As you may know if you watch The Factor, Christmas is under siege in America, as secular forces are trying to blast any kind of spirituality out of the federal holiday. And now the entertainment industry is hammering Christmas as well, but in a different way.
The Cat in the Hat (search) movie, based on the book by Dr. Seuss, is attracting millions of American kids and their parents. The film stars Mike Myers (search) and is a premiere holiday offering.
But there's trouble in the hat. Many critics describe it as crude and disturbing. I have not seen it, nor will I, but here are a few of the examples of what goes on. The cat exposes his buttocks. The cat gets pounded in the crotch by some kids. The cat names his car after excrement. A dog urinates in a man's food. And the cat vomits a couple of times. Very nice.
C.W. Nevius, a film critic for The San Francisco Chronicle writes, "We are already hearing from parents who were shocked and dismayed to see Mike Myers' character mouthing profanity, making crude jokes and dropping in on a rave."
Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman says watching the movie is "a hellish experience."
Now, this is all part of the coarsening of the American child and is largely a fault of a greedy entertainment media that rams crude entertainment behavior down the throats of kids. And don't tell me you can't do it another way. The movie Finding Nemo is making a fortune. And it impacts kids in a very positive way.
Now I'm not being a scold here. There's an adult film out called Bad Santa. It's extremely crude. I couldn't care less. It's an "R" marketed at adults. But this Cat in the Hat deal is a kid project. So who's at fault?
Well, Mike Myers, certainly. This guy is a comic genius and wealthy beyond imagination. He doesn't have to do this stuff. The chat show host who interviewed Myers and kissed his butt, if that actor were challenged about this material, he and others would be less likely to do it.
Obviously the movie company Universal that put out the film is also culpable. Finally, parents who allow their kids to see Cat in the Hat are sending a message that being crude is fine with them.
Christmas is supposed to be a magical time for children, full of pure fantasies and joyful expectation. I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas program with my four-year-old the other night. And afterward, I asked her what she thought. She said she liked Charlie Brown because he was kind. How many kids do you think will say that about the cat? More likely they'll say he was gross. The coarsening of American continues.
And that's The Memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Our pal, Senator Hillary Clinton, has a deal she would like you to know about. She's selling 1,500 copies of her book, Living History, signed and spiffed up with marbled end papers and the like. Wow! The book will run you 250 bucks. But, hey, it has a full cloth slipcase, and those aren't cheap.
Now I'm tempted to say something about my humble book, which doesn't have anything but words in it, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper and, of course, in a tight race with Mrs. Clinton for the best-selling nonfiction book of the year.
Ridiculous? Only if you dislike marbled end papers. Two hundred fifty bucks.
--Catch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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