Fcc

[Kram41]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/20/decency.hearing/index.html

I am embarrassed to live in a country that makes such a big deal of this shit. For all the talk of "freedom" and other bullshit, yet we waste time and money fighting people swearing and showing boobs on tv.

When I sit in Ireland watching "Badly Dubbed Porn" and have to explain to people that they can't show that kind of stuff on American tv, it's just sad.

[dai the flu]

maybe someone could explain to me the appeal in pushing the envelope. cuz frankly, if somebody told me i couldnt say something on TV, i really dont see why you should care. just respect peoples wishes and dont say things like that. why is that so hard? why force the issue?
does it really hurt you to curb your overwhelming urge to be profane in public?

[Justin_stacy]

what business does porn have on publicly owned airwaves?

[saysmydoctor]

Personally if you're not interested in viewing, continue sitting on your fatass, eating McDonald's Supersize me Fries, and use the remote like the true American you are, and change the goddamn channel.

(This is directed at nobody in general.)

[open mind]

maybe someone could explain to me the appeal in pushing the envelope. cuz frankly, if somebody told me i couldnt say something on TV, i really dont see why you should care. just respect peoples wishes and dont say things like that. why is that so hard? why force the issue?
does it really hurt you to curb your overwhelming urge to be profane in public?

who gets to decide what's profane and who get's to decide who the the people are who get to decide ?
why should our nation deny a huge part of the human experience just because some people might be offended?

[we are cured]

maybe someone could explain to me the appeal in pushing the envelope. cuz frankly, if somebody told me i couldnt say something on TV, i really dont see why you should care. just respect peoples wishes and dont say things like that. why is that so hard? why force the issue?
does it really hurt you to curb your overwhelming urge to be profane in public?

FLOW CHART

advertisers pay tv - tv airs curses - advertisers no longer pay tv - tv dies as we know it

it's funny because as business gets bigger and more powerful, and has to act in the interest of its consumers, we actually revert to a society where the government (in form of regulation) is called on to tell us that we can or cannot carry out legitimately legal actions..all because of money.

[dai the flu]

who gets to decide what's profane and who get's to decide who the the people are who get to decide ?
why should our nation deny a huge part of the human experience just because some people might be offended?
a huge part of the human experience?
get a freaking life.
there is absolutely no reason why anyone should insist on profanity and nudity on public TV. if thats what you want to see and hear, you have outlets that provide it. you know exactly whats controversial, exactly what people consider profane, yet you're determined to force it into peoples homes in the name of freedom.
well id like a little freedom too. freedom to turn on my TV without my kid hearing f-bombs.
maybe im getting too old, but i miss the days when people showed some class.

[dw1003]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/20/decency.hearing/index.html

I am embarrassed to live in a country that makes such a big deal of this shit. For all the talk of "freedom" and other bullshit, yet we waste time and money fighting people swearing and showing boobs on tv.

When I sit in Ireland watching "Badly Dubbed Porn" and have to explain to people that they can't show that kind of stuff on American tv, it's just sad.

wait until you have children.

I agree that that morals in america are subjective, and that some people are more tightly wound and others are more conservative... but when you have children, your views will inevitably change to protect the way you wish to raise your family. To me, some of what you're describing is a tough sell for public television. If you really want to see boobs on tv there are plenty of other ways.
have fun with that.

[Justin_stacy]

All that's needed is for someone to explain why nudity and extreme profanity is so badly needed on television, what is the big gain from having such previsions shown to every man women and child in primetime?

But of course all that is ever responded is the childish retort of change the channel. But why not just pay for cable if you're lonely and in such dire need of a cheap thrill? Why condemn all the rest of us to having to deal with the hardcore garbage shown in europe?

[preppyak]

maybe someone could explain to me the appeal in pushing the envelope. cuz frankly, if somebody told me i couldnt say something on TV, i really dont see why you should care. just respect peoples wishes and dont say things like that. why is that so hard? why force the issue?
does it really hurt you to curb your overwhelming urge to be profane in public?

What makes film and TV so interesting is that it can be a re-animation of actual life, using certain scenarios to comment on life while trying as best it can to accurately portray it.

By limiting TV shows from using language that people use casually each day, you aren't changing the people using language, you're just limiting what the shows can do. Amazingly, a show that took it too far with their langauage would not be consistently commercially viable in network TV, and would get itself canceled fairly quickly. (even Jackass would be considered a niche market on cable TV, far from the commercial success of NBC or ABC shows)

But the willingness for the FCC to believe that it can sanitize the American public by controlling language or a minimal nipple slip is just hilarious, and futile at best

All that's needed is for someone to explain why nudity and extreme profanity is so badly needed on television, what is the big gain from having such previsions shown to every man women and child in primetime?

