News like this makes me see red.
Here’s the quote:
The Federal Communications Commission has asked for a tape of NBC’s broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics after it received at least one indecency complaint.
How many people watched the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics? Millions and millions? And if ONE person out there writes in and says, “I found such-and-such offensive”, if ONE person out of MILLIONS is offended, that’s enough for the FCC.
All it takes is ONE. Obviously the wording “at least one” complaint is sufficiently vague, we don’t know what that means. But “at least one” is a hell of a lot different from: “we were overwhelmed with complaints” (a la Janet Jackson). At least one? I sure would like to know what the hell that means.
I find this trend enraging and scary. Catering to the most sensitive, the most touchy, is not the way to go in a massive country like ours. And where do we draw the line? Do we stop showing women’s faces on television because one radical Muslim who lives in Chattanooga complains? Katie Couric in a burkha? That may sound extreme, but look to France and Holland (etc etc) for examples of how this all could go. It is not out of the realm of possibility. I do not know what the number limit should be (over 100 complaints? over 1000?), but I do know that if ONE person finds something offensive that MILLIONS of others let pass by without public complaint, then I pretty much think that that ONE person needs to feckin’ chill out.
Yeah… either chill out or turn off the offensive tv and turn off that offensive radio, burn those offensive books and then retreat to some place far away from civilization where you can lead your unoffensive lifestyle without forcing it on the rest of us who truth be-told kinda like being offended from time to time.
Maybe the FCC needs to teach that one person how to use their remote control. If something on TV bothers you DON’T FUCKING WATCH IT. I find American Idol to be one of the most insipid and retard shows on the air; instead of trying to get the network to stop airing I just DON’T FUCKING WATCH IT. No muss, no fuss. It’s easy, morons. Try it once in while.
Don’t fucking watch if you don’t like it. Turn the radio station. Monitor what your kids are doing, listening to, reading. Stop trying to ruin the fun of those of us who dig Eminem, et al.
Tangent:
I don’t think the MOST sensitive of us should be congratulated and pampered. I think it’s not a bad idea for people to toughen up. To have STRENGTH be what is rewarded, not weepy sensitivity.
It’s like Naomi Wolff making a HUGE DEAL about a tipsy Harold Bloom putting his hand on her knee 20 YEARS AGO. “I felt violated, I felt devastated…” (this is not an exaggeration – anyone remember this?) HE PUT HIS HAND ON HER KNEE and said some rambling drunken thing about her being “one of the elect people”.
Anyway. Should sensitivity of that degree be pampered? I say No. If my mentor started getting tipsy and lovey-dovey, I would not be so crushed and soul-cracked that I harbored it as a shameful secret for 20 years … until I finally broke my silence about my “violation” in the NY Times.
Naomi: ever hear of the words: “Dude, take your hand off my leg, please”? Try saying THAT next time.
Tangent over.
One comment can translate to hundreds, or even thousands of other un-voiced offensions (a word?), which can lead to thousands of lost dollars because of their offension. This scares marketers, it scares businessess people, it scares advertisers, it scares retailers, it scares wholesalers, it scare financiers which finally means it scares politicians and governmentalists.
It’s all nonsense, of course, but common sense never stopped a good market survey conclusion.
Do you know what really offends me? Who’s that chick who takes pictures of children dressed in adult clothing with little boys in top hats giving roses to little girls and vomit-inducing stuff like that? Not Anne Geddes, but the other one. If I were Queen of the Universe, I would lock her in a tower. But since I’m not, I suppose I have to learn to live with everyone else’s bad taste.
Emily – I know exactly what you are talking about, but I have no idea who is responsible for those vaguely creepy images.
3 year olds dressed up as adults, and giving each other kisses on the cheek and stuff?
Huh??
I had a friend in college who loved her stuff and had it hanging all over her apartment. I was, by no coincidence, busy whenever she invited me to dinner.
