You Can't Say F-CC on TV

FCC chief Michael Powell wants to reverse last year's ruling that it's OK to say "fuck" on television. Or so reports Reuters.

Comments

[Bruce]

Fuck him.

[Shultz]

Assuming the internet will soon be as ubiquitous as television, I suppose he'll want authority over internet content soon.

Until then, fuck Michael Powell.

[Franklin Harris]

I suspect he has fallen prey to the Religious Right's campaign to keep "fuck" off the airwaves. Of all the fucking things to get worked up over: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_fcc_f_word.htm

[TWC]

Fuck! That fuckin' fucker is fucked!

[fyodor]

I will not say fuck, I will not say fuck, I will not say AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rst]

material that contains sexual or excretory references in a patently offensive manner.

Whine all you like about decency, when fuck is used in an exclamatory manner that describes neither the act of fucking nor anything that may be excreted while fucking (I guess you might call it "fuck juice"), then it doesn't belong in that category. Say what you mean, or have a nice warm glass of shut the fuck up.

What really blows my mind is that they're worried about the effect of this on kids watching broadcast TV, as if the kids can't hit the clicker a few times and find a suitably bloody and curse-filled Quentin Tarantino flick a few channels up. Maybe some people should learn how to be parents instead of expecting the FCC to do it for them.

[richard]

rst...

How dare you assert that parents raise their kids?

[Shultz]

Speaking of Tarantino...

I used to think that media doesn't affect people's behavior, then, while I was watching Jackie Brown, I turned to my girlfriend and I said, "hey...pass the motherfucking popcorn."

Now, I don't usually use foul language at all. But for about a week afterwards, it was motherfucker this and motherfucker that.

Anyway, then I started to think, okay, so maybe media does effect people's behaviour...SO WHAT?

It's kind of like a BF Skinner thing; you know, you don't get to choose whether or not you're influenced by your environment, but you get to choose your environment.

And besides, it's not like media is mind control or anything...watching Rambo doesn't make me shoot police officers or anything, and, eventually, I stopped saying motherfucker all the time.

You don't loose your freewill by watching something on a television.

P.S. You loose your freewill by giving away to your girlfried. It's funny how all the rights I value, particularly as a libertarian, are completely ignored by my girlfriend. The right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure; forget about it. The right not to be forced to testify against myself; don't make me laugh. I won't even mention freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly went out the first time I had the guys over to watch a football game...Fuck!

[Russ]

material that contains sexual or excretory references in a patently offensive manner.

I'm somehow inclined to believe that these folks would still object to sexual or excretory references even if they were presented in a non-offensive manner using the generally accepted medical terminology.

When will they realize that, if they find something offensive, they are still allowed to change the channel?

[late for the boom]

I wish these people would just stop fucking, that should take care of the problem in a generation or two....

If you take the power out of the word, then the word has no power....then it drops out of modern language.

Kinda the same argument that educated 'black' people have been saying for years about the word nigger.

[Russ D]

A barren source of amusement, indeed.

[Gene]

The idea that it is OK to curse in normal conversation using a one word curse is downgrading the intelligence of all of us. Curses should left out of normal conversation and used only when appropriate or they should be short story curses. I understand that most used words said when a person falls off a cliff is not a prayer, but just these two words, said quite loudly. "Oh Shit,? I think they fit quite well in the situation. Words used too much lose their effectiveness.

[gene]

Interesting, Portland, Oregon has banned cops from using swear words when talking to a bad guy. Out good Mayor is quite liberal in every other way. Wonder what is going on???

[Ron Hardin]

The most common last words on cockpit voice recorders are ``oh shit.''

[dj of raleigh]

> > material that contains sexual or excretory references in a patently offensive manner.

[Phil]

Boy, that "no law" thing really, really trips some people up, doesn't it? Is there a way we can reduce the phrase to a single word to make it more clear?

[rst]

I am for the ban on the airways and public places, because I neither find the words amusing nor pleasing,

Yes, but we don't care what you find offensive. Nor should we have to.

[Eric Atkinson]

Joke them if they can't take a fuck.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I'm so glad we have our moral superiors here to protect us. I'm so glad they take it upon themselves to protect us from words that can hurt us.

After watching the music awards I cried for two hours.. praying to Jesus to cleanse my ears of that filthy hooligan. I used to love U2 in my youth. Now I hate them. Fuck Bono.

[richard]

NO

[dj of raleigh]

> Yes, but we don't care what you find offensive. Nor should we have to.