Vestal versions?

Does the term ‘watershed’ cover radio as well as television? Does it cover other languages besides the two official ones of Malta – Maltese and English?

I deplore the use of certain words on Min Imissu- Tanja Cilia

I ask because the other day, at about 10 a.m., as I was idly twiddling the dial of my radio, I chanced upon a song by Marco Masini – the one with unsavoury ‘instructions’ – that had engendered so much furore locally, both on the airwaves and in a live concert.

I do not condone vulgarities of any type, even after the aforementioned watershed. Television and radio are not like the printed press, where children may not come across the crudeness or double entendres, whether or not they have racial connotations.

I deplore the use of certain words on Min Imissu. We only see the guests who consented to be called four-letter words; they have to sit there and pretend to be amused by these wannabe Ru Paul clones.

At this juncture, one wonders why the likes of Frans never make it to television – after all, beneath his vulgarity is a hefty dose of satire, which local television sadly lacks.

However, it is obvious that Min Imissu, like Deċeduti¸ has a mammoth fan base. This is what had given rise to a dangerous, and potentially lethal, situation.

There are at least three people masquerading as characters; they are specifically grooming young people by promising to meet them to sell timepieces that are clearly fakes, but which they insist are genuine branded ones.

Of course, this may only be an attempt to prove the truth of ‘a fool and his money are soon parted’ – but keeping in mind that children and youth are the predominant followers of what they are not supposed to be watching, I will not shunt aside more sinister motives.

Who is to say what will happen if a child (who is, by the way, not supposed to have a Facebook account in the first place) decides to go and meet the person who promises the watch and a bag in which to put it?

Each Min Imissu character has a character page on Facebook. However, the third parties that call themselves Bindi, Diane and Mariella are not in any way connected with Take2 Entertainment, the company behind the aforementioned two series.

I have been given the Facebook links for the characters; any communications that come from one of the following addresses (two for Lou John Bindi, one for Diane and another for Mariella) are bogus.

Of course, once they know that people are on to them, these predators will most likely remove their accounts, open up others, or take a different tack. They know full well that some children consider it a challenge to do things behind their parents’ back to defy them.

Take2 assures us that actors will be available at company activities for publicity purposes; no actor, in character or in person, will ever attempt to contact a fan on a personal basis.

So the solution is simple – tell children that they must go to the main Min Imissu Facebook page to verify any private messages they receive, or even e-mails, or contacts on other sites, at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Min-Imissu/111960418907710 .

Another breed of person trying to cheat the socks off their fellow men call themselves ‘seers’, or ‘clairvoyants’, or ‘psychics’, but are in reality charlatans of the first water, with euro signs in their eyes.

They boast that they have a ‘gift’ – yet they chose to ignore the ‘what you have received for free, so you shall give for free’ adjunct. Instead, they make a living of fleecing the gullible with their mumbo-jumbo (and with the occasional a little bit of powder to sprinkle into the meal of a man you want to enchant).

Of course, it’s easier to sit there and offer “precise, candid, and compassionate” predictions if you have a basic knowledge of human psychology and body language, than it would be to take in someone else’s laundry. Think Oda Mae Brown before she realised she had The Gift.

This week, Cynthia Zerafa’s Realtajiet tal-Lum (RTK Radio; live on Wednesdays at 5.15 p.m.; repeats on Saturdays at 10.20 p.m.) tackled this hot topic in the usual erudite manner.

Guests for this edition were Fr Marcello Ghirlando (exor-cist), Vanni Pule (teacher and illusionist) and Bernard Caruana (psychologist). There was also an interview with Joseph Giglio (lawyer) on the legal rights of an individual who has been deceived by a fortune-teller, who would have promised them “tomorrow, today”.

There was a particularly chilling moment in the interview with the “talent-ed” lady whose day job it is to steer people along the paths the stars or other entities ostensibly decree.

She was asked whether politicians seek her services, and she said they do. It is frightening to think that people whom we chose to represent us could be so silly as to loan their free wills to third parties.

I thought that politicians who played with their wrist-watches while Archbishop Cremona was talking, and who later crossed their arms while the national anthem was being sung (must we be thankful that at least they stood up?) were giving us the worst kind of example of how to behave in life. It seems I was mistaken.

Unfortunately, the young lady interviewed in connection with her blind faith in fortune tellers sounded as if she revered her soothsayer (and I use the term judiciously) more than she would have done her analyst. Her attitude is symptomatic of a trend that bodes no good to society.

• The Phoenicians has won yet another award for Chris and Maurice Micallef; this time it’s Hitflics – an American Online Festival. Watch it at http://www.hitflics.com/view_member_video.php?movieid=579 .

television@timesofmalta.com