Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Viewer advisory: Woman in shirt

The Parents Television Council has taken up arms over the broadcast (video here) during a recent NFL playoffs game of a young woman in the stands wearing a T-shirt that said "Fuck da Eagles" on it. Executive Director Tim Winter issued a statement claiming, "There is no doubt that this was an intentional airing of patently offensive language on the public airwaves." To which I respond: There is no doubt that this is a paranoid issuing of a patently meritless statement by a man who is clogging our public airwaves and internet tubes with a red herring "threat" to our children. I mean, really, is it not possible that the producers and camera operators scanning the crowd were looking at something other than the words on the woman's shirt when they trained the lens on her? And how much damage did the few seconds of coverage cause? Of those who were even paying attention, how many were children, how many of those who were children could read the T-shirt, and how many of those children who could read the T-shirt didn't already know the word? I find the overtrumped outrage here disingenuous and distracting.

1 comment:

Reno Rambler said...

When the issue of profanity comes up I always think of this quote from inherit the wind, by the great Spencer Tracy:

"I don't swear for the hell of it. Language is a poor enough means of communication. We've got to use all the words we've got. Besides, there are damn few words anybody understands."

Is there any doubt how that woman feels about "Da Eagles"?