SHOCK & UNSHOCKED

I used to turn a deaf ear to my parents when they’d lament the “slow degeneration” of our society. I’d accuse them of being dramatic and overreacting.

But in the Feb. 22 Calendar I found myself first reading about “Shock Radio” and those “hilarious” deejays (by Patrick Goldstein). That J.C. Corcoran of St. Louis was a real scream. Especially when he attacked fellow deejay Jack Carney on the air. And when I read that “. . . anything goes, whether the laughs come from jokes about sexual misadventures, the Catholic Church, ethnic minorities or mass murder,” I had to stop reading for fear of laughing too hard.

So, I turned to Outtakes’ Quibbles & Bits and got such a kick out of that crazy guy, Aldo Ray. Discussing “Pop’s Oasis” and a rape scene where the rapist wears women’s clothes and beats the girl with a belt, zany Ray got a good chuckle saying, “It’s that kind of film--everybody else has had a piece of her!” What a comic! This guy missed his calling!

I had to put the paper down for fear of busting a gut. But when the paper fell to the floor, it opened on to a coming-attraction page for “Nightmare on Elm Street 3.” That wild and hysterical Wes Craven has created yet another serving of cinema to tickle our funny bone.

Get this straight, I’m not a Bible-thumping, conservative fanatic, wishing to censor anything a little raw. God forbid. It just got to me suddenly that it’s getting harder and harder to find something positive and uplifting these days. It’s tough to admit it, but Mom and Dad were right.

How much longer are they going to be right?

LAUREL DEWEY

Glendale