How can the americans survive with all this censorship on tv?

I have to agree with 68Pontiac on this one, and as usual, with the always well-spoken 404 Error.

I don't have a problem with watching the uncensored films (in fact, I think the censored films are ridiculous), but I would have a problem if my kids (if I had such creatures) were being exposed to inappropriate materials at an inappropriate age. The key to me would be to keep some networks family-oriented, and some networks adult-oriented. Or maybe to have chip technology that blocks out certain broadcasts unless the parents choose to override the chip.

I'm going to let my eighteen-month cousin Seb watch the uncensored version of Scarface with Al Pacino...does that make me a bad uncle?

I don't know how others survive but I don't care much about verbal abuse and nudity on TV. If they need to edit, let them do it.

I consider it rather childish to long for nudity on TV, ha ha.

OK, I understand that censorship on TV protects little children from corruption.

But seriously, there is a backlash. I couldn't understand Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets" from the editing. Watching edited versions of Scorsese's flicks is a slap in the face for me. How about watching "Raging Bull" on cable? Remember the scene where De Niro accuses Pesci of sleeping with his wife?

[magenta]shedmonite61[/magenta] wrote: OK, I understand that censorship on TV protects little children from corruption.

But seriously, there is a backlash. I couldn't understand Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets" from the editing. Watching edited versions of Scorsese's flicks is a slap in the face for me. How about watching "Raging Bull" on cable? Remember the scene where De Niro accuses Pesci of sleeping with his wife?

I'm now addicted to watching "Goodfellas" anytime it's on TV if I happen upon it, after seeing it this past semester (in all it's unedited glory) in Film class. As bad as some of the editing is when it's on something like TBS or TNT (which is where it usually is on weekend afternoons, it seems like), it's still better than the prospect of it airing, say, on ABC primetime. Plus, basic cable can get away with a little more of the violence and profanity than regular networks. So...as much as I cringe when "fuck" is replaced with something ridiculous (the ever-ready "frigging"), I can sit through Goodfellas because the essence of the film still comes through.

Now, given the option of watching it commercial-free and unedited on HBO or on TNT with all the restrictions...yeah, I'm going all-out HBO I'm not an idiot.

But some films are bearable even with the prudish structure of modern TV ratings

What I hate are the TV shows that "push the envelope" with profanity and such on networks like FX, but they rarely have any compelling reason to do so. It's kinda like having the pizza-boy delivery scene that leads up to the orgy in a soft-core porn film, then cutting immediately to the delivery boy putting on his clothes and thanking the ladies for their time. Maybe I watch too much soft-core porn... But it just seems like saying "fuck" for the hell of it, not because it serves a purpose in the story.

I think I'm done with my master's thesis on the topic :p

Taboo # 7 wrote:

It's kinda like having the pizza-boy delivery scene that leads up to the orgy in a soft-core porn film, then cutting immediately to the delivery boy putting on his clothes and thanking the ladies for their time.

hum sounds like spanish cinema, except they show that stuff.

i always look forward to seeing spanish films on tv here.

Barney Army wrote:

404 error wrote: I dunno, perhaps I'm in a minority of one on this side of the Atlantic, but even though things like the Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' row seem completely ridiculous, sometimes I think there's something to be said for the way the US does things. I mean, yes Bible Belt prudery seems absurd and tiresome, but there's also something tiresome about the crude sniggering approach to sex in this county, t&a shoved in your face in every newsagent (lad mags seem a bit sad to me) and tabloid newspaper, not to mention the tendency of the French to use naked women's bodies to sell just about anything. The US approach seems to be to defend freedom of speech (in a way we don't do in Europe) but you have to specially look for 'offensive' stuff, the mainstream is kept bland and wholesome. Here the mainstream is much more permissive but there's actually much _more_ censorship at the margins.

I thought your comments on the soldiers was very agreeable. But that is a load of tripe.

Prissy nonsense.