I am not easily offended, but when I saw the 2004 Summer Olympics mascots, well I just went nuts and wrote the FCC. I mean, look at this people:
The bell-shaped cartoons Phevos and Athena have been selected as the Athens Olympics mascots. The Athens Olympics mascots were inspired by two Greek Gods. They represent two children of today a brother and sister. Phevos represents the God of light and music also known as Apollo while Athena is the Goddess of wisdom and is the patron of Athens.
ARRRGHHHHH! My head exploded! Athena as a web-foot yellow amoeba in a mu mu? DISGUSTING!
Sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.
hahahahaha
I hadn’t heard about that Naomi Wolff thing. Man, how sensitive can you get?
Red, I’d be interested in your take on the difference in attitudes of sexual harassment between men and women… i.e. men seem (in popular culture) much more likely to forgive isolated incidents of “inappropriate” contact than women…
In other words, if a female colleague at work were to give me a hug and a peck on the cheek, I’d probably think nothing of it, and feel flattered. But if I were to do it to a female colleage, there’s a strong possibility I could get in trouble…
Barry – I wrote this whole rant-y piece on Naomi Wolff’s stupid girlie sensitivity – here it is.
I’ve written a couple pieces on this topic, now that I think about it. Sexual harassment laws (yuk), the witch-hunt of Kobe Bryant (which I thought was appalling – The message there is that all you need to do is ACCUSE someone of rape … that’s all you need to do!! And I find that not only incredibly unfair but completely against everything this country and the legal system here stands for) …
I have mixed feelings about some of it – because I do not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Women need to stick up for themselves and not freak out at the slightest thing. Certainly. But I’ve had men in superior positions at work give me a peck on the cheek and it feels controlling and weird. I don’t like it. (I wouldn’t press charges, but still – the power play there makes me uncomfortable.)
However, I’m a big fan of women sticking up for themselves IN THE VERY MOMENT they feel harassed. Not 20 freakin’ years later.
I look forward to the end of political correctness. I think PC-ness has served its purpose, and it started from a healthy place, but now it is completely out of control and I YEARN to see it crash and BURN.
Sheila — did you ever read Fran Lebowitz’s essay on being offended? It was great — “Being offended is the natural consequence of leaving ones home. I do not like after- shave lotion, adults who roller-skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan. I do not, however, go around enacting legislation and putting up signs.”
She was actually writing about people who go apeshit over public smoking, but I think it definitely applies here.
Oops, I should add one thing:
Sexual harassment does exist but I define it in a strictly quid pro quo way.
Sleep with me, and I will promote you. Refuse my advances? I fire you.
I got a D in one class in college, and I am convinced that it is because I turned down the lecherous proposal of my professor. I turned him down in no uncertain terms. And I got a D.
However … to have sexual harassment to be widened to defined “anything that the most sensitive woman in the world would find offensive” is damaging, counter-productive, and completely annoying.
Emily – “children who speak French” … bwahahahahaha Fran can be such a bitter bitch and I love her.
I didn’t read the essay though – any idea where I can find it?
Public smoking is different, of course, since it’s an actual health hazard. Unlike the other examples…
(although some people are allergic to certain kinds of aftershave)
Red – I agree. People have taken the same term (“sexual harrasment”) and given it multiple, unequal definitions.
I originally read the excerpt in the Drinking, Smoking and Screwing compilation. I cannot find any of her essays online, though while looking I did come across this great quote from her: “The best fame is a writer’s fame. It’s enough to get a table at a good restaurant, but not enough to get you interrupted when you eat.”
Oh, that’s right, I’ve been meaning to get that book of hers. Cool. I’ll put it on the never-ending list.
damn straight on the overdefining of sexual harrassment.
Like red, I see it as only applying in a quid pro quo situation. I mean, sure, maybe your coworker and equal is being an inconsiderate jerk by asking you out on a date every time he sees you, even though you’ve told him – first politely, then not-so-politely, that you’d rather burn in hell first.
But that is NOT the same thing as a professor, or boss, or sergeant, or whoever, saying “sleep with me and you’ll get what you want.” (In other words, asking you to turn into a whore, or threatening you if you don’t).
