2008 Woodie Awards
FCC -- more like the WTF
Matt Hardigree--Daily Texan (U. Texas-Austin)
Issue date: 10/20/03 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 2 next >
(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas - Bono. F***. Both are four letter words that, thanks to the Federal Communications Committee, will be indefinitely tied together when it comes to what you can and cannot say on network television.
During this year's Golden Globes, which were aired on NBC, Bono uttered the phrase "This is really, really f***ing brilliant" after accepting an award. It is understandable that Bono would be caught up in the moment considering that U2 has sucked for at least the last decade. The only incorrect thing was that Bono said during his acceptance speech that winning the award was "...really f***ing brilliant," when he should have said that his victory was " ... really f***ing stupid."
After the show complaints were predictably filed by a TV watchdog group and the FCC fired back with a surprising announcement. David Solomon, the FCC chief of enforcement, issued a ruling stating that what Bono said was acceptable.
Apparently, all this time, you could f*** all you want on TV as long as you did not "... Describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities ..." This may be slightly confusing for those of you who do not often use such terms. In order to help, I will give some examples to clarify different uses. When you see f*** in this column, it would be acceptable according to the FCC ruling. If you see f###, it means that it would not be acceptable.
For example: "F***, Oklahoma University f***ing won again."
As you can see, that entire sentence would be an acceptable one under the recently stated FCC policy.
It starts to become vague when one considers phrases such as "f### you." You could actually be encouraging the f###ing of a person, or you could merely be using a phrase in common parlance stating you think that they should f*** off.
These are not the only parameters, however. First, in order to be obscene, the average person must think that the "...material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest." By that definition, could not "Friends" be considered obscene? What is the point of that show now, other than to foster lascivious pubescent masturbatory fantasies and highlight whatever washed up guest star they can find for the week?
During this year's Golden Globes, which were aired on NBC, Bono uttered the phrase "This is really, really f***ing brilliant" after accepting an award. It is understandable that Bono would be caught up in the moment considering that U2 has sucked for at least the last decade. The only incorrect thing was that Bono said during his acceptance speech that winning the award was "...really f***ing brilliant," when he should have said that his victory was " ... really f***ing stupid."
After the show complaints were predictably filed by a TV watchdog group and the FCC fired back with a surprising announcement. David Solomon, the FCC chief of enforcement, issued a ruling stating that what Bono said was acceptable.
Apparently, all this time, you could f*** all you want on TV as long as you did not "... Describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities ..." This may be slightly confusing for those of you who do not often use such terms. In order to help, I will give some examples to clarify different uses. When you see f*** in this column, it would be acceptable according to the FCC ruling. If you see f###, it means that it would not be acceptable.
For example: "F***, Oklahoma University f***ing won again."
As you can see, that entire sentence would be an acceptable one under the recently stated FCC policy.
It starts to become vague when one considers phrases such as "f### you." You could actually be encouraging the f###ing of a person, or you could merely be using a phrase in common parlance stating you think that they should f*** off.
These are not the only parameters, however. First, in order to be obscene, the average person must think that the "...material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest." By that definition, could not "Friends" be considered obscene? What is the point of that show now, other than to foster lascivious pubescent masturbatory fantasies and highlight whatever washed up guest star they can find for the week?