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Decency Group Says "$#*!" Is Indecent
The Parents Television Council says the "$#*!" in the title of the upcoming CBS show $#*! my dad says is indecent. From the article: "'CBS intentionally chose to insert an expletive into the actual name of a show, and, despite its claim that the word will be bleeped, it is just CBS's latest demonstration of its contempt for families and the public,' declared PTC President Tim Winter. 'There are an infinite number of alternatives that CBS could have chosen, but its desire to shock and offend is crystal clear in this decision.'" By this logic Qbert was the filthiest game ever made.
Replace the Anglo-Saxon word "shit" with the Frankish word "poo" and then everything will be a-okay. (Yes our US FCC really is that stupid and inconsistent.)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
it would be better to subtly taunt them to make complete fools of themselves
This may be what has happened, since after all, this group DID just make complete fools of themselves.
I'm hoping this is what happened
-CBS execs try to decide what shows to put on the air next, cause they're scraping the bottom of the barrel
-Out of the blue, this idiot group approaches them and pre-emptively warns that if they were to make a show with an obviously censored word in the title, they'll protest it.
-CBS execs find this hilarious (and realize an opportunity for free slashvertising), scramble to find a show that uses a censored word as part of the title
-CBS execs realize that the only way to make this even funnier is if they make the show based on, of all things, a twitter feed
-Censorship advocates rebel in exactly the braindead way they said they would, execs and the rest of us get a good laugh and hopefully a few more people realize that there's no point in getting offended at words (or symbols standing in for words).
As Justin's dad's most recent quote, probably on this very topic: "They're offended? Fuck, shit, asshole, shitfuck; they're just words...Fine. Shitfuck isn't a word, but you get my point."
Seriously, I object to a show being based on a twitter post, but at least they picked the best one and did the title well. The rest of it might be a trainwreck, but it's off to a great start.
Your post directly relates to something we're going through at our house. Our 5 year old is intrigued with what words he can't say, and which ones he can. And he's pushing it as far as he can, without getting in trouble. My wife and I don't swear in front of the children, and we don't listen to music or TV that does. There's a line somewhere between not wanting your kids to have a potty mouth vs allowing your child to express himself. Anyway my child came home from school one day, "Daddy, can I say damnit?" No son, you can't say damnit. Can I say dangit? Yes.
He comes home a few weeks later. Daddy, can I say "What the." (As in WTF but without the F) After a little deliberation, we said OK. How can the words What and The be considered offensive. Well, after about a week of "What the..." I can't stop completing that sentence in my head. We finally changed our rule and told him that even though those aren't bad words, the way he's saying it isn't very nice. He made the decision that he doesn't want to do something that's 'ugly' and doesn't say it any longer.
And as for the _your problem_ I agree and I disagree. In our house, we monitor what the kids watch. There's a number of cartoons (chowder) that we don't allow them to watch because they are do visually or verbally suggestive. That is OUR problem to monitor the kids. The problem lies in the fact that despite our best efforts, we're not alway going to be there. I don't want to be way over protective, but he's just five. I don't want him hearing things while we're walking around in public that we find offensive.
not sure where I was going with all this, been interrupted so many times, I've lost my point. Sorry!
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