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Author Topic: FCC Bans the F-word Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 03-22-2004 06:28 AM                     Being that this is an election year, nothing surprises me.  |  IP: Logged Greg Anderson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 766 From: Ogden Valley, Utah Registered: Nov 1999 posted 03-22-2004 11:24 AM                        Is it possible to have a discussion about obscenity in broadcasting without gratuitous use of obscene language or images? Yes, of course. Is that likely to happen at Film-Tech? Nope. If a Film-Tech member is disappointed by that fact then I can sympathize. Then again, I've been familiar with these forums for years, so the specifics of this discussion don't surprise me at all. I guess the dialog in our world is changing so that, today, it's less and less likely to find a place where you can have a "dignified" discussion about issues like this. Even in a "high-minded" University setting, I doubt they'd discuss this stuff without using explicit examples which probably aren't necessary. So, I can sympathize with anyone who finds that disappointing. It's funny how this whole Janet Jackson "flap" (no pun intended) energized this "crackdown," but for several weeks before the Super Bowl I was getting chain e-mail about how the FCC was approving the use of "the F word" on TV and we should all be upset about it. The Janet Jackson prank wasn't the most offensive thing I've seen on TV but it turned out to be "the last straw." Guys like Howard Stern are decrying President Bush and calling for his removal from office over this one issue. But they ought to be more upset with Janet Jackson. She's the one whose stupid stunt and poor timing "spoiled" things for all the shock jocks in America.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 03-22-2004 01:41 PM                        I think we need to remember the old adage that 'sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me'. Yes, the f-word is often used by those who simply don't have the vocabulary to express themselves any more inventively. In the right hands, even that phenomenon can be exploited for humour, e.g. the 'comedians' in the South Park film. But 'bad' language can sometimes be deployed to genuine comic and dramatic effect, and for that reason I wouldn't like to see any blanket bans. And I'd far rather that someone under stress uttered a few obscenities to relieve it than resorted to the more harmful alternatives, e.g. violence. A while back I went to a lecture on TV content regulation put on by Ofcom, Britain's equivalent of the FCC. Most of it consisted of screenings of video clips of broadcasts which had attracted complaints, followed by an explanation of why they had been upheld or rejected. My favourite was from a chat show aimed at 10-15 year olds, in which the host was trying, with great difficulty, to get a conversation going with a Californian rock star (sorry, forgotten who it was), who would only give monosyllabic answers, if that. After having miserably failed to elicit any meaningful information about his forthcoming album, the host changed tack. Host: 'So why have you got that bandage on your arm? Was it an accident'? Singer: 'My iguana did it.' Host: 'Your iguana?!' Singer: 'Yeah. A bull-nosed one.' Host: 'So, err, are you into exotic pets?' Singer: 'Yeah, sort of. I've got several, like, lizards and stuff.' Host: 'So then, what happened with this iguana?' Singer: 'It escaped.' Host [desparately trying to get him to open up a bit]: 'Gosh, that sounds exciting. How did it escape, and did you catch it?' Singer: 'Yeah.' Host: 'So, err, what happened when you caught it, then?' Singer: 'It bit the fuck out of me.' At this point (remember, this is a children's programme, being broadcast live), the host's face went as white as a sheet - she virtually had a heart attack in front of the camera - and the programme instantly cut to a pop video. Apparently (the lecturer explained), this celebrity is notorious in the US for pulling this stunt, so much so that no-one dares risk broadcasting him live. A very basic amount of research would have tipped the British producers off about this, and so they were given a rap on the knuckles. Me, I hadn't laughed so much in ages...  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 03-22-2004 03:05 PM                     Further proof that the FCC is full of it- if there's anything that should be banned, it's the continuous onscreen station and network logos that render TV unwatchable as far as I'm concerned, and can also potentially cause screen burn-in. THAT is indecent and offensive.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-22-2004 03:26 PM                     Decode at your own risk: <rot13> Shpx! Gubfr shpxvat shpxref ner shpxvat shpxrq! Jub gur shpx qb gurl guvax gurl ner shpxvat jvgu? Fbzr xvaq bs shpxurnq? Shpx gurz! Gurl'q orggre abg shpx jvgu zr! V'z gur znva shpxre nebhaq urer! V'yy shpx gurz hc! Shpxvat trg vg? Qba'g shpx jvgu gur shpxre be lbh'yy or shpxrq! </rot13>  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-22-2004 03:29 PM                        Un!  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 03-24-2004 04:41 AM                  Gosh Daryl! You're reply makes me sooo hot! Whew! >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 03-24-2004 07:06 PM                     So what is this F-word everyone is talking about? I must not have been informed of its obscenity.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-24-2004 10:15 PM                        Didn't you ever see the movie "Johnny Dangerously?" The word is fargin', as in "Get out of here, you fargin' bastidges!" One of my favorite "network TV edits" was in the original Police Academy movie, where they changed "Drop that stereo before I blow your goddamn nuts off, asshole!" to "Drop that stereo before I blow your goshdarn knees off, eggroll!" 2nd place goes to Used Cars, where "Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ almighty!" became "Cheese and rice! Cheese and rice almighty!"  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-25-2004 09:06 AM                     One of the cable channels that airs commercials was showing "Repo Man" a couple days ago. I thought it was pretty funny to hear Harry Dean Stanton and others use the word "flippin'" instead of the F-bombs I remember being used in the unedited version.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 03-25-2004 09:07 AM                        On a recent TV broadcast of Beverly Hills Cop, there were plenty of 'flippin' mothercrushers'. My favourite act of TV bowdlerising, though, has to be in Robocop. The original contains a scene in which an armed robber attempts to hold up a grocery store. Robocop bursts in, and the robber repeatedly shoots him, with absolutely no effect, defiantly screaming 'fuck you!' before letting off each shot. When he runs out of bullets Robocop eventually beats him up, of course, and his last words are a murmered 'fuck you!' just before losing consciousness. In the censored version, the defiant 'fuck you's are replaced with desparate, plaintive 'why me?!', thereby changing the whole meaning of the scene. Both versions work, in their own way.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-25-2004 01:50 PM                     I'd buy that for a dollar! Yarrharrgh!  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 03-25-2004 02:51 PM                     Back in 1986, before TV started to really suck, one of the independent stations here showed Repo Man completely uncensored, with all hundred or so uses of The F Word intact. They cut off the backwards-scrolling end credits though, which pissed me off. I still have an off-air recording of it.  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 03-25-2004 03:30 PM                     I jsut had a shocking realization, this means that they wont be able to play the southpark movie uncensored again on Comedy Central. In the words of a clown "I'm sure I'm alive, but why?"  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 03-26-2004 12:28 PM                     Logo Central is cable, not TV.  |  IP: Logged

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