FCC trying to ban the word fuck
January 14, 2004 5:06 AM   Subscribe

Your tax dollars at work. The Republican congress and the FCC, who evidently have nothing better to do, want to waste time banning the word fuck from all radio and broadcast television.
posted by johnnydark (38 comments total)
 
"I don't want to be sitting there when a guy blurts something out over the TV and have my daughters ask me what those words mean."

This seems like an absurd length to go to to avoid having to talk to your children.
posted by hob at 5:30 AM on January 14, 2004


God forbid anybody actually turn off the television if they find it objectionable or just avoid the one or two late night shows that would even bother to use it. The FCC could say "You know what, we give up, say whatever the fuck you want, we don't give a fucking care." and the language on television wouldn't change perceptibly. Why? The networks are out to make money and they do this by selling advertising space. Advertisers want to sell somebody's product so they want to spend their dollars so that they maximize the exposure to their commercials. If networks suddenly started using fuck during family sitcoms people would stop watching. The advertisers would pull their ads and the network executives would quickly reign in the language. The networks already understand this so in general they don't use objectionable language like that except for in a few prime time shows.

It's amazing that one of the typical whines I hear from republicans I work with is that democrats are always out to "protect the cheeeeeldren" yet they won't raise an eyebrow over this.

Also, unless your kids is in preschool she's already probably heard the word fuck courtesy of kids in higher grades and her friends teenage siblings.
posted by substrate at 6:08 AM on January 14, 2004


DP.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:13 AM on January 14, 2004


Fuck.
posted by Robot Johnny at 6:13 AM on January 14, 2004


"It really is about the children," said Laura Mahaney of the Parents' Television Council, one of the groups backing the bill. "If they can't say those things in schools any more, they shouldn't be hearing it on prime-time television."

Any more? Since when was I ever allowed to curse in public school?
posted by grabbingsand at 6:19 AM on January 14, 2004


Didn't the FCC just recently allow fuck to be used on cable TV?

I just wathed the full uncut South Park Movie on Comedy Central the other day... Every fuck was there...

I know they could have never done this even a year ago.
posted by LoopSouth at 6:21 AM on January 14, 2004


I used to do college radio and while we were governed by the FCC and its regs, the one question I had (that never got answered) is that knowing I cannot play a record that says the word "shit" can I play on that say "Scheiße"?
posted by Dagobert at 6:22 AM on January 14, 2004


What a bunch of fucking assholes. Why they fuck are they wasting resources on this? Who really gives a fuck?

From what I heard this morning, currently you can use the word if it does not refer in any way to fornication. I say put it on the Cheerios box. Make them Fucking Cheerios, plaster it everywhere. Fucking tollbooth ahead. School fucking crossing.

You have to love pet projects. Someone trying to make name for themselves. "I got rid of that nasty F word from TV" Oh yeah? FUCK YOU !
posted by a3matrix at 6:29 AM on January 14, 2004


Does the FCC even have jurisdiction over cable TV content? I was under the impression that, because cable channels don't broadcast through the air, the only reason they keep their content in check (or, in Comedy Central's case, airing the really good stuff after prime time) is to keep cable providers from dropping them.
posted by cratchit at 6:49 AM on January 14, 2004


Is the the War against Evil™, which Perle and Frum are yapping about?
posted by troutfishing at 7:00 AM on January 14, 2004


Well, I have to say that I applaud the impulse behind this censorhip. This country is going to shit from the standpoint of manners and common courtesy.. Number one on my list is that kids dont respect adults these days. Lately, it appears that all kids are a bunch of spoiled little fucks. If only banning the word fuck could bring them back into the fold of civility somehow. There are a million other examples of how this country is going to shit behavior-wise. I can totally relate to these conservative lawmakers who feel like the world is crumbling around them... because let's face it, the moral world is crumbling around us all. And there's no viable alternative around to replace it. So as silly as it seems to ban the word 'fuck' from television, I'm all for it. We should maintain some boundaries.
posted by mert at 7:16 AM on January 14, 2004


"I don't want to be sitting there when a guy blurts something out over the TV and have my daughters ask me what those words mean."

Yeah, like during the republican led hearings to impeach clinton. oh how i loved to have to explain what they were talking about.

Gosh I'm glad we've got such great and astounding leaders taking care of us these days.
posted by damnitkage at 7:16 AM on January 14, 2004


Preserving the innocence of children, does not mean denying adults freedom of speech.
posted by packphour at 7:30 AM on January 14, 2004


FINALLY! that shit with the f-word was getting ridiculous!
posted by mcsweetie at 7:43 AM on January 14, 2004


maybe ive misread, but i still dont think this affects cable. like cratchit said. broadcast channels are already subject to restrictions.

i think this might be a strategic flanking manuver, because i hear that SHIT is trying to make its way into the airwaves, so FUCK would be next, therefore get rid of FUCK now, and then SHIT will be the real battleground.

you would die for your country, but would you die for SHIT???
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 7:44 AM on January 14, 2004


This country is going to shit from the standpoint of manners and common courtesy.

