After Cardi B took to the Grammy stage in what appeared to be a costume from a never-aired Showgirls/Power Rangers crossover film, and writhed about on a large bed while lip syncing to her X-rated hit “WAP,” many people pointed out the obvious irony. Here was a major pop star flopping around the stage, screaming about her genitals, during primetime on a major network, even as certain Dr. Seuss books, Looney Tunes characters, Muppet films, and Disney cartoons have recently been criticized, censored, or taken out of publication for their supposedly objectionable content.
It would seem that our culture has a rather confused idea about what sorts of material might be damaging to impressionable children, or impressionable adults. It might be more accurate to say that our culture doesn’t really care about protecting kids from damaging material and only uses those concerns as a vehicle to enact sweeping cultural changes. Either way, the contrast between WAP and Dr. Seuss is as instructive as it is depressing. It’s also the kind of conversation that would cause previous generations, if they looked through a crystal ball and overheard it, to throw themselves off of cliffs en masse.
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