But of course all that is ever responded is the childish retort of change the channel. But why not just pay for cable if you're lonely and in such dire need of a cheap thrill? Why condemn all the rest of us to having to deal with the hardcore garbage shown in europe?
You cannot possibly create an accurate portrayal of human existence that is capable of making a smart comment on it when you are limited from using key parts of human existence entirely.

It's not like we need porn or excessive swearing on network TV...that is stupid obviously, but the FCC takes it so far over the top with their control that they limit network success even.

Why is it that HBO and cable shows win all the awards now? Simply because network shows are held short of being realistic and intelligent by all their restrictions. Sometimes to accurately portray human anger, you need to use the word "fuck"

Besides, primetime TV is not designed for an audience below 12 or 14, which is a point where many of the kids ahve been exposed to such language, and are probably on the borderline of having the "Sex" talk (or having sex as it seems nowadays), so what line is it crossing in corrupting kids?

[CIABATTA]

tv controls our minds, im glad ive turned mine off. now the internet corrupts it

[open mind]

a huge part of the human experience?
get a freaking life.
there is absolutely no reason why anyone should insist on profanity and nudity on public TV. if thats what you want to see and hear, you have outlets that provide it. you know exactly whats controversial, exactly what people consider profane, yet you're determined to force it into peoples homes in the name of freedom.
well id like a little freedom too. freedom to turn on my TV without my kid hearing f-bombs.
maybe im getting too old, but i miss the days when people showed some class.

if sex and anger aren't a huge part of the human experience i dunno what is.
no reason? how about bringing authenticity and realism to someone's art? nobody is forced to allow anything from the media into thier home, you can always change the channel and station or choose not to buy if something offends you.

[Kram41]

Apparently I underestimated the conservativeness of this board.

The term "profanity" in general is a little ridiculous. What makes it ok to say "poop" but not "shit"; "sex" but not "fuck"; "dang" but not "damn"; "frickin" but not "fuckin"? Because those words have just always been considered bad words?

If people didn't make such a big deal out of them, it wouldn't be so taboo to hear them on TV. Honestly, it's just stupid thinking. Well, mommy and daddy are allowed to say "shit" when they're upset, but you can't because it's a dirty word.

[cfear]

Did anyone see that episode of Southpark where "Cop Drama" said shit? Once that happened EVERYONE started saying shit all the time. Eventually the plague came and people started dying, and a dragon was fought.

All in all, if TV shows are allowed to say shit like shit then that shit will happen.

[dw1003]

Apparently I underestimated the conservativeness of this board.

The term "profanity" in general is a little ridiculous. What makes it ok to say "poop" but not "shit"; "sex" but not "fuck"; "dang" but not "damn"; "frickin" but not "fuckin"? Because those words have just always been considered bad words?

If people didn't make such a big deal out of them, it wouldn't be so taboo to hear them on TV. Honestly, it's just stupid thinking. Well, mommy and daddy are allowed to say "shit" when they're upset, but you can't because it's a dirty word.

It's true there are many conservatives on this board. I'm not one of them.
It's just, when you make retarded arguments using logic like "It's stupid thinking" and "mommy and daddy are allowed" than you can't expect to get many people agreeing with your rudimentary viewpoint.

the subject of profanity is complicated it is not a left or right issue... being liberal doesn't mean being immoral or profane. Look at Dick Cheney swearing at poeple in congress...

the real problem is that you don't have a constructive argument for supporting profanity and nudity on television.

[Trainsaw]

There's a reason why porno is a billion dollar industry, obviously if they had it on the airwaves people would watch, which would make me wonder why would advertisers not want to have commercials (between programs i guess not in the middle lol). It would seem like getting on a porno channel, which would obviously be watched, would be an advertisers dream, but then comes that whole morals issue. If it was on regular television the ratings would probably be through the roof.

[cfear]

the real problem is that you don't have a constructive argument for supporting profanity and nudity on television.

