Monday, February 28, 2005
I Just Got The Wind Knocked Out Of Me -- I'm Fine
ABC's broadcast last Veterans Day of the Oscar-winning war movie "Saving Private Ryan," which contains graphic violence and profanity, did not violate indecency guidelines, regulators ruled Monday.What really gets me is that the busybody assholes who complain about this stuff have always had the exact same defense against it: turn the television off. If you belive something is going to (as George Carlin put it) infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war, don't watch it and then complain about it -- just don't watch it.
The film contained "numerous expletives and other potentially offensive language generally as part of the soldiers' dialogue," the Federal Communications Commission said.
"In light of the overall context in which this material is presented, the commission determined it was not indecent or profane," the five-member FCC said in a unanimous decision in denying complaints over the movie.
"This film is a critically acclaimed artwork that tells a gritty story — one of bloody battles and supreme heroism," FCC chairman Michael Powell said in a statement. "The horror of war and the enormous personal sacrifice it draws on cannot be painted in airy pastels."
Some complaints also cited the movie's violence, but the FCC said its indecency and profanity guidelines were not applicable to violent programming.
A spokeswoman for ABC in New York declined comment.
And let the rest of us make the same choice.
