaling motorcycles. THat was nuts, and fun, noone hurt anyone else and we lived the life of that era. NOw it's all about Mountain dew, tatoos and peircings. It's a fraud, period, your cool because the media says you are, which actually makes you a fraud.
Anyone see the club Chalupa commercial for Tacobell?.. that's really bad, overeating at a fast food restaurant is more appropriate than actually socializing with your peers. Here sit down and eat!! and eat more!! Everything is over the topincluding the war against what the powers that be deem as over the top..
Frank

Hip Hop guys?!?!?
Gangstas??!?!
rock guys?!?!?!
R&B guys?!?!?!?

can you stereotype anymore frank?!?!

it's obvious alot of thought has been spent on this topic but i have yet to hear a good suggestion on how any of us could help remedy this "problem". again, it's easy to criticize but it's hard yet infinitely more useful if something postive can be offered.

this is MY offering to all of you. everytime you see something you don't like, instead of b**ching about it, actually DO something about it.

Yes Metal heads and Dead Heads.
Any suggestions DJyen? I've offered a suggestion I guess you didn't see it only the "stereo types" that I didn't create. YO only see the words not the message, I'm sorry you missed my point. Do you have an answer, besides my referring to the above mentioned suggestions like, self thought, personal decision making and focusing on what is really a problem. I've merely stated that our priorities are skewed to fascilitate commercial success not safety. I liked all of the Hip Hop, metla heads, and Gangstas and R&B guys I've worked with and they learned to like me, even though I was not from their neioghborhood or background, Music always brings people together it's defines Culture and defies all law and transcends generations. Labels that INdividulas pose upon themselves like, Dr. Dre ( a self proclamied gangsta) are merely a way for you to identify them, they're not Conservative musicians like the guys in Triumph ( a Canadian Power Rock trio). People of power appeal to individuals that come from nothing, which is where the whole Gangsta label came from. People who were above the laws( of music) renegades, they lived the secret life and spoke about it in their music, the violence, drugs, whores, and self worth, Police brutality.. the same things the "gangsters" dealt with when they came to this country at the turn of the century.
I've fallen victim to racism many many times in a music studio. It's part of the business, and it may never change. I ttry to Transcend cultures while playing music because you don't always need to speak to make your point sometimes all you have to do is pick up your guitar and play. which says alot more than anything I've said today.
Frank

I would love to do something about it! Facts are facts. 80% of the population falls into that category that sees these thigs acceptable. The other 20% (myself included) are over powered by the masses! I am not about to devote my life to fight against greed filled stupid people. There is a simple solution, HAVE BETTER STANDARDS.

DJ the way your sounding is theres nothing I can do about it so why not join em. Follow the masses to fit in.

I am angry, in fact i'm pissed! I'm pissed that kids need to pass through security to go to school! I'm pissed that more money is givin to welfare types that use it for drugs, instead of their children in which it was intended. I'm pissed that society cares about Janets tits, "benifer", or what britney spears is wearing to an awards show to recieve an award for something she doesnt deserve. I'm pissed at "bling". I'm pissed at 20 year olds that recieve a high school education and still can not use proper english, YO.

What a world.

What happened to hard working people that had integrity, honesty, and morals.

The world has become too user friendly and lazy!

What a croc.

Your right, I dont need to be angry. I could simply inspire, but why inspire the ignorant? The only people I owe inspiration to is my children. I owe them that, after all thats what they do for me.

i completely agree. being a violin teacher, it's amazing how much an excellent music education trascends not only cultures but every aspect of a person's life. what is often an initially a "hobby" can become a form of expression, form of communication, form of therapy, an exercise in discpline, exercise in listening, exercise in tolerance and in my case, a form of employment.

Everything is "extreme" now. I used to rock and ice climb, started over 20 yrs ago. back then very few people did it .It was something to do to get away from everything. Now its almost become a mainstream sport, with competitions, tv coverage, and you even have big name designers putting out climbing outfits! WTF!! Now i cant stand it. Plus I dont want to be thought of as just following the trend. Labels are the important thing now. If you dont have clothing with a name brand on it you are not hip.
It cracks me up, I drive past the schools and see 600 kids all wearing the same black North Face jackets. What happened to indivduality.
Getting back to the cars, I guess when i was a teenager(i'm 39 now) I guess there was certain simularities regarding cars, we all had 60's and 70's muscle cars, we all worked on them and our lives pretty much revolved around our cars. Most were jacked up with air shocks and leaf spring kits and had big hood scoops and wide rear tires and Hush or CherryBomb mufflers. The 80's version of a ricer! :D :D Our stickers where on the rear quarter window. We raced them too, cant lie about that. But i dont think we where as reckless. anywhere we did it was way way out in the middle of nowhere , away from any kind of traffic. im not saying it was right, it was stupid and dangerous. I just feel todays "racers" have absolutely no regard for anyones safety including there own. and by the media promoting and glorifying it only makes matters worse. Fast and the furious, Biker Boys, movies like that burn my ass. Kids see them get all hyped up and then go out and kill themselves. (or someone else). :mad:

i am not at all suggesting that if you can't beat them, join them. what i am saying is that instead of b**ching about the sh**ty weather, simply pick up an umbrella. there are ALWAYS going to be problems within our society and people that tick us off. what i am saying is why let them tick us off. what i am NOT saying though is to do nothing about it. i just don't think much of what i have read in this thread has been very helpful or positive and i only hope that why i have been saying challenges someone to try to come up with something positive, similar to your outlook of having 'better standards'
i admit that i get plenty ticked-off and pissed at what i see and encounter on a day-to-day basis. i realize that this forum has become a method of expressing our like and dislikes but they are so many people who simply criticize without taking a real good look at the situation and themselves.
and OF COURSE we should attempt to inspire the ignorant cause those are the people who require it most. much of what you dislike about our current society is due to ignorance and ignoring that will simply exacerbate the problem

see what I mean? My 11 year old and I play together whenever we can.

i must say though that i am impressed with the overall intelligence applied to the discussed topics.

it's obvious we all feel that something is wrong. i applaud you all for wanting to do something about it

Yen,the problem is, there isnt enough people that care. Most are happy to go on living thier life oblivious to whats going on around them.

THEY PLAY MUSIC ON MTV???

Wow when did they start doing that?

Can you believe when they first came out they didn't even have commercials!

Your right dj we should do something constructive...

Let's bomb Canada!

It's a joke! (he says dodging bottles of Labatts)

Seriously the problem I have with these shows is that they obvious encourage the street racing lifestyle which puts innocent lives in danger.

SmileWavy

Ha Ha - FrankB watches MTV!!!!!

Somehow, I just can't imagine FrankB watching MTV.

Wow, you must really have had a lot of time off with your broken leg!!! I know when I was recovering from my leg injury, I watched many programs that I never would have ever watched if it wasn't for the pain medication. Luckily, I had satellite TV, so I had PLENTY of crap to choose from.

On a side note, one of the things that I hate about the new automotive shows, it that after a little metal fabrication and spotwelding, everything immediately gets painted and chromed, with no real recognition of the amount of work it takes to paint. This is especially true of some of the biker/chopper shows. Those paint jobs take weeks, yet only seem to take a few minutes on TV.

Also, I think as a culture, we are way too Victorian in attitude. I recommend shock therapy - MORE BOOBS ON TV. (Even us old guys like boobs).

MTV started its downward spiral when it did the first Spring Break or whatever. they found out that mindless garbage sells, and never looked back.

Remember BattleBots? That show used to rock soooo much. Then it stopped being a father-son hobby and went all commercial. Then every network got some version of the show and killed it off.

Do these people ruin everything good in the world?

"can you stereotype anymore frank?!?!"

Aha. Therein lies the problem: in my opinion, the 21st century so far has witnessed the death of individualism. Everytime a new band comes out and starts a new trend, people copy that trend in order to stand out and only end up fitting another stereotype. In highschool, all the counterculture kids just wanted to be different from the Abercrombie-football-cheerleader types, so they adapted personas (punk, goth, metal, hip-hop, hippie, etc) in order to stand out... it was only much later that they realised (or didn't) that they were only fitting a stereotype.

It is much the same with ricers. I probably mentioned the kid that works with me that has the Honda Civic with the jeweled tail-lights. When I asked him why in god's name he would do that to his car, his response was something along the lines of I want to stand out, I want to be different, etc... you should have seen his face when I pointed out the three other Hondas in the parking lot that had the same treatment. All were owned by 17-22 year-old males, all dressed the same. People claim that they're doing these things to express their individuality, but they are unconsiously just trying to fit in.

That's what it's all about - the media tells us we must fit some mold or another. The highschool sophomore starts listening to Good Charolette and all of a sudden they start buying spiked bracelets and spiking their hair. Why? They don't feel that they "deserve" to be listening to this music (which isn't REAL punk, by the way) without fitting the image. Same goes for Deadheads/Phish Phans with their tye-dye and caucasian dreadlocks, the Metalheads with their ripped jeans and long hair, the wannabe gansta with their doo-rags and baggy pants, and, yes, the would-be highschool football star in Abercrombie shorts.