My constructive argument (abridged): Why not? Is it for the children? If so, shouldn't parents take responsibility for what their children watch if they don't want them to see those things on television? Many commentators argue that parent's need to take more steps in controlling their children when it comes to certain things, but when it comes to issues concerning profanity and nudity on television it is automatically the governments job to decided what is/is not acceptable. Adults cannot logically say that it is to protect themselves. If an adult can't decided what he/she want's to watch on television then they have bigger issues to tackle than what is on television. There is, realistically, nothing wrong with profanity and nudity on television. It's a part of everyday life. I'd be surprised if there are many children who haven't already heard people use "bad words" in public. They are, afterall, just words that carry a negative social stigma. Getting over that hump is what television needs to do. There have been the same negative stigma's on other things that television has shown in the past (inter-racial relationships, homosexuality, alcoholism), but those things have become generally accepted nowadays. As for nudity...it's just the human body. What's wrong with it? Why should it matter if a kid see's a woman's breasts on television? If it's a girl: she's gunna have a pair eventually. If it's a boy: he's gunna get to know them very well soon enough. The human body is nothing to be ashamed of. Do we want the children of the future to be so ashamed of the human body that they hang drapes over a statue of a naked women? I don't want that.

[dw1003]

My constructive argument (abridged): Why not? Is it for the children? If so, shouldn't parents take responsibility for what their children watch if they don't want them to see those things on television? Many commentators argue that parent's need to take more steps in controlling their children when it comes to certain things, but when it comes to issues concerning profanity and nudity on television it is automatically the governments job to decided what is/is not acceptable. Adults cannot logically say that it is to protect themselves. If an adult can't decided what he/she want's to watch on television then they have bigger issues to tackle than what is on television. There is, realistically, nothing wrong with profanity and nudity on television. It's a part of everyday life. I'd be surprised if there are many children who haven't already heard people use "bad words" in public. They are, afterall, just words that carry a negative social stigma. Getting over that hump is what television needs to do. There have been the same negative stigma's on other things that television has shown in the past (inter-racial relationships, homosexuality, alcoholism), but those things have become generally accepted nowadays. As for nudity...it's just the human body. What's wrong with it? Why should it matter if a kid see's a woman's breasts on television? If it's a girl: she's gunna have a pair eventually. If it's a boy: he's gunna get to know them very well soon enough. The human body is nothing to be ashamed of. Do we want the children of the future to be so ashamed of the human body that they hang drapes over a statue of a naked women? I don't want that.

Yes, parents should take responsiblilty for what their children watch.
Yes, it is the governments job to decide what is acceptable for the public airwaves (to a certain degree)

Mistake #1: profanity and nudity can be detremental to healthy child development. This is agreed upon by most child development specialists.

Mistake #2: I'm not arguing for censorship.

Mistake #3: not actually having a constructive argument.

Positive side: You're too young to be expected to understand a complex issue that impacts millions of different people from every conceivable background and world view. So it's ok. Take a child development course if you make it into college.

[open mind]

if you can't be bothered to take advantage of the parental controls built into most tv sets, cable boxes, sattelite dishes, computers, videogame consoles, and dvd players or supervise your child's intake of nudity and profantity, you probably should have waited a bit longer before you became a parent.
what you want for your child is fine and dandy, i can understand you might not want your kid to view explicit materials, but i don't want what you want your child to see and hear to have any bearing on what i'm able to see and hear, there are viable options for us both to get what we want, they just hinge on people doing thier jobs as parents.

[cfear]

Yes, parents should take responsiblilty for what their children watch.
Yes, it is the governments job to decide what is acceptable for the public airwaves (to a certain degree)

Mistake #1: profanity and nudity can be detremental to healthy child development. This is agreed upon by most child development specialists.

Mistake #2: I'm not arguing for censorship.

Mistake #3: not actually having a constructive argument.

Positive side: You're too young to be expected to understand a complex issue that impacts millions of different people from every conceivable background and world view. So it's ok. Take a child development course if you make it into college.

I am in college.

Issue 1: The use of profanity is a part of the intellectual development of children. The ability to understand that certain words are "bad" is something children start to comprehend at about four (http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/presch.dev.html). How does the use of these words negatively affect children? I'm looking online and I can't really find any decent, un-biased sites (I've mainly found Christian sites that contend this without any warrant). I don't understand how these things negatively affect a child. I've been exposed to "profanity" my entire life, most of the people I know have, and none of us are "bad." We aren't straight-laced, but we, for the most part, are all in college and have jobs (though, I'm unemployed at the moment).

Issued 3. Yeah. My argument wasn't constructive. I meant to just say "Why not?," but I ended up writing more.

Also, I'd take a Child Development class, but all my Elementary Ed. friends have to take those and they hate them. I stick with classes more closely related to my major (International Studies) and minor (Anthropology).

[saysmydoctor]

I'm pretty sure that government controlling and censoring our airwaves is automatically against the first amendment. Freedom of speech implies to everything. Now, if parents want to censor what their kids here, pretty much all cable companies come with child block systems, etc. If that isn't enough, parents, sell me your TVs, cause mine just recently broke.