America is ailing and in denial. Chief among the many ills exacerbating our sick spirit is bogus puritanism. Art reflects society, to be sure, and ours is a troubled society. But art is an imaginative instrument, and the imagination that fuels our actions can help us overcome society's troubles. What raises a product of entertainment to the level of a work of art is in part the strength of its treatment of human action, good and evil.
Great art uses descriptive and prescriptive means to depict morality.
At the crossroads of the two is where the path to virtue begins. However, one question in particular needs to be asked of Time Warner. The company takes refuge in the First Amendment and the guarantee of freedom of speech when it promotes music and movies that are clearly at odds with decency, as most Americans define it. No one denies that Time Warner is entitled to produce nearly anything it thinks will make a profit. Certainly not Time Warner's.