Dear CW11 executives,
Readers of this blog will attest, I hope, that I'm not a bluenose. My language is frequently terrible, I like my beer, and I'm not overly concerned with a certain level of bad behavior. And without getting political, I'm a firm believer that it's my job to raise my four-year-old son — not the government's, his school's or the media's.
But my running interference between my kid and the parts of the world I don't want him to know about yet shouldn't have to extend to censoring Mets-Nationals day games. First there was an ad for “Halloween,” with kids afraid of a certain house, knives brandished and people in terror. Now, a couple of innings later, “Death Sentence” — with much of the same and a thug telling Kevin Bacon he's coming to kill the rest of his family. (Hey, and now as I write this here's “War.” Thanks.)
Joshua understands there are scary movies and grown-up stories. So do I. But they have their time and place, and this isn't it. I'm trying to raise my kid as a Met fan, to appreciate things like El Duque bringing decades' worth of pitching guile, Carlos Beltran hitting a majestic home run and David Wright redeeming an error with a do-or-die barehand pickup. That shouldn't have to go hand in hand with trying to distract him from the idea that there are people who kill other people's children and then go after the rest of their family. Even in the realm of violent movies, that's a bit too close to home for a little boy.
If Joshua's up in the seventh inning of a night game and sees an ad for “Death Sentence,” that's my fault. But it's not the seventh inning of a night game. It's Sunday afternoon, folks. My worries about what's going to come through the set during an afternoon game should be limited to beanballs and umpire-manager dust-ups.
I'm sure a lot of you have kids too, so I'm confident you understand what I'm saying. Somebody at your network is making a mistake that makes you look irresponsible. Let's please not have any more of this.
Regards,
Jason