I’ll admit I’m an avid YouTuber. I love wasting time on the Internet, watching videos about puppies and little children. It’s a sad but true ?realization.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a clip from “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
I was curious because of two things — the red solo cups in the video frame and the fact that there were fat suits involved. The clip was titled, “Inflatable Flip Cup With Keri Russell.”
I was thoroughly entertained. I was also impressed that Jimmy Fallon could get away with being “drunk on the job.”
In a bunch of videos that followed, there were drinking games with beer and hard liquor, but participants were 21 or older. All of the celebrities, including Jimmy, were sloppily chugging beer and dripping it all over their clothing when they lost.
Although humorous, it’s essentially throwing professionalism out the window. Drinking games have become our late night trash TV. Forget about the Real World, just watch the Tonight Show, and you’ll get the same amount of hooligan behavior.
The Merriam Webster definition of a talk show is “a radio or television program in which usually well-known people talk about something or are interviewed.”
The games on “The Tonight Show” are entertaining, but also stupid. Our media don’t revolve around substantial content; it is centered on attention-grabbing headlines and a boozy state of mind.
In early February, Kobe Bryant made a guest appearance on the show. Jimmy and Kobe were chatting and reminiscing about the time they first met.
Apparently Jimmy and Kobe arrived in Los ?Angeles at about the same time, in 1996. That puts Jimmy at about 21 and Kobe at 17 or 18. Jimmy recalled that they went on a beer run since the Lakers party they were at ran out.
It was a casual conversation. But at the same time, I’m a firm believer of example setting. When somebody under a national spotlight does something illegal, it sets an example.
At IU, underage drinking is part of our culture.
But what if we didn’t have people such as Kobe and other celebrities setting a bad example to look at? Instead of Snapchatting drugs and alcohol to ?‘hoosier.nation,’ we could be doing far more productive things with our lives.
It’s not even the drinking that upsets me; it’s the fact that it was on national television. We are obsessed with unhealthy commodities. There are drive-thru liquor stores and cupcake ATMs. We take photos of anything and everything.
Instead of relying on mainstream media to set examples for us, let’s try leading the examples for ourselves. Make a goal and achieve it. Don’t regret doing something the night before because you had one too many shots.
The hangovers aren’t worth it, and turning down one drink so you can do well on your quiz the next day is, in fact, worth it.
I probably sound like a bitter old lady with cats for friends. But sometimes we ought listen to the elderly because they can be wise, too.
jlkarl@indiana.edu
