The new Channel 10 show Californication has been causing outrage in some sections of the community, for its gratuitous displays of sex that have even been labelled ‘pornographic’ by some commentators.

There’s been a range of responses to the show so far…

• A group of Catholics have been meeting outside the Channel Ten studios in Sydney each time the show is broadcast, holding a silent prayer vigil. Father John Fongemie, from the Material Heart Catholic Church in Sydney’s Lewisham says he – and others – will continue gathering on Monday nights outside the Ten studios for the next month.
• The Australian Christian Lobby has called for disgruntled viewers to boycott the show, by not buying the products advertised throughout the show. So far, two advertisers have pulled out – Holden and Holeproof. Another sponsor, Lion Nathan, said it was happy for its Tooheys New ads to continue to be played. Other sponsors said they were unaware their ads had been playing during the show.
•  The Australian Christian Lobby is also calling for the government to play a greater role in determining the guidelines that regulate free to air television, rather than television executives.
• Maybe you’ve responded to the show simply by turning it off…or not watching it in the first place.
• However others argue that some sort of action does need to be taken – that while it’s all well and good for people who disapprove of the show to switch off….there are other people out there in society watching the program…and the fact that a show like this is even on television has an impact on society as a whole. And the kind of society we live in.

What do you think is the most effective way of responding to a show like this? How do you respond when there’s something on TV that you don’t necessarily agree with? Or television shows that you don’t think should even be on TV in the first place? Ignore it? Switch it off? Or something a bit more dramatic?