Want to know who to invite to your next party? According to this Zogby poll, invite a bunch of liberals and moderates. The conservatives are all a bunch of prudes.
Ok, it doesn't say that exactly, but here's how it describes conservative entertainment:
People with a “red” entertainment preference think a lot of programming is in bad taste and doesn’t reflect their values. They don’t like a lot of things on TV, but their two favorite channels are Fox and Fox News. They like sports, especially football and auto racing, and they watch news and business programming. They don’t like most contemporary music and they don’t watch VH1 or MTV. They don’t much like late-night TV. They like to go to sporting events, and when they do go to the movies – which is rarely – they seek out action-adventure films. They’re not big book readers, but when they do read, they prefer non-fiction. When they read fiction, they often select mysteries and thrillers. They are more likely to listen to country and gospel than other people, but their favorite music is classical. They don’t play a lot of video games, but when they do, Madden NFL and Mario are their favorites. They think that fictional TV shows and movies are politically biased, and they believe they can predict a person’s politics if they know the person’s entertainment preferences.
Talk about a bunch of sticks-in-the-mud! When I see poll results like this, I have to question who got polled and when. I don't find it hard to believe, for example, that conservatives don't like much of what's on TV. There's not really much there to like unless you like political brainwashing, lowbrow humor, or political brainwashing disguised as drama. It's no wonder conservatives lean toward reality shows; it's harder to get the liberal storyline into those.
I take issue with some of the other findings. For example, conservatives like classical music more than country? Maybe in New York City, but not anywhere else. And it's small wonder conservatives like non-fiction better than fiction. Conservatives tend to be analytical and reflective.
And who should wonder that conservatives think TV shows and movies are politically biased? Anyone who's looked at the box office over the last few months would notice a certain pattern. If Hollywood wants conservatives to start going to the movies, produce more movies like Bella and make movies where our soldiers aren't the bad guys.
Unlike the conservatives, who (I guess) sit around picking their toenails for entertainment, liberals love the entertainment media.
People with a “blue” entertainment preference like many of (sic) different types of programming, even if it doesn’t reflect their taste or values. They shy away from a lot of primetime programming, especially game shows and reality TV, but they like comedies, drama, documentaries, news, and arts and educational programming. They love 60 Minutes, PBS, HBO, Comedy Central and The Daily Show. They go to the movies, where they often see comedies, and they like to go to live theater and museums and galleries. They read books more often than most people – they prefer fiction to non-fiction, but their favorite genre is politics and current events. They enjoy entertainment with political themes, and they feel like they learn about politics from entertainment. Sports are less interesting to them, but football is their favorite, and they’re more likely to follow soccer than other people. They like lots of different kinds of music (except country) and they watch MTV and VH1. They play video games a lot more than other people – Mario and The Sims are favorites.
Again, I have to wonder how this poll was done. Are people simply self-identifying? When I was more liberal, I thought I liked watching, reading, and listening to a variety of opinions, too. The problem is that most of those opinions actually came from the left, whether it was watching 60 Minutes, listening to NPR, or watching a political thriller (which invariably had a conservative bad guy that I thought was just true to life, not a stereotype). And I have no doubt liberals think they learn about politics from entertainment since entertainment is full of their values and beliefs.
Finally, there were the moderates, a group Zogby called "purples."
People with “purple” entertainment preferences like all the broadcast networks and a lot of primetime programming, including police procedurals, game shows and reality programming. They watch a lot of Fox News and they like daytime and children’s programming more than other people. Moderates like to read non-fiction, including self-help books and biographies, but they like mysteries and thrillers best. Rock music is their favorite – they don’t like classical or folk music as much as other people. Their favorite video games are Mario, Donkey Kong and Madden NFL. They don’t seek out entertainment with political themes and they are far less likely to read books about politics or current events than other people. They are less likely than other people to think that they can predict a person’s politics based on their entertainment preferences.
So, moderates don't know anything about politics, like to watch children's programming and read self-help books. That pretty well sums up the stereotype of a moderate, doesn't it?
Again, I'm not sure who Zogby actually talked to for this survey. It doesn't sound like they talked to any real conservatives because almost everything stated about conservatives sounds either stereotypical (they find political bias around every corner!) or just plain wrong (they prefer classical music!). And given the widespread popularity of games like World of Warcraft and other games, I find it impossible to believe that conservatives don't play games.
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