Monday, September 04, 2006
Hard to Find More Ridiculous Than This
Some stations want cursing out of '9/11' - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK - Broadcasters say the hesitancy of some CBS affiliates to air a powerful Sept. 11 documentary next week proves there's been a chilling effect on the First Amendment since federal regulators boosted penalties for television obscenities after Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at a Super Bowl halftime show.
'This is example No. 1,' said Martin Franks, executive vice president of CBS Corp., of the decision by two dozen CBS affiliates to replace or delay '9/11' which has already aired twice without controversy over concerns about some of the language used by the firefighters in it.
'We don't think it's appropriate to sanitize the reality of the hell of Sept. 11th,' Franks said. 'It shows the incredible stress that these heroes were under. To sanitize it in some way robs it of the horror they faced.'"
To even consider bleeping out the F-word or not playing this documentary is absolutely sad and wrong. I can see it from the perspective of the small stations as this article suggests. The fines can be overwhelming for them. The Churchies that send the letters into the FCC on this film just plain don't get it. People curse. In real life, we curse for much less than seeing people jump out of buildings in large numbers, knowing that people are burning alive, and not knowing what to do to help. In fact, I am not sure that I could keep from cursing. I would imagine that a long stream of curse words would flow from my lips for the entirety of the affair and days and weeks after. To edit this based on the biblical definition of profanity is unfair to the rest of the viewers. Maybe the rest of us should try and flood the FCC with letters praising the airing of the unedited version and a plea not to fine stations for it.
'This is example No. 1,' said Martin Franks, executive vice president of CBS Corp., of the decision by two dozen CBS affiliates to replace or delay '9/11' which has already aired twice without controversy over concerns about some of the language used by the firefighters in it.
'We don't think it's appropriate to sanitize the reality of the hell of Sept. 11th,' Franks said. 'It shows the incredible stress that these heroes were under. To sanitize it in some way robs it of the horror they faced.'"
To even consider bleeping out the F-word or not playing this documentary is absolutely sad and wrong. I can see it from the perspective of the small stations as this article suggests. The fines can be overwhelming for them. The Churchies that send the letters into the FCC on this film just plain don't get it. People curse. In real life, we curse for much less than seeing people jump out of buildings in large numbers, knowing that people are burning alive, and not knowing what to do to help. In fact, I am not sure that I could keep from cursing. I would imagine that a long stream of curse words would flow from my lips for the entirety of the affair and days and weeks after. To edit this based on the biblical definition of profanity is unfair to the rest of the viewers. Maybe the rest of us should try and flood the FCC with letters praising the airing of the unedited version and a plea not to fine stations for it.