Sex in the UK shouldnt be judged by shelves on a newsagent store. Surely it's just about how often you get your end away

You think? It's not something I feel very strongly about, perhaps I'm just influenced by my previous (American) gf. I had the same feeling of embarresment when she first saw a Brit tabloid as I did when a French friend first ate in my work canteen and was served with a plate of indefinable slop. They were both too polite to say anything but one could tell a lot from their expressions.

I just think if I wanted to have a go at the US I wouldn't choose this issue, as there's something to be said for their way of doing things. Maybe its because the US is so diverse that the common public space has to be kept as bland and inoffensive as possible, for the same reason they are so keen to keep religion and state separate. But at the same time any kind of weirdness you might want is out there _somewhere_, thanks to the first amendment.

And I'm not talking about how the Brits _do_ sex, just how the media presents it! If I were American I'd 'plead the fifth' on your last comment.

Censorship sucks. That being said, most of television shows and Hollywood movies suck too.

So I don't think we're missing much.

On The DVD for film "Shaun of The Dead" theres a clip of a scene with the F word replaced with Funk, that was done for playing on airliners. Hilarious....

To answer the first question: don't even bother owning a TV.

Hey, we're progressing. At least the American censors allow us to say "pregnant" on TV now.

We've actually come along way. Remember all the old sitcoms with married couples sleeping in single beds?

And, for the record, the FCC swings back and forth with the political tides here, but outside of the mainstream media freedom of speech is still relatively strong. I do agree with the comment that the american comfort level with violence as opposed to sex is somewhat hypocritical. I mean, really, sex is supposed to be a normal part of life, but killing four people within a one hour period is not supposed to be. Of course, I'd also rather not have nude women pitching orange juice while my 3 year old is watching TV.

Besides, being an American, I will freely admit this: there are some very silly people here, and some of them have been elected to high-ranking political offices. I didn't vote for them, although I' admit that the ones I did vote for would probably have been equally silly. Its simply because, in America, as the saying goes, "a fool and his money is soon elected."

The things people flip out about here as signs of a degrading society seem to go in cycles - cursing used to be okay to an extent (they'll censor words now lkike bastard that weren't bleeped in the 70s in 80s) but now it's not. It used to be gambling was considered really bad (given that in the long run, the odds favor the casino and lottery agency so the average schmuck will lose money) but now you see poker all over the telly. Who, honestly, likes to watch guys with mirrored sunglasses play Texas Hold 'Em. It just sounds gay, doesn't it?

My personal fav censoring is when Judd Nelson yells' F--k you' at the detention monitor in Breakfast Club. It's a really powerful moment in the movvie that really isn't anymore when it's changed to 'Flip you!'

But what about the UK - can't you get arrested for saying something negative about the Queen? That seems way more big brotherish to me.

Shakin' Baker wrote:

But what about the UK - can't you get arrested for saying something negative about the Queen? That seems way more big brotherish to me.

News to me. Though I find it hard think of _anything_ to say about the Queen, she being such a characterless cipher. Given the absurdity of her job she does it rather well by being completely bland and inoffensive and never saying anything of interest about anything. Prince Charles on the other hand...an arrogant and pretentious thicko, methinks.

In theory you can be arrested for saying something negative about Jesus though. And we came within a whisker of it being a crime to inadvertantly offend any religious person.

404 error wrote: but there's also something tiresome about the crude sniggering approach to sex in this county,

i think this might be because we have so much censorship. for example, topless beaches are no big deal in france. imagine what would happen if the US were to legalize (are they actually illegal, though? or legal but must be private?) topless beaches? loads of sniggering! one way we're stil tied to the mayflower.

and i've always found it strange how in the states sex is censored more than violence.

pay $10+ bucks more and you can get HBO i guess

lots of hypocrisy about sex i suppose you could go on endless, or what about all the talk about morality in sex... i'm sure 99% of all these conservatives talking absolute platitudes about "family values" have had marital affairs or mistresses or even prostitutes or even had same sex contact or at the very least have masturbated to pornography in the past... its all so absurd

what is really scary is the news censorship in this decade

AgentWood wrote:

404 error wrote: but there's also something tiresome about the crude sniggering approach to sex in this county,

i think this might be because we have so much censorship. for example, topless beaches are no big deal in france. imagine what would happen if the US were to legalize (are they actually illegal, though? or legal but must be private?) topless beaches? loads of sniggering! one way we're stil tied to the mayflower.

and i've always found it strange how in the states sex is censored more than violence.

