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Dropping the F-bomb on Sesame Street?
Filed under: In The News
What is it about swearing that is just so hilariously funny? Because it is funny, you know. At least, that's what one Supreme Court Justice said last week, when considering a case regarding obscene language on television.
The case in question was prompted by an increase in foul words uttered during live television broadcasts, and the Federal Communications Commission's role in regulating such "fleeting expletives." Remember Bono's famous slip-up?
Justice John Paul Stevens joked that the standard of judgment for such slip-ups should be the funny factor. He posed the question if is ever reasonable to consider "whether the particular remark was really hilarious -- very, very funny?"
In all seriousness, the question of regulating salty language on TV gets to a core value of American society -- the right to free speech. No one wants to hear Big Bird dropping the F-bomb, as the New York Times put it, but when is it appropriate to broadcast the "seven dirty words?"
Or is it ever?
Lawyers for the FCC pointed out that viewers who find such expletives funny could tune into any cable station or website to get a healthy dose of dirty words. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appeared to agree, stating that words with sexual or scatological connotations are, by nature, forceful words, meant to shock.
Justice Antonin Scalia concurred, and said that's why folks prefer the F-bomb to "gollywaddles."
I don't know -- gollywaddles has a certain je ne sais quoi, don't you think?
The case has yet to be decided, and the court may not limit it's scope to the narrow field of assessing the commission's actions, but may also investigate the issue of whether regulation of indecent speech on pubic airwaves can and should be justified in light of the First Amendment.
I agree with Justice Stevens -- swearing can be hilariously funny, as long as it isn't used as hate speech. But I'm not so sure I want my daughter to hear Steve from "Blue's Clues" using the F-word. How about you?
| Yes, absolutely, swearing is disgusting and crude | |
|---|---|
| No way, the F-bomb is hilariously funny! | |
| It depends - we want to be careful not to trample the First Amendment |
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
11-07-2008 @ 7:19PM
BETH said...Hey homework923 ..... if you dont want your kid to hear FUCK then use the parental fucking controls!
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 8:02PM
Anisha said...As an 18-year old college student, I wonder what the world of television will be like when I raise children. Hmm...
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 7:45PM
Ben said...The "F-Bomb is becoming more ane more acceptible in our society but if it involves children's exposure, then that is over the top. I think the "C" word has become the ultimate taboo word.
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 10:51PM
wilsoncn said...It may be too late to matter. I hear the "F-Bomb" as often from 3rd grade girls as I do from Adult men in bars.
Reply
11-07-2008 @ 11:20PM
wilsoncn said...TV is not the real problem. It is our entire culture. Turn on the TV and you get all the sex and bad language you can stand. Turn off the TV and read a book... sure enough, there are those words again... put the book away and go shopping and what do you know.. there at the checkout is a rack of magazines with row after row of pics of near naked and mostly pregnant women and headlines about how to achieve the best orgasms. Theer is no way any parent can shield any child from the exposure. No wonder you can walk the halls or playground of any elementary school and hear all of those words with just a single walk and its from every age and gender. I have a friend who teaches. She has had both boys and girls expose themselves in class and she has had more than 1 2nd grade girl tell her to go fuck herself. Looks like the toothpaste is out of the tube.
Reply