Stereo typing.. I forgot the Jocks, Cheerleaders, Rush fans, Hippies and oh yeah, Canadiens.
Woops I forgot, Democrats, Republicans, left wingers, rightwingers, liberitarians, Goths, Punks, Death Metal heads, Speed Freaks, Sluts, Giggalo's, Actors/actresses and POrnstars.
Did I leave out Mobsters and hitmen, oh my bad......

$$$$$$ :( :(

Frank - Rush fans? haha I am not sure what the image of the Rush fan is... someone with tastes just eccentric enough for progressive rock, but not eccentric enough for early Pink Floyd or current Radiohead?

I'm a Rush fan. However Pink Flyod is my favorite all time band; Roger Waters and back. I like Raiohead as well. Funny thing is I also swoon over a great classical compilation.

I have a wide pallet.

Pink Floyd's best albums are the ones from OBSCURED BY CLOUDS to DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. WYWH and ANIMALS are good, too, but I really don't understand everyone's fascination with THE WALL.

I think I wore out at least one album each of Dark side of the moon WYWH...
Some friends took me to The Wall concert here in L.A. for my birthday, it was really cool to see with all the crazy production but I never bought the CD.
Albums? The Wall concert? hoo boy am I dating myself or what!

Anyway what's up with all these youngins crying about being "flamed" just because someone disagrees with their opinion? You are free to say whatever you want we are not free to comment on it?
Aren't you being intolerant of our intolerance?
:p

I wonder what the next big car thing will be?

Anyways, I just want to say what the FCC is doing to Stern is an atrocity. Currently he just got shut off clear channel and infinity(?)which have a monopoly on radio stations. Now Stern is getting large fines from the FCC so all the remaining stations that air him will not want to have him on the air for fear of fines. This is so freaking rediculous. I guess the government has found a nice way to get around the first amendment. Also, the reason why the FCC is doing this is for money. The FCC was going to be phased out because they really didnt do much. They really have no power in the government except for the 7 dirty words. Now they have made this deceny act to draw some controversy so they will still exsist for a couple more years. I dont know a lot about the government but from what Ive seen it seems pretty corupt.

I dont watch TV anymore, its horrible. I feel the same with the radio now since the deletion of Stern, its all coporate. I am lucky to live in Connecticut because we have WCCC FM which is a non coporate radio station who started Sterns career. The other Rock station in Connecticut was phased out by a rap station. I am pretty tired of hearing what the masses want me to hear, seeing what the masses want me to see, and thinking the way the masses want me to think. This society is going to implode soon and I dont wanna be near it when it happens.

Precisely, the fact that Howard stern gets ridiculed is sad, and Martha Stewart gets Sympathy, she a Fuc#ing criminal and Stern is... a D.J. and umm.. doesn't commit any sort of crimes and gets less respect is deplorable at best. OUr Gustapo.. err.. Government will be building walls around our neighborhood in the form of security checkpoints soon if The Fcc continues to exercise it's own form of freedo of enterprise on individuals excersizing their right to freedom of speech.
Why the FCC has become the new, hot ticket to invest in (control wise) is simple, Clear channel and Infinity are monopoly's and they are fighting over control of the airwaves.
Going for Sushi, I'll be back to comment more on this later.
Frank B

Hey Frank, gotta say that I have to agree with some of what you're sayn'.. After backin' up some pretty crazy people as a drummer over the past 17 years i've met quite a few people that have lost all sense of reality..

The Indi crowd seems to be more fun!! and imo is a lot more fun to work with!

Excellent review Frank!!

Frank, I have to be honest here. I see much more danger to my children from a mainstream entertainment industry that glorifies drug use, sexual promiscuity, and the idea that money is everything, than a series like Tuners or Pimp My Ride.

I am very disinclined to support censorship, but many artists, and certainly the bulk of the industries that support them have sold out completely to the quest for the almighty dollar. If musicians, actors and DJ's can sell the image of coolness with sex and drugs, why shouldn't the artists involved in the car series be allowed to sell the image of coolness with tacky car modifications?

Society's willingness to plunge toward the lowest common denominator is certainly disturbing. If Howard Stern is so perverted that the government is simply responding to public outrage in their demand that he clean up his show, why does this same society give him the financial support to make him and his employers so rich? If sex and drugs are so offensive why do they sell? And most of all, why do we expect our government to protect us from all this immorality when we are so unwilling to deny ourselves a lifestyle filled with these immoral influences? Still, I bet it is easier to convince my kids that a nice car is more than some lights, graphics, and a N2O bottle than it is to convince them that a life of integrity is more worthwhile than simply chasing down the next pleasure.