Parents Television Council Files Complaint Over The Who At Live 8

[StoneMtn]

PTC Files Complaint Over The Who At Live 8

July 15, 2005

By Brooks Boliek,

The Hollywood Reporter

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

Those rowdy rock stars have been at it again. A TV watchdog group filed a complaint against ABC on Thursday because the Who sang the real lyrics to "Who Are You" during the Live 8 concert.

In its complaint, the Parents Television Council said the band's performance July 2 included the "Who the fuck are you" line.

"The program was aired on a tape delay, which should have given ABC ample time to edit all obscenities from the concert prior to broadcast," said Tim Winter, executive director of the PTC. "ABC took steps to edit other profanity from the broadcast. But given the time of day that this program aired, the broad family appeal of the Live 8 event, as well as the program's PG rating, ABC should have been more diligent."

In a statement, ABC admitted the error but said it edited the word out once the network discovered that it had slipped through.

"ABC producers successfully edited out numerous instances of inappropriate language from the Live 8 performances before they were aired on the ABC Television Network," ABC said. "Unfortunately, one inappropriate phrase sung by one performer was initially missed and made it into the East Coast network feed. It was subsequently edited out of the West Coast feed."

The FCC ruled in December that the word "fuck" is automatically considered indecent. The ruling came in response to U2 singer Bono's utterance of a version of the word during the Golden Globes broadcast.

Since then, the FCC has modified that ruling after complaints were filed against the movie "Saving Private Ryan." On a 5-0 vote, the commission said the language, when taken in the context of the film, did not run afoul of the regulations.

Federal law bars radio stations and over-the-air TV channels from airing references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels or satellite radio.

*****Article online here*****

[Guest Low Roller]

fuck fuck fuckity fucking fuck PTC.

[StoneMtn]

bwahahahahahahahaha!

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

The FCC ruled in December that the word "fuck" is automatically considered indecent. The ruling came in response to U2 singer Bono's utterance of a version of the word during the Golden Globes broadcast.

Since then, the FCC has modified that ruling after complaints were filed against the movie "Saving Private Ryan." On a 5-0 vote, the commission said the language, when taken in the context of the film, did not run afoul of the regulations.

I would argue that the word is perfectly appropriate within the context of that song.

[timouse]

Federal law bars radio stations and over-the-air TV channels from airing references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels or satellite radio.

this law was originally drafted in the 1930's and ressurrected after janet jackson's wardrobe malfunction, and what michael powell (director of the US FCC - and son of General Colin Powell...hmmm...) has been using to push guys like howard stern off the radio.

i truly don't get it. the media is simultaneously sex-obsessed and...ummm...becoming totally prudish. all manner of tunes get played on the radio with the f-word edited out.

even the forum software doesn't like the word fuck!

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I tend to buy the class-difference explanation - i.e. that the Germanic folks who had been overrun by the Latins saw their vocabulary proscribed if it was going to hold any currency in the upper, courtly classes - the meaning of what a "fuck" was become acceptible only if it came with the Latin "copulate", or maybe "fornicate" (after "fornax", for oven). A thousand years later and we still have these class conflicts going on, as an excuse, near as I figure, for actually being able to talk frankly about it all. A confused populace is an easily administered populace, apparently.

[d_rawk]

Hmmm. You're suggesting that while the language divide might derive from the reality of past class distinctions, contemporary (in the sense of being extensions of previous) class distinctions are in fact maintained by virtue of same language divide? That is - that the result later becomes the very source of said result, or at least the source of its own perpetuation? (class divide begets language divide -> language divide begets class divide)

Or did I just misunderstand this: "A thousand years later and we still have these class conflicts going on, as an excuse, near as I figure, for actually being able to talk frankly about it all."? (Be patient - I'm a bit slow, sometimes).

[edit to add:] this sounds arguey and insincere, when, in fact, the spirit in which it was written was the opposite of both

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

[edit to add:] this sounds arguey and insincere, when, in fact, the spirit in which it was written was the opposite of both

Geez, I hope so. I get mad at the ways that language gets used, especially when I think back to the ways that it got quashed whenever some "nasty" words were used innocently while "acceptable" words were allowed to fly even when they had the worst intentions associated with them.

That said, I can't deny wanting to lace my messages with an "arguey" tone, if for no other reason than to seed a hopefully interesting discussion among people that I can trust to run with it and still be able to talk when it's all done. I remember when I had to start learning German being told that they had more resources than we do in English for framing language (through the conditionals and subjunctives) to remove yourself from your own position to make it more hypothetical, abstract, etc. I would make plans to cut off my own head before I ever started feeling I was getting insincere with it, though. Sorry if I left that impression.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

! - I should take more time reading these things. No, I didn't get that sense from your message. Please, carry on, don't mind me....

I guess I was just lamenting the fact that we have this stratified language that allows people with power to suppress some people who use it in "inappropriate" ways, while referring to the same content.

Edited July 18, 2005 by Guest

[d_rawk]

*phew* Gotta say, I'm relieved

I read your first post in response to mine and was totally at a loss as to what you were getting at. It's clear, now.

