MTV has been getting cheers lately for their attempt to bring hate crimes awareness into the light. “Anatomy of Hate Crime” aired commercial free and told the story of Matthew Shepard and his killers. They followed it up with a Q&A session to talk about how good the movie was and 17 hours of names, crimes and buzzwords.MTV’s hate crime marathon had all the trappings of social consciousness, but when you stop to add up the network’s tally, the program was just business as usual. It was a non-stop barrage of self-flagellation performed in the name of hipness to make up for endless hours of sexually-charged drivel and idiotic antics. America’s great purveyors of pabulum, MTV had celebrities read the accounts of violence in a cavalcade of crimes and slogans. On the face of it, MTV was performing a public service by trying to raise awareness of just how many crimes are committed in this country because of hate. Unsuspecting viewers looking for Carson Daly or Dr. Drew found themselves looking at a curious display of crimes presented with a minimum of fuss or even graphic assistance. The lineup was endless and staggering.The point was well taken. Hour after hour, MTV told the tale of victim after victim describing how they were brutalized because their attackers didn’t like their race, religion or sexual orientation. Trying to enlighten the masses is a worthy goal and should be lauded, but when the network doing the preaching is the same one that brings home the bacon with salacious reality shows and exploitative booty videos, the hypocrisy is undeniable.No other network in the 20th century has put form over substance like MTV. This is most obvious when looking at the choices this network makes. They offer a manic assortment of exploitation on the one hand followed with trite tidbits of remorsefulness. It begs the question: How does the network that made Eminem a household name feel justified in leading the charge against hate crimes? Certainly there is something to be said for atoning for the sins one commits 364 days a year, but one day of attrition barely makes up for being a part of the problem.It isn’t just in the area of hate that MTV has problems. Every year, MTV hands us another group of “Real World” tossers, “Road Rules” wankers and dueling jackasses Tom Green and Johnny Knoxville. The reality shows appear to choose cast members for their diverse backgrounds, but one need not be too cynical to realize this diversity is just a tokenistic exploitation for our amusement. We get the rich, white guy who will hopefully not be down with the gay one. We get the black guy with a chip on his shoulder who will hopefully get into it with the cracker. Throw in a true playa, a sensitive poet, a snotty socialite and an emotionally-challenged drunk and watch the fur fly.Sure it’s entertaining, but so are bear-bating, cockfights and convenience store security videos of robberies gone bad. They are all entertaining because they are all in some way exploitation.MTV has always made their way on exploitation. They reek of misogyny and have prominently displayed women as objects. In the 80s, MTV was wall-to-wall metal videos featuring butts, boobs and big hair. And we loved it. Sex is the easiest way to get people’s attention. Then, as America began to get bored with videos, they retooled “American Bandstand” and featured low-angle shots up girls’ skirts and braless jigglefests. Later, they took the action to the beach house to get the same effect with much more skin. These days, they do away with the pretense.At any given hour, MTV features documentaries on sex, sexual advice shows and really bad soap operas like “Undressed” that are all about skin and plenty of it. If any network has contributed to the hyper-sexuality of American teens, it is MTV. Some might argue against all this sex because it’s dirty, but that is not what I am here to do. You are either all about it or you aren’t and if MTV wants to exploit people who so obviously want to be exploited then it is up to the parents to keep them away from it. What raises the hackles of social critics is the hypocrisy inherent in MTVs dual nature. It might actually come as a surprise to MTV programmers that there is a difference between promoting the public welfare because you give a damn and promoting the public welfare once in a very great while because it is a ratings booster or image enhancer.You can get rich wading hip deep in booty videos. You can’t make up for it with a half-hour special on breast implants. You can throw social consciousness into the toilet promoting Eminem and his brand of hate like he’s the second coming of Curtis Blow. You can’t undo it with a few hours of self-congratulatory, low-budget programs on hate crimes.

Greg Jerrett is a graduate student in English from Council Bluffs. He is opinion editor of the Daily.