Harry’s analytical essay.

In the Herald sun, we read Mr. Andrew Bolts article about the newly aired show, Californication. This show has started much controversy amongst the general public but as we can see, Mr Bolt has written an article that can either put you with him, or angrily against him. Whether he has done this on purpose or not is rather debatable. But we can see that as an Australian citizen, he is innocently stating his views and not entirely an accepted truth. His article brings up a few matters, not just this new show. His ability to connect these things together is surely going to create much more controversy and further reinforce the initial problems he brings up.

Mr Andrew Bolt has used many persuasive techniques in his article to try and make us see his way. ( he is a writer of course, and is trained in the art of persuasion so it isn’t abnormal for him). Out of all his techniques that he uses, Andrew Bolt uses his own personal experiences as the main technique. ( it may not look like it to everyone but for me, his own experiences show me what to expect if I ever watch this show.) Andrew Bolt says that he has watched an episode of Californication and is quite disgusted by what it depicts. He particularly describes the scene in which a nun gives fellatio to a praying man in front of a crucifix, many times throughout the article. About seven or eight times I believe. This particular technique is no doubt aimed specifically to practicing Christians who find that kind of thing disgusting. Especially when a large portion of Victoria is Christian, Mr. bolt has already delivered his message.
This is a very clever thing of Andrew Bolt to do. But his article doesn’t show much other evidence besides the above mentioned scene. Instead he relates this issue with other bigger topics including morals, religion, sex and pornography. He uses shock tactics with vaguely relevant evidence and even throws in some stupid jokes. Whether he is trying to be funny or not is debatable whereas opinions and humor differ.

Mr Bolts article may have just as many flaws in it than it has relevant and shocking information. Many of these things I have written in my letter to the editor. The main point I have tried to make is that Andrew Bolt did not do enough study of the show Californication before he got to his conclusion. In his article he tries to persuade us into thinking that californication ( the whole series ) is nothing but sex, sex and more sex. The one obvious wrong assumption here is that the whole series hasn’t been aired on tv yet. Let alone the second episode. And that we don’t know what is on the rest of the series. I mean, there is a possibility that the whole storyline can change in the next few episodes. When it may not contain nothing but sex, sex and more sex. He also points out that the show mocks the Christian faith even more.( which I totally agree with him at this point). Through the fact that the main character in the show was given fellatio in a church. After he makes this point he changes the subject. From this point the show isn’t about californication exactly, but about various religious denominations and how they are attacked. Furthermore Mr Bolt has failed to comment on other shows on tv that are basically revolving around the same subject, for example Shameless on SBS, this show (and many others) are forgotten to be mentioned. I suppose Andrew Bolt doesn’t watch SBS.

I would like to say that Mr Bolts article sums up basically the views of many people out there who respect moral values and disapproved of such shows on tv. But he has done it in such a way as to spark up more controversy than the actual show. If this article has done one thing, it has successfully gotten people talking about this issue and what is going to be done.

To the editor,
I read Mr. Bolts article in the herald sun and I agree with many of the points he is trying to make. He basically sums up what morality has become and how it has changed. By basing his evidence on this new show, Californication, we can agree tend to agree with his point of view. Unfortunately I believe that Andrew Bolt has released this article very early and hasn’t done enough research. I also noticed in his article that he tends to change the subject to a point where he is telling us something very different. Mr Bolt has released his article telling that since the first episode is bad, so is the rest of the series. If his article is based on the whole series, I believe he has made a terrible mistake. I have previously witnessed shows that after they air the first episode, the whole storyline changes. In other words the first episode is just a catchy trap for the rest of the series were we believe we will see the same things over and over.
Mr Bolt tells us that this new show is disgusting but he hasn’t realized that there are other shows just as bad that occur on other channels. We don’t see him writing long articles about them do we? Shows like Shameless on SBS. This show has similar aspects to Californication and we can even see it in the names. Cali-fornication and Shame-less. Both shows have heavy sex scenes in it yet mr bolt doesn’t comment on it. Shameless is not the only other show, SBS airs many movies and shows with similar material particularly those aired after 9.30 at night.