Janet, Ms. Jackson if you're nasty
I was reading an article online about how the FCC is looking to fine people because Janet Jackson's nipple was viewed by millions of people.
Censorship in the media is something that's bothered me for a while now, and this seems a perfect example of what is wrong with the current state of censorship in American media. As a general rule, the FCC is anti-boobies, pro-violence, and this strikes me as backwards. By my reckoning, it should be the other way around. After all, when you weight the two (violence vs. boobies), which is the more dangerous to society? Personally, I'd rather stare at boobs all day than violent crime shows. While I can't make the claim that boobies alone make me a better person, when weighed with the alternatives that are on TV, I just don't see that nudity is even in the same league of indecency as the stuff you'd see on, say, CSI. And even so, I view it as mainly the parents' responsibility to police rather than the government.
Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Comments
I think the FCC in general is pretty backwards when it comes to this sort of stuff. We as a society seem to give TV too much credit in terms of media effects. There is no such thing as a magic bullet.
While I agree with you in terms of violence vs. indecency on tv, I think the FCC does have somewhat of a point.
On shows like CSI or Law and Order or The Sopranos, people know what they're getting themselves into. They even have those little ratings in the left hand corner that let parents know what kind of content is going to be in that weeks episode. With a half time show of the Super Bowl parents aren't expecting to see nipples.
Of course the FCC, after an investigation, found Bono was not out of line when he received an award last year on TV, went up on stage and proclaimed it to be "fucking brilliant." Go figure, eh?
Posted by: alex | February 2, 2004 11:55 AM
For the record......I am pro-boobies.
Posted by: spazdog | February 2, 2004 12:04 PM
If I'd actually watched the Superbowl, I'd have been more offended by the lame choices for entertainers than by a boobie popping out, though I didn't appreciate that the nipple was all covered in metal.
Posted by: Alphax | February 2, 2004 01:15 PM
Unfortunately violence turns more heads, and the human body is still taboo and many many peoples eyes.
Posted by: rpg | February 2, 2004 02:28 PM
Well, it was the breast Superbo... er Professional Football Championship Game (sorry, at my old job we weren't allowed to use Superbowl if ABC didn't have the rights that year) I'd seen in a long time.
Posted by: a2daj | February 3, 2004 03:08 PM
D'oh! I said the S word!
Posted by: a2daj | February 3, 2004 03:09 PM
Why didn't Janet squirt and splash her boobie-milk into the audience?
Please explain ...
Posted by: Klaus Kinski | February 10, 2004 07:16 AM
Why don't you explain?
Posted by: Klaus Kinski | February 21, 2004 07:36 AM