Hooray for Boobies
So, this whole Janet Jackson thing...yeah. God it's so dumb. Now, if you were offended by this episode because it violated your comfort level or sensibilities, I respect that. What I'm railing on is the media, and people like this banker from Tenessee who tried to sue for billions in damages.
It seems the mainstream press is blind to irony: here we have what is essentially a national holiday, celebrating men beating the crap out of one another to get to a great game where they can REALLY beat the crap out of one another, but we are so squeamish that the sight of most of a breast gives us the collective heebie-jeebies. The message is clear - violence is fine, but sex (and sexuality) is not. It is OK to see a body violated by foreign objects, bleed, crushed and destroyed...but not to see it for what it is.
This carries into most of our culture, too. A movie that's gory and violent can get a PG-13 (see LoTR), but one that shows boobs is automatically R (not to mention a penis - that's solid NC-17 territory there). Look at RPGs. The Book of Erotic Fantasy and Naughty and Dice caused WotC to revise the d20 System License so that it could retroactively restrict use of the d20 System logo to a loose definition of 'decency' - potentially damaging the entire d20 movement at a point where things are not doing so hot, as publishers get cold feet. But not 4 months earlier, the Book of Vile Darkness allows all sort of demon-worshipping, needlessly violent classes and play options, including a prestige class (or was it feat?) that requires you have sex with a dead person (Lichloved). Healthy sexuality vs. sex with a walking corpse - which is more 'decent' in your opinion?
So anyway, I found this quote in Time that puts a good perspective on the whole thing, and is the most impressive commentary I've seen by the mainstream press:
"In a way, Justin and Janet did us a favor. They spelled out the subtext of the game (of football) and its surrounding culture. A culture that tells young men they can't formulate a thought deeper than "Show us your tits." A culture that pushes young women to put out for the market, then ridicules them when they do. A culture swinging between cynical sex-sells greed and moral parentalism. A culture obsessed by, and terrified of, a human organ that gives sustenance to babies. And a culture that apparently can't tell the difference between contextually appropriate nudity and a rape fantasy. By the end of Jackson and Timberlake's song, that culture was naked."
The note about violence is also a good one, and one that I hadn't considered before today. You can read the rest of the article here. I just can't wait til the FCC's mighty hammer smites the collective TV culture, which has successfully pushed the boundaries in broadcasting to make for real entertainment for grown-up adults, instead of predigested and oversanitized drek that is so devoid of flavor or meaning that it couldn't possibly bother anyone.
Cry decency, and let loose the dogs of censorship.
So, this whole Janet Jackson thing...yeah. God it's so dumb. Now, if you were offended by this episode because it violated your comfort level or sensibilities, I respect that. What I'm railing on is the media, and people like this banker from Tenessee who tried to sue for billions in damages.
It seems the mainstream press is blind to irony: here we have what is essentially a national holiday, celebrating men beating the crap out of one another to get to a great game where they can REALLY beat the crap out of one another, but we are so squeamish that the sight of most of a breast gives us the collective heebie-jeebies. The message is clear - violence is fine, but sex (and sexuality) is not. It is OK to see a body violated by foreign objects, bleed, crushed and destroyed...but not to see it for what it is.
This carries into most of our culture, too. A movie that's gory and violent can get a PG-13 (see LoTR), but one that shows boobs is automatically R (not to mention a penis - that's solid NC-17 territory there). Look at RPGs. The Book of Erotic Fantasy and Naughty and Dice caused WotC to revise the d20 System License so that it could retroactively restrict use of the d20 System logo to a loose definition of 'decency' - potentially damaging the entire d20 movement at a point where things are not doing so hot, as publishers get cold feet. But not 4 months earlier, the Book of Vile Darkness allows all sort of demon-worshipping, needlessly violent classes and play options, including a prestige class (or was it feat?) that requires you have sex with a dead person (Lichloved). Healthy sexuality vs. sex with a walking corpse - which is more 'decent' in your opinion?
So anyway, I found this quote in Time that puts a good perspective on the whole thing, and is the most impressive commentary I've seen by the mainstream press:
"In a way, Justin and Janet did us a favor. They spelled out the subtext of the game (of football) and its surrounding culture. A culture that tells young men they can't formulate a thought deeper than "Show us your tits." A culture that pushes young women to put out for the market, then ridicules them when they do. A culture swinging between cynical sex-sells greed and moral parentalism. A culture obsessed by, and terrified of, a human organ that gives sustenance to babies. And a culture that apparently can't tell the difference between contextually appropriate nudity and a rape fantasy. By the end of Jackson and Timberlake's song, that culture was naked."
The note about violence is also a good one, and one that I hadn't considered before today. You can read the rest of the article here. I just can't wait til the FCC's mighty hammer smites the collective TV culture, which has successfully pushed the boundaries in broadcasting to make for real entertainment for grown-up adults, instead of predigested and oversanitized drek that is so devoid of flavor or meaning that it couldn't possibly bother anyone.
Cry decency, and let loose the dogs of censorship.
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