Is the "F" word o.k. on network TV now?

conversation only ^ | 11/12/01 | self

[gg188]

I am watching "Private Ryan," on ABC, I think. Dumb me---I didn't think that "sh*t" was used in prime time. Or "g.d." But the F word!!???!!.................nothing follows.

[Dallas]

Yup, ABC (Disney) notified the FCC it would be using the "F" word, and nudity in the coming season.

NBC notified the FCC it would be using "GD" in upcoming episodes of Westwing.

[Senator Pardek]

Well said. Though I enjoy those old John Wayne movies, the characters in this movie seem much more human.

[Arthur McGowan]

That's how they get these things into new territory. Nobody would accept an episode of "Friends" with F***, but "Private Ryan" is a prestige picture.

When I heard Anita Hill say "penis" on national TV, I told everyone in the room that within a week, comics on TV would be using the word. It took about 24 hours, and it was all over the place, and has been ever since. Based on watching about five episodes in the last five years, I'll bet there hasn't been one episode of "Friends" without the word "penis"--and there are probably a bunch of other sitcoms that have never left it out of a single episode.

[Askel5]

What's happened to the Simpsons, anyway?

[goodnesswins]

Norb is right....WAR is HELL. This is the only movie where I cried for the FIRST 1/2 hour - realizing what men of my father's generation had gone through, and quite possibly what some of my relatives had gone through. THIS is not a KIDS movie.

[Numbers Guy]

Really, nobody here is complaining about seeing peoples guts spilling from them, or people getting their heads blown off on TV, yet the F-word is an issue?

Well, you know, little kids might see someone using the F-word and that would be traumatic, because they'd never hear it otherwise. But seeing heads getting blown off and guts spilling, that's okay, kids can handle that a lot better than the F-word.

sarcasm off

[isom35]

I'l never look at F-Troop the same way again :(

[tallhappy]

It's called the Speilberg waiver. Any movie he does is deemed to be so important that the normal rules don't apply. No commercials, full frontal nudity, no problem (Schindler's list).

Exactly.

It is pathetic.

[dighton]

"I am sick and tired of the word f---. If I ever hear the f-----g word again I'm going to throw up."

-- Ernie Pyle, quoted in Paul Fussell, Wartime.

[freeasinbeer]

What is wrong with 'penis'? Do you have a problem with 'arm' or 'thumb' as well? That is the correct term for the body part, correct?

[VOA]

gg188,
I agree that hearing this sort of language on nationwide, network TV may be unsettling.

BUT, since ABC warned potential viewers about the graphic nature of the show...
it's up to folks to decide if they will watch or not.

Besides, I will say this for "Saving Pvt. Ryan". When I saw it in Los Angeles (UCLA area),
there was a young (teens? twenties?) woman sitting a few rows behind me.
I had heard a lot about the film...and still couldn't restrain myself from getting
choked up during the initial graveyard scene.
But this young woman was sobbing and crying at a number of the emotive high-points of the
film. Maybe this is a sign of how the film reached out across generations,
telling it's story of bravery, sacrifice, loss and triumph.

I also remember the stories circulating around here (LA/Hollywood) about film executives
leaving the early screenings of the film and not being able to return.
As much as I may disagree with Spielberg and Tom Hanks on politics...they did make a
testement to a lot of brave men who overcame their fears and did their duty.
Until someone makes even better films with the same themes...I'll settle for
"Saving Pvt. Ryan" (even if some of the dialogue in the film is rather pedestrian, in my book!).

[SamAdams76]

What's the difference? Everybody has cable these days. I don't understand why the standards would be different is the signal traveled by cable or over the airwaves. It's the same program.

[Texaggie79]

Right, they've never heard Duke Nukem say the F word, he just blows up people. LOL < no sarcasm>

[jiggity]

Actually, "indecency" is allowed on all broadcast and cable television during "safe harbor" hours of 10pm to 6am. For example, the show South Park used the word sh*t nearly 200 times in a half-hour period. It didn't break any rules. You don't get a lot of profanity during regular television programs because it would most likely lead to complaints and advertisers may drop. However, in the case of shows like South Park (in which the audience is one that isn't so easily offended) or Saving Private Ryan, the content of the program makes it acceptable. It's a movie about war. It has a MATURE rating. If people take offense to the language used, they should check the TV ratings more closely next time.

[Petronski]

EVERYONE here should read and re-read post #16.

[TightSqueeze]

Seems all dams against obscenity and blasphemy have been breached on television. I am apalled by the routine use of both.

Obscenity is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder, blasphemy is direct attack against God, big difference don’t you think? I have no problem with appropriate language when necessary to make a point that needs to be made, but I do draw the line of taking the Lord’s name in vain.

[Norb2569]

Any movie he does is deemed to be so important that the normal rules don't apply. No commercials, full frontal nudity, no problem (Schindler's list).

I dislike Speilberg's politics, but he makes DAMN GOOD MOVIES.

I think Pvt Ryan should be required viewing for every FReeper.

[Texaggie79]

Because they can't control cable, as they can public airwaves.

[dixie sass]

The word makes my skin crawl, but then so does the killing and the rest of it. To much realism isn't good for the soul, or the stomach.