Donna Britt in the Post today had a column predictibly complaining that the bump-and-grind zeitgeist (my word, not hers) of the current culture, of which the boob incident was just a small piece, is bad for society. She included problems like rap music's love of sexist and rauncy lyrics, etc.
I can understand her concern, but I really think we bring this sh*t on ourselves in this country. We're so prudish that nudity and raunchiness become rebellious - so that attracts dollars, etc.
What I found interesting was that she lumped in a recent ER episode, in which a young girl accompanied her (heart attack victim?) grandmother to the ER and was appalled when the doctors opened the grandmother's shirt to examine her. When she protested, the doctors covered her up a little - but during the episode there was a full frontal of the grandmother's chest.
That I really have no problem with - ER is supposed to be a realistic depiction of actions in a level III trauma center, and doctors are not worried about modesty when trying to save someone's life. Whereas the half-time show was all about sex, lewdness and lust, the ER episode was all about reality. Certainly the bare chest of a 70-year-old woman is not considered that erotic (if erotic at all), and should not be classed with Janet's useless nudity on Sunday.
Full Version: Super Bowl Commercials and Halftime Show
Here's my take ... in the US, it seems that people have a problem w/ sexuality and nudity. However, when it comes to violence, blood and gore - no problem whatsoever.
I am so glad to live in a Puritanical society.
By the way ... I am BORED w/ the whole booby thing. Let's beat this dead topic some more, okay??
I am so glad to live in a Puritanical society.
By the way ... I am BORED w/ the whole booby thing. Let's beat this dead topic some more, okay??
The NFL is truly hypocritical. They've thrown the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in our face for decades. This year the Eagles cheerleaders wore amazingly skimpy outfits from Vera Wang and posed for a lingerie calendar. They have no right to try and say they put out a wholesome, family-oriented product.
Meanwhile, found this on Yahoo...
Meanwhile, found this on Yahoo...
QUOTE
Jackson's right breast during a halftime Super Bowl performance has become the most-searched image in Internet history, online companies said on Wednesday. Jackson's unscripted flash of flesh during Sunday's Super Bowl halftime sent Internet surfers seeking pictures of the snafu in greater numbers over a 24 hour period than searches for 'September 11' or Madonna's kiss with Britney Spears.
MTV's no better--MTV's initial post-show hype on its website ("a kinky finale that rocked the Super Bowl to its core!") compared to its post-FCC complaint lie ("MTV was as surprised and shocked as anyone last night.")
Some more hypocrisy courtesy of CBS regarding Sunday's Grammys (this was from an article at Philly.com):
QUOTE
Meanwhile, Jackson is still scheduled as a presenter and Timberlake as a performer at the 46th annual awards, to air live from L.A.'s Staples Center, says the academy's Ron Roecker.
There's buzz, however, that CBS will pressure the academy to boot Jackson, according to a source close to CBS. The network has no objections to Timberlake, the source adds.
He's just as much to blame, if there is to be blame assigned for this. And CBS ought to be happy -- people will actually WANT to watch the Grammys for a change!
There's buzz, however, that CBS will pressure the academy to boot Jackson, according to a source close to CBS. The network has no objections to Timberlake, the source adds.
QUOTE
Allen:
By the way ... I am BORED w/ the whole booby thing.
As much a fan of The Boob(s) as I am, I'm with you on this one.By the way ... I am BORED w/ the whole booby thing.
Yawn. Next?
Heard an "exclusive" interview with Justin Timberlake in which he praised the Grammy organizers for choosing to use a delay this Sunday and explained that when he tore the bustier, there was supposed to be a lacy, red brassiere but that he accidentally grabbed the bra in addition to the bustier. Oddly, after saying "lacy, red brassiere," he giggled like a little boy caught saying something he thinks is dirty. Miss Jackson (if you're nasty) will not be at the Grammys.
~Adam
~Adam
I have a solution:
BRING BACK MARCHING BANDS TO HALFTIME WHERE THEY BELONG!
And as a drum major, I promise not to show any boob.
[ February 05, 2004, 05:08 AM: Message edited by: GatorJamie ]
BRING BACK MARCHING BANDS TO HALFTIME WHERE THEY BELONG!
And as a drum major, I promise not to show any boob.
[ February 05, 2004, 05:08 AM: Message edited by: GatorJamie ]
I agree GatorJamie. That flash of Jessica Simpson at the beginning of the halftime show as a drum major got my hopes up, I thought maybe we would see some incredible marching. Although it would be very retro to bring back marching bands, honestly, the thrill of a line of trumpets turning in your direction is unbeatable. I think once people experience it, they would like it.
The continuing reaction to this is stunning. On ER tonight they were supposed to show a shot of an elderly woman's breast as she was getting medical treatment (the same woman from the show previously mentioned?), but because of this uproar they're removing the scene! The ER executive producer, John Wells, isn't happy:
It's been said before, but it looks to be more true than ever: a comeback for Up With People! eek!
QUOTE
\"These types of affiliate over-reactions have a chilling effect on the narrative integrity of adult dramas,\" Wells said yesterday. \"This type of network behavior is one of the primary reasons that so many of today's producers and viewers are increasingly tuning to HBO and other cable outlets that do not censor responsible storytelling.\"
Meanwhile, the NFL dumped JC Chasez (another 'NSync-er...coincidence?) from their Pro Bowl halftime show because they decided his songs and choreography were too risque. Instead, they've moved their pregame production -- Hawaiian-themed entertainment in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Pro Bowl being played there -- to halftime.It's been said before, but it looks to be more true than ever: a comeback for Up With People! eek!