Actually there's a legal nude beach in California called Black's Beach. It's right behind Torrey Pines national forest, and right under a cliff that hang gliders take off from (not to mention a few perverts who have their chairs and binoculars). Surfed naked there once, and I won't do that again. . .it hurts pretty bad when you wipe out.

JHC

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie censored on USA Channel. Instead of the duffel bag being full of sweet, sticky, stinky buds it was full of diamonds. I almost had a flash back when they aired that one.

Aries wrote: Best overdubbed substitute for "motherfucker" in a movie on TV:

melon farmer (Die Hard 3)

First heard "melon farmer" in Repo Man on late-night BBC2 Moviedrome season in 1989, introduced by writer/director Alex Cox himself. He thought it was a hoot and felt we afficionados would appreciate it too. We did. And it still caused complaints since "it's obvious what the original word is"!!!

hugh mcphail wrote:

Aries wrote: Best overdubbed substitute for "motherfucker" in a movie on TV:

melon farmer (Die Hard 3)

First heard "melon farmer" in Repo Man on late-night BBC2 Moviedrome season in 1989, introduced by writer/director Alex Cox himself. He thought it was a hoot and felt we afficionados would appreciate it too. We did. And it still caused complaints since "it's obvious what the original word is"!!!

I would have thought that the idea was to keep the little kiddies to whom it's not "obvious what the original word is" from hearing that word on TV. Good to know that Amercia doesn't have a monopoly on sanctimonious prudes.

404 error wrote: You think? It's not something I feel very strongly about. But at the same time any kind of weirdness you might want is out there _somewhere_, thanks to the first amendment.

See, your point that out_there_somewhere might be the part to take issue with. There is the consistency that most 24 the show Violence is considered fine but showing any skin is censored out. That the type of European Sexiness that is say, the Greek fisherman dancing with his partner in night probably would get censored out of basic cable or put on at 2a makes you question what type of regulations are behind it. Then you hear of the crazed gun-totting generalization-rich businessman who's gone and snapped and shot his colleagues out at the workplace.

I think a good way to resolve the debate of sexuality versus violence is to have a couple on a TV show engage in passionate lovemaking, then pull out their AK-47s or Glochs and shoot up the bedroom in an attempt to off one another

I'd watch

Shellshocker wrote:

hugh mcphail wrote:

Aries wrote: Best overdubbed substitute for "motherfucker" in a movie on TV:

melon farmer (Die Hard 3)

First heard "melon farmer" in Repo Man on late-night BBC2 Moviedrome season in 1989, introduced by writer/director Alex Cox himself. He thought it was a hoot and felt we afficionados would appreciate it too. We did. And it still caused complaints since "it's obvious what the original word is"!!!

I would have thought that the idea was to keep the little kiddies to whom it's not "obvious what the original word is" from hearing that word on TV. Good to know that Amercia doesn't have a monopoly on sanctimonious prudes.

Hey, the film was broadcast at midnight!

hugh mcphail wrote:

Shellshocker wrote:

hugh mcphail wrote:

Aries wrote: Best overdubbed substitute for "motherfucker" in a movie on TV:

melon farmer (Die Hard 3)

First heard "melon farmer" in Repo Man on late-night BBC2 Moviedrome season in 1989, introduced by writer/director Alex Cox himself. He thought it was a hoot and felt we afficionados would appreciate it too. We did. And it still caused complaints since "it's obvious what the original word is"!!!

I would have thought that the idea was to keep the little kiddies to whom it's not "obvious what the original word is" from hearing that word on TV. Good to know that Amercia doesn't have a monopoly on sanctimonious prudes.

Hey, the film was broadcast at midnight!

My point was that it was pretty stupid to complain about "melon farmer", and it's even more stupid now that I know the film was broadcast at midnight.