My research indicates that it has been going to shit in this manner for, oh, 228 years...
posted by tranquileye at 7:50 AM on January 14, 2004


where the fuck are the fiscal conservatives? many of them from the both sides of the aisle are over the brookings institution - their forecast for the federal budget deficit isn't pretty ...
posted by specialk420 at 8:03 AM on January 14, 2004


The best fucking part of this whole fucked-up story is seeing the word "fuck" in a fucking Reuters article.
posted by Foosnark at 8:07 AM on January 14, 2004


The legislation won't go anywhere, I'll bet. Too many free-speech issues. What's more troubling is the FCC ruling--I think that's the story to watch here.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:08 AM on January 14, 2004


Fuck the fucking fuckers!

I think the "N" word is infinitely more harmful than "fuck" anyday.
posted by wsg at 8:13 AM on January 14, 2004


They are just words... just a string of letters.

If fuck means "to have sex" (among other things)... why is fuck banned but not "to have sex"?

If shit means "to poop" (among other things)... why ban shit but not "to poop"?
posted by LoopSouth at 8:22 AM on January 14, 2004


social conservatism, fiscal liberalism is the stupidest shit.
posted by destro at 8:35 AM on January 14, 2004


you would die for your country, but would you die for SHIT???

I wouldn't die for either, so I guess that puts them on a par?
posted by biffa at 8:46 AM on January 14, 2004


"I don't want to be sitting there when a guy blurts something out over the TV and have my daughters ask me what those words mean."

Always nice to see a parent opt out of his/her responsibilities and choose ignorance over education.

"F" word, "N" word...you people sound like you're 8 years old.
posted by rushmc at 8:56 AM on January 14, 2004


Most sane parents would, when a guy blurts out "Fuck" on TV, tell his daughters "That's a crude word, and it's not appropriate for children. In fact, your mother and I feel that it's not an appropriate word for polite society in general. We think that talking like that makes you a subliterate potty mouth, and it doesn't make a good impression on others. Many people find it rude and upsetting, as well, so I hope you won't use that word."

That's the kind of fucking crap my parents told me when some cuntrag used shitty language in my presence as a kid.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:00 AM on January 14, 2004


(and of course, I mean) "tell their daughters" in paragraph 1. Apparently, my potty mouth has, in fact, had a negative impact on my literacy. Just as my parents warned.

Now I expect blindness to overtake me at any second, given the years of masturbation I put in before my marriage, and the poor light I still use to read by. Oh, well, gfjol'ed['p
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:02 AM on January 14, 2004


If one is banned from saying Fuck in public, terrorists have won , I tell you.
posted by elpapacito at 9:51 AM on January 14, 2004


Most sane parents would

Why do you ascribe this behavior to the "sane" parents, when you clearly don't agree with it?
posted by rushmc at 9:55 AM on January 14, 2004


(b) As used in this section, the term `profane', used with respect to language, includes the words `shit', `piss', `fuck', `cunt', `asshole', and the phrases `cock sucker', `mother fucker', and `ass hole', compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms).'.

So why are they banning the word piss? I've never known it to be a dirty or curse word.
posted by gyc at 10:10 AM on January 14, 2004


What.
The.
Fuck.
FCC?
posted by drezdn at 10:22 AM on January 14, 2004


Could you folks tone down the foul language around here?
posted by 2sheets at 10:22 AM on January 14, 2004


"F" word, "N" word...you people sound like you're 8 years old.

Of course, when you say things without censoring yourself, you end up with long discussions about comments like this one.
posted by oaf at 10:23 AM on January 14, 2004


Excuse me, any parent who doesn't want to explain words used in the tv show they are watching should probably have already changed the channel. Want to watch The Sopranos? Tape it and watch it after the kids are in bed.

There you are. I managed to express my opinion using neither foul language nor euphemisms to describe individual foul words.
posted by ilsa at 10:26 AM on January 14, 2004


If I were advising Howard Dean (or whoever gets the nomination) in a televised debate against Bush, I'd tell him to use Bush's well-documented quote from more than a year before the war: "Fuck Saddam. We're taking him out." Followed by the direct promise: "I'm not running for President for the opportunity to fuck anybody..."

But then, I am such a troublemaker...
posted by wendell at 11:13 AM on January 14, 2004


Eh, fuck it. Don't they have more important shit to do? What the fuck?
posted by SisterHavana at 3:37 PM on January 14, 2004




Sigh. They don't let you link to their sound bites anymore. Oh well.
posted by goto11 at 3:48 PM on January 15, 2004


I like fucking. So there.
posted by troutfishing at 8:23 PM on January 15, 2004


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