There was a trail for a documentry about Gerorge W Bush shown on Channel 4 just before the US elections last year, the music was "The Man Don't Give A ****" by the Super Furry Animals and was played during the day uncensored.
Although it doesn't bother me, the watershed works fine and is there for a reason.
I notice though that over Christmas C4 forgot to cut out the swearing in an episode of Big Brother Panto - they apologised after part 1 - but it barely raised an eyebrow!
What does annoy me though is censoring swearing after 9pm - especially words deemed by someone to be more offensive than others (yet, in my area they are generally less offensive!). Really annoys me when you see an argument on Big Brother or Wife Swap littered with f-words - but as soon as the c-word crops up so does the bleeper!
Rules for language appear to have tightened up in recent years.
'Basta*d' is used in Fawlty Towers. 'Basta*d' was also used in Eastenders in the mid-90's. I can't imagine either soaps or pre-watershed sitcoms using the word these days. (I'm happy to be proved wrong...)
EDIT: Added asterisks so people know which word I'm talking about. Silly forum over-censorship, in that it directly affects a discussion, but never mind...
I think it's part of an inisidious environment of disrespect which inevitably forms attitudes in people, especially the young.
I'm really not sure this is true.
Use of swearing does not automatically indicate a general disrespect - it depends on how its used. And of course, you can easily have disrespect without the use of swearing.
I can use c*** in a way that doesn't attack someone. But I can call someone a stupid idiot and mean it - and that's far more offensive.
Of course, this is all assuming that disrespect is bad in all circumstances, which isn't always the case...
There may be rules for the watershed but they seem appallingly abused. I DO find swearing difficult, especially knowing that very young children are frequently watching programmes after 9pm.
Well the blame for this can only rest with one group of people - the parents. The watershed system in this country is surely known by everyone and any parent that allows their children to watch shows after 9 should expect them to hear naughty words.
And rightly so. I don't want to live in a mollycoddled nanny state where we have to bleep out words that are in everyday use in the street (and let's face it, the school playground) just because a child might be watching during a time that is well publicised to be unsuitable for children.
And as Mr Sands says, I'm also led to believe that there are no hard and fast rules regarding specific words & times. There's a common misconception that the 'C' word is totally banned; that's rubbish.
Channel 4 showed Brewsters Millions at 4pm on a saturday afternoon over new year, complete with its full compliments of S
hit and everything else. Suprised me, but obviously didn't bother me.
When Richard & Judy had Dom Joly on a couple of weeks ago they showed a clip from World Shut Your Mouth, complete with a warning beforehand that it had a naughty word. It was along the lines of "Ah, the Taj Mahal. That is s***." They then went on to discuss the clip but substituting various hmms and coughs for the offending word.
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the Jerry Springer opera on BBC2 recently, with it's multiple c***s. I saw it briefly and I'm pretty sure the chorus were singing "c***y c***y c***"
I think it is now coming time to re-examine the watershed in terms of language. Like it or not, people who find swearing offensive and don't use every expletive under the sun as part of their casual language are a dying breed. Most of what broadcasters would deem strong language unsuitable for being used before the watershed is actually common language used in general conversation on every street and in every school every day.
I'm not saying that we should start allowing the C word to be used on GMTV, but it's starting to get a ltitle bit beyond ridiculous to continue to have a rule that bans a simple (and common) colloquealism like FFS before 9PM, but which allows it after.
I'm not saying that I don't respect the views of those who find swearing offensive, but surely they will still be watching after 9PM and thus would be exposed to it anyway? The idea that it's protecting the little innocent kiddywinkles from hearing nasty bad words is more than a little bit out of touch.
I notice though that over Christmas C4 forgot to cut out the swearing in an episode of Big Brother Panto - they apologised after part 1 - but it barely raised an eyebrow!
Why are people so afraid of words? We allow children to see all sorts of fabricated (and real) sex and violence on TV...yet the f-word is somehow inconceivable?
American TV is especially good at this. The Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) regularly shows action movies, like Die Hard, and bleeps out every last profane word...or records over it with something incomprehensive.
For example, lots of people are told "Forget you" and may be referred to as "Mother forgettors" while stabbing each other in the eye with large icicles, and indiscrimately shooting people in the head with lots of blood spurting everywhere. Furthermore, shows like Sex and the City (also on TBS) are really only about sex...and the f-word aptly describes the sort of sex portrayed on that show.
Isn't it great that that network has its priorities in order?
