Are you aware of Supreme Court case being argued tomorrow about what can be considered obscene and can be censored?

I didn’t know. I actually like the networks controlling the language, nudity, and it would be nice if they would control the amount of violence, I don’t know if they do. I see no reason why a network can’t do it under the law? I guess maybe if it is a public company there is a grey area? Not sure. I don’t think of it as an infringement on freedom of speech by controlling curse words or not allowing a breast to be shown during a sex scene. Most networks as far as I know allow a breast, for instance, to be shown for medical explanations. What I would say is probably it should be controlled probably by the individual network, and not some sort of commission. Those are my thoughts off the top of my head, i never really thought about it much before though, interested to see the answers of others.

It has been an ongoing battle. The issue is whether or not the Federal Communications Commission’s indecency rules are too vague giving the FCC too much power to police programming and whether or not this is Constitutional. This case is based on previous rulings by lower courts when Fox and ABC took the FCC to court over indecency standards. The lower courts ruled in favor of the broadcasters and against the FCC. The FCC is continuing the fight and wants police power. The Obama administration is standing behind the FCC on this one.

Have you ever wondered why it’s perfectly acceptable for Dirty Harry to blow people away with his .44 on TV, but two people making love is obscene?

@JLeslie – I take the opposite view. I am an adult and can choose for myself if I am unwilling to hear swear words or if I don’t want to see breasts or butts. (Sometimes a couple of breasts are fun, and sometimes inappropriate, like when the grandkids are over.)

What I don’t want is someone outside telling me what is or is not legal for me to watch. Let me decide for myself. If you want vanilla, great. Sometimes I like peppermint sprinkles. Who is Morality in Media to decide my tastes?

@bkcunningham is correct – the FCC has been horrible inconsistent. If they could get their act together, then we wouldn’t need to worry. We would know the rules, and could simply stop watching commercial TV altogether.

@elbanditoroso I agree as an adult you can decide. But, I also think a network, which is a business, can decide what they will show on their network. The same way Macy’s can fire an employee for calling a customer a fuckhead.

@JLeslie Networks can still control that stuff, the question is if they government will make them control that stuff regardless of if that network wants to control that particular thing.

@Adirondackwannabe Yes, I wonder that all the time. That is why I mentioned violence in my first answer. I find the violence disgusting and destructive to society, much more than sex. Sex is a natural part of life, extreme violence isn’t.

This is sort of in line with the discussion and relevant to the main issue of indecency. Thursday night we were hosting the neighborhood poker game. There are three or four spouses who don’t play. They have done this for years and we are the newbies. The non-players always find some way to entertain themselves. I was really wornout from the holidays, travel and such and decided to entertain the non-players with a Pay Per View movie on Direct TV or play Wii.

Whatever. I hadn’t bought a PPV movie in a few months and was looking for something I thought they’d enjoy. There is a new menu I hadn’t seen before on Direct TV for movies. At first I thought, ‘What the hay? Direct TV is giving me movie reviews instead of just giving me a description of the movies?’ Well, yes. It listed the profanity, violence, uncomfortable situations parents might encounter regarding every type of social issue you can imagine.

I just thought I’d throw that out there. I suppose it is a good thing, but I wonder who I’m getting my review from? Does that make sense?

@Aethelflaed Yeah, I made the distinction in my first answer. I probably lean towards the FCC not being able to control it, to contradict myself. It’s a tough one for me. The government can control the language without really controlling the message. It isn’t the same as not allowing a journalist to report or a citizen to speak out. Money talks in business, and sometimes the government helps keep things civilized, or seeks to.

We have laws about indecent exposure in public, we could argue I can cover my eyes if you are on the sidewalk in front of me naked.

I am a strong believer in censoring what children view, but, otherwise, it’s free will to accept or reject whatever an adult finds distasteful. Look away, turn the channel, turn off the radio.
As long as children are not getting off their school buses in front of an x rated adult club or store where perverts may be lurking, it’s the job of the individual and parent to employ self censorship.

I’m hoping the Supreme Court knocks it down. The likelihood that networks will now use this to have tons of swearing when kids would be watching is low, because it’s in their best interest to not piss off tons of parents. But networks should have the ability to decide. Plus, parents can get the V-chip to help protect their kids. And with the internet and cable tv (where the FCC censorship rules don’t apply), there’s no reason to make network tv a special case – if kids want to hear these words, see these things, there’s definitely an easily accessible way for them to do just that.