I'm intrigued by your suggestion of a (self-perpetuating?) class to language relationship in these matters, and would really like to see you develop those thoughts further (or to point me in the direction of someone who has already done so) if you don't mind.

stratified language that allows people with power to suppress some people who use it in "inappropriate" ways, while referring to the same content

Yes! Absolutely - to my mind, the most offensive quote was "Unfortunately, one inappropriate phrase sung by one performer was initially missed and made it into the East Coast network feed.". It is a pretty heavy charge to suggest that a phrase, especially - but perhaps not exclusively - when situated within the context of an artistic work, is "inappropriate" in any manner whatsoever. Justifying such a statement, as far as I can see, would involve taking the dialogue all the way down to fundamental notions of morality in art. And that is an argument that the self-professed moralists - most often operating on behalf of established power - inevitably lose, even if the artists end up incarcerated in the process. (Wilde comes to mind, if only because I've been reading the transcripts of his trials)

[Blane]

Good thing they didn't hear Bruce Cockburn's set then. Managed to pack 'son of a bitch', 'flying fuck', and 'shit' into 3 songs. All of them well-placed too, I might add.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Ha! Go Bruce! (they probably figured bleeping him out would only draw more attention to the content and the rage behind it.)

d-rawk - speaking of transcripts, have you ever checked out the proceedings from the Congressional debates over record labelling in the 1980s? Zappa weighs in wonderfully for that, and manages to get those on the attack to hang themselves quite well with their own rope (not entirely unlike the Scopes trial). Finding any good highlights from the Wilde trial?

[d_rawk]

No I hadn't - I definately will, though. It'd be interesting to see how Zappa handles himself in the courtroom.

As far as the Wilde trial, the two things that struck me most were how clever the man was in conversation, even when caught totally off guard with a question during cross-examination. Many of his replies are witty enough to be lines in one of his plays, and at several moments the proceedings are interrupted because of raucous laughter. The other is the manner in which he allows his arrogance to put himself into a position that inevitably leads to additional trials and ultimately, his sentencing to several years hard labour for the crime of indecent sexual activity.

While ostensibly a libel trial, his work (particularly Dorian Gray) is repeatedly trotted out to attack his character in order to make the case that the libel was justified. The moments in which he is defending the importance of allowing seemingly "immoral" or "profane" elements in works of art are excellent, and he wins the argument handily. If I was at home I'd dig up a few lines.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I'll have to poke around at that material - sounds revealing on all sorts of cultural fronts.

There are a few sites with transcripts of Zappa at those other hearings; here's one.

[Vermontdave]

Why is it that fuck is always censored, but drek never is. I do understand that fuck implies the sexual while drek is purely excratory but c'mon.

peace

[d_rawk]

Thanks for the link! I'll check that out for sure.

As far as the Wilde material goes, the only good source that I'm aware of is a book published as "Irish Peacock & Scarlet Marquess" by Fourth Estate (hardcover 2003, paperback 2004). It was actually put together by Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, when the complete trial manuscript became available at the British Library in 2000. It includes the verbatim account of the committal hearing, visual copies of all items brought forward as evidence, reproductions from the newspapers of the time, an excellent notes section to explain comments or names or details whose relevance or meaning might not be immediately evident, as well as the libel trial in its entirety. Prior to this publication, all previous accounts have been inconsistant reconstructions using newspapers, letters, and other such material as the source because the British had, until that time, declared the details to be 'unfit for publication'.

Curiously, much of the material pertaining to the subsequent two cases (in which Wilde is the defendant) is missing or destroyed. This probably has something to do with the fact that some very influential and powerful people (as well as some very influential and powerful people's sons) were in various ways implicated.

[StoneMtn]

Well … I’m clearly not intelligent enough to add much to this discussion, however, the comment on Zappa at the Congressional hearings caused me to remember a similar anecdote…

Jello Biafra (formerly of the Dead Kennedys) has always been very much like Zappa when it comes to censorship and related issues.

In the mid-‘80s he and the DK’s were put on trial for the release of their album Frankenchrist, which included a limited edition of a poster of a Geiger painting called “Penis Landscape” (which I proudly displayed in my bedroom as a young punk-rocker circa 1985). Tipper Gore spearheaded the court case on the basis of “obscenity laws”. In the end, Jello and the DKs prevailed and the album was allowed to remain on the shelves with the poster inside. As soon as the verdict came down, though, Jello pulled the classiest move in punk-rock history… There was a hardcore band at the time called “Big Black”, and they had an album with a cover that was all black, with the title on the front in huge white capital block letters. Jello gave a copy of the album to Tipper Gore, the judge, the District Attorney, and I believe others in the courtroom, as a token of his appreciation. The album was titled ”BIG BLACK: SONGS ABOUT FUCKING”.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I love Jello's accounts of those times. He delivers them with such vitriol, to boot. I'd love to hear what he has to say about the DKs these days (though I think I get the drift).

Some bastard stole my copy of Frankenchrist, with the now-collectible poster, back in high school. There's a circle of hell reserved for him.

It was either him or Zappa that cited the other one with the best line of insight into the record labelling affair - "Follow the money." Piggybacking on it all was the blank tape surtax proposal, to "protect the artist." Nice distraction, isasmuch as it always works. "What about the children!!"

[StoneMtn]

The last I heard, Jello was seeking to prevent the current "Dead Kennedys" from releasing anything or playing under that name. He thinks they're terrible and cautions anyone against buying any of their albums. The last I read about it, Jello had already launched a lawsuit.

If I have time, maybe I'll try to find out what happened with that, but you could probably get an update if you google Jello's website.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I saw on the back of either the Eye or the Now here in TO that the DKs were on tour with a raft of other bands, and shuddered a little. Poor Jello - at least he's got other projects on his plate.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I saw on the back of either the Eye or the Now here in TO that the DKs were on tour with a raft of other bands, and shuddered a little. Poor Jello - at least he's got other projects on his plate.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Oops - how do you delete a doubled post, anyway?

[Vermontdave]

A thread about punk rock. I love it!

I agree about Jello, he's a warrior for free speech in the same vein as Frank.

[StoneMtn]

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Didn't this thread start with the Who, the godfathers of punk?