The whole climate of “sexual harrassment” has had a horribly chilling effect for some people. One day, in grad school, I showed up to class all dressed up because I was giving a presentation that afternoon. One of the guys I was going to school with saw me in the hall said “Oh, wow, you look really nice today!” and then sort of gasped and said “am I still allowed to say that?”
I assured him that I would never take offense at being told I looked “nice.” (I might take offense if he had said I looked like a hot mama, but then again, knowing me, I’d be more likely to be secretly pleased).
And there are some people who would be offended at being told they look nice. Who are these people? What is it about compliments that offend them?
Who are these people?
People who have huge unresolved issues with sex dating back to their childhood years.
At least this is what I am convinced of. That these people who freak out like this are essentially undeveloped … and you are dealing wtih an unformed personality.
Naomi wolf’s description of Harold Bloom coming on to her read, to me, (despite her obvious skills as a writer), as though it came from a damaged 8 year old.
(Not to excuse the insanity of this whole situation … I still think it’s ridiculous that you can’t compliment someone on their appearance … but that’s where I think it comes from.)
And again, this is an example of having THE MOST sensitive person in the room making the rules for all the rest of us.
ricki:
And to add to what you just said – if someone called me a “hot mama” in a positive and appreciative way … it would make my day.
I think the general lack of HUMOR is what disturbs me most in that PC-ish environment.
Feckin….heh.
This is an issue I most agree with Jeff Jarvis on……we need to do something as a society to not let this get any further. It’s way beyond liberal or conservative, it’s about the First Amendment as a whole. We cannot continue to let the minority (the offended) squash the right of the majority (who turn the channel/change the webpage if they see something they don’t like). If there is going to be another revolution in this country, it will be over the First and Second Amendments, assuredly.
Feck the FCC.
“…to have sexual harassment to be widened to defined ‘anything that the most sensitive woman in the world would find offensive’ is damaging, counter-productive, and completely annoying.”
I would just point out that the law itself certainly does NOT define it this way: it’s overreaction to a perceived possibility of lawsuits that has lead employers, etc., to broaden its scope in practice. In turn, this is due to many people seeing litigation as a potential lottery jackpot, and as the first response to anything that bothers them (or that they can even PRETEND to be bothered by). And that, in part, is due to the endurance of the civil jury in the US, willing to live vicariously through plaintiffs on whom they’ll happily shower ridiculous amounts of cash, thus driving up prices and/or insurance premiums for everyone else.
I was moved to overcome my natural blog torpor and post on this general subject no long ago. Apparently, someone in Los Angeles noticed that certain types of lighting and computer equipment (things like flash units and hard drives) are customarily labeled “master” and “slave” to designate the proper sequence in which they syhould be connected. This lovely person was offended, but of course the reason it became a news story and I heard about it was that the LA officials who evaluate charges of racial misconduct actually took the complaint seriously and started sending out letters to photo and computer equipment companies to the effect that they had better think up different labels for their components if they wish to keep doing business with the government in California.
Just thinking about it again is liable to give me an aneurysm… thanks red!
“Feck the FCC.”
To be sure; however, placing sole blame on the bureaucrats allows the politicians who actually passed (and could amend or repeal) the laws they enforce an undeserved out.
MikeR:
I remember reading that master/slave post of yours … yesterday, maybe? Same type deal.
Like: some people are just too sensitive to cohabit comfortably with others on this planet, and literally should live in a cabin on a hilltop, by themselves. That is the only way they can get along.
Speaking of opening ceremonies…
When i saw Bob Costas speak last week, he told the story about how in the ’92 Olympics, NBC cut to commercial just as the Turkish team was entering the arena during the opening ceremonies. The next day, 60 protesters showed up at 30 Rock to denounce the “Greek-named” Bob Costas for his “snub” of Turkey.
Luckily for Bob, he was in Barcelona at the time.
Steve -
Meant to tell you that I absolute LOVED your post on Bob Costas. It was awesome.
I do wish I was that current, red, but I think I posted that last Wednesday.
It does seem like our culture has elevated hyper-sensitivity to the point of it being considered a desirable, sought-after quality. Like moving to a higher plane of existence, or something. Ack!