Hey, You Kids, Get Out of My #@%& Nest!

[gnomi]

As regular readers in this space may know, I have an academic interest in the use of profanity and obscenities. So I was quite pleased to see that the US Supreme Court discussed the use of "fleeting" expletives yesterday.

The FCC tightened the restrictions on the use of spontaneous expletives following a couple of incidents in the early 2000s, and the Fox network sued, saying that the new rules were "arbitrary" and violated the First Amendment.

Of course, this just provided an opportunity for the Justices and the lawyers to find ways to avoid using any of the offensive words.

What will come of this? I cannot predict. But despite Solicitor General Gregory Garre's arguments, I cannot see this leading to Big Bird swearing on "Sesame Street."

Oscar the Grouch, however, is another story.

Comments

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

at the very least, oscar should come on colbert and drop a bleeped f-bomb.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

The issue of "arbitrary" is interesting.

For decades, the FCC ignored minor and incidental swearing. That was their interpretation of the rules, and it was consistent.

Suddenly, even minor issues became massive violations. And since the FCC counts each broadcast station and affiliate as a separate violation, the multipliers get pretty fast.

If I recall, the particular incident was a news broadcast from Iraq, and a fleeting expletive after a nearby unexpected explosion. If not that, then Bono referring to winning an award as (paraphrase) "effing brilliant".

I think anyone would consider swearing during a pre-recorded children's show beyond the pale. Which is why, even on cable where the FCC has no sway, it does not seem to happen.

But try and find an episode of The Shield where it doesn't.

[caryabend.livejournal.com]

the particular incident was a news broadcast from Iraq, and a fleeting expletive after a nearby unexpected explosion

This was a storyline in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, though Sorkin may have based it on a real event.

[crwilley.livejournal.com]

Bono was the first one. There was another award ceremony where two recipients used the same adjective Bono did.

The issue of arbitrariness was also questioned regarding two movies that aired on broadcast TV: when PBS ran a documentary on the blues, they didn't censor cusswords, and were fined; another network aired 'Saving Private Ryan', in which the same words were used, and was not fined.

The FCC chairperson tried to chalk the change up to a massive increase in complaints in the past few years - 99% of which can be traced back to a single astroturf operation.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I know, I follow this stuff semi-closely.

FYI, I subscribed to the PTV astroturf mailing list, so whenever they say "send a letter", I can send one using their web pages that says "no big deal, really". :-)

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

NPR had an interesting piece on this, complete with the linguistic origins of 'flossing' -- which they substituted for another f word.

It seems inherently impossible to legislate language -- and the examples cited are particularly illustrative of that. There's something to be said about being in the moment -- and although I can't recall who the football player was, the one who said that winning the Superbowl was the most f-ing awesome moment of his entire f-ing life was being 100% authentic.

But yeah. Big Bird probably wouldn't be the one to swear. But there might be some wisdom in having some muppet encounter all the words kids aren't supposed to say, b/c that does happen in real life. SpongeBob, strangely enough, handled this really well in an episode.

[nwl.livejournal.com]

I started listening in the middle of that story and it took me a while to figure out what was going on.

When I told my husband about it, he said they should have used the word from Battlestar Galactica - frack.

Maledicta

[(Anonymous)]

"As regular readers in this space may know, I have an academic interest in the use of profanity and obscenities."

Are you familiar with *Maledicta*? It is a scholarly journal dedicated to the study of the language of profanity and abuse:

<http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/>


STEVE O.

[caryabend.livejournal.com]

Just like in Roger Rabbit, I wanna see a pissed off Elmo backstage dropping f-bombs left and right, while the hippie, mellow Oscar tries to calm him down. This leads to silly visions of other Muppets, like the Count, who wears prosthetic fangs, and can only count to 5 in his nasally Brooklyn-ish sounding voice.

:)

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

There are some "prohibited" videos of Disney Character actors in their green room, before they go out before the kiddies... miming some truly prohibited actions. :-) Check You Tube. I've seen them, but did not preserve the links.

[half-double.livejournal.com]

If you missed the story cbpotts referenced, and are interested in hearing it (it's the first thing I thought of, too), it's here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96536451

[(Anonymous)]

One of these things is not like the others/One of these things -- WTF?!

[rivkaesque.livejournal.com]

Hunh. My memory says that Oscar did swear. Just without using any of the usual swear words.

what does it say about me that Oscar and Snuffleupagus were my favorite characters? Then, of course, they let everyone see snuffleupagus, and I didn't like him as much.