When that boob was shown to 140 million people(estimated viewers of the Super Bowl), the reaction was like an out of control wild fire!! It is simply incredible what has occurred this week alone. The unprecedented time-delay software(to edit any immoralities) for the upcoming Grammys and the Oscars later this month, the changing of the Pro Bowl at the halftime to Hula dancers instead of NSYNCer JC Chavez, and even the ER editing out of an elderly lady in the nude. What has our country come to. I think in the near future, all of reality television, will be shown exclusively on cable and not broadcast television.
QUOTE
HulaBoy:
For those of us who don't mind seeing (or at least fantasizing) a little bit more about Justin than Janet:
The part of the half-time show we didn't see eek!
For those of us who don't mind seeing (or at least fantasizing) a little bit more about Justin than Janet:
The part of the half-time show we didn't see eek!
QUOTE
SportzFanPatrick:
Very funny Hula Boy, but from what i've read, that may be an exaggeration of Justin wink
I have read stories from Britney Spears(who apparently was a virgin before she met Justin), where she and Alyssa Milano(who also briefly dated Justin) along with Miss Janet Jackson, all stated that Mr. Timberlake has the goods of timber, so to speak. In other words, he has the penis of a tree trunk, I seem to recall!! Very funny Hula Boy, but from what i've read, that may be an exaggeration of Justin wink
I personally find Justin sexy, myself, even if he is a little younger than most of the guys that I find attractive.
You knew that this just had to happen next:
QUOTE
A banker from Knoxville, Tenn., filed a class action lawsuit against Jackson, dance partner Justin Timberlake, CBS, halftime show producers MTV and the networks' parent company, Viacom. Terri Carlin said the \"sexually explicit conduct\" by the performers caused millions of people to \"suffer outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury.\"
QUOTE
GatorJamie:
I have a solution:
BRING BACK MARCHING BANDS TO HALFTIME WHERE THEY BELONG!
Hear hear!I have a solution:
BRING BACK MARCHING BANDS TO HALFTIME WHERE THEY BELONG!
Cue "Professor" Harold Hill: "We've got trouble! Right here in River City! With a capital T, and that rhymes with B, and that stands for boob!"
But seriously ... couldn't they at least bring back marching bands for college games? Instead of the damn pundits? :mad:
As for the overall topic ... this is the most contrived controversy since ... I don't know, the "Like a Prayer" video?
QUOTE
SmoothRon:
the changing of the Pro Bowl at the halftime to Hula dancers instead of NSYNCer JC Chavez,
one has to wonder if the Soviets will dismiss Lance Bass as a cosmonaut because of this as well the changing of the Pro Bowl at the halftime to Hula dancers instead of NSYNCer JC Chavez,
QUOTE
danimal:
As for the overall topic ... this is the most contrived controversy since ... I don't know, the \"Like a Prayer\" video?
It would be easier to dismiss if it weren't for the fact that the FCC is wasting our tax dollars on this mess.
As for the overall topic ... this is the most contrived controversy since ... I don't know, the \"Like a Prayer\" video?
I just wanted to say, and I haven't heard it yet, applause, applause to Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Their part of the half-time show was dynamic, bold, exciting, and risque'. Oh, and Janet's boob? Quite pleasant, and totally erotic. Maybe the advertisers for the erectile dysfunction products were annoyed that Janet caused way too much tumescence to their segment of the audience. So again, my hat's off to a great show, and to Janet's lovely anchored nipple-guard sunburst, which only could have been enchanced with a nice pavee' of diamonds. Thoroughly entertaining! :cool:
Total Request Live, There's a reason you haven't heard the applause for their actions. It wasn't something that deserved applause. It is an aggressive sexual act reminiscent of rape. There's nothing glamourous about that! Bold yes, but they should not have done it and they are appologizing for it.
Oh, so Janet just raped the whole of America with her adorned boob. I knew I missed that part of the show! Shucks! frown
QUOTE
Purdue Fan:
You knew that this just had to happen next:
"Serious injury"? Wha wha what??? Is he gonna sue Budweiser if a dog bites him in the nuts?
You knew that this just had to happen next:
QUOTE
A banker from Knoxville, Tenn., filed a class action lawsuit against Jackson, dance partner Justin Timberlake, CBS, halftime show producers MTV and the networks' parent company, Viacom. Terri Carlin said the \"sexually explicit conduct\" by the performers caused millions of people to \"suffer outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury.\"
Commissioner Tagliabue testified to Congress today. Here's a quote: "The show that MTV actually produced this year fell far short of the NFL's expectations of tasteful, first-class entertainment.... This disappointment goes well beyond the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake stunt that has garnered so much attention."
(from www.HoustonTexans.com )
(from www.HoustonTexans.com )
QUOTE
SheaBoy:
Commissioner Tagliabue testified to Congress today. Here's a quote: \"The show that MTV actually produced this year fell far short of the NFL's expectations of tasteful, first-class entertainment.... This disappointment goes well beyond the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake stunt that has garnered so much attention.\"
(from www.HoustonTexans.com )
Um, tasteful? Were they performing at Lincoln Center or Buckingham Palace? This was a sporting event, for chrissake! I guess next year we're going to see a halftime show with the Boston Pops.Commissioner Tagliabue testified to Congress today. Here's a quote: \"The show that MTV actually produced this year fell far short of the NFL's expectations of tasteful, first-class entertainment.... This disappointment goes well beyond the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake stunt that has garnered so much attention.\"
(from www.HoustonTexans.com )
[ February 11, 2004, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: batboy ]
QUOTE
FeverDog:
No lawsuit necessary for the dog bite because it was a woman who filed the suit. QUOTE
Purdue Fan:
You knew that this just had to happen next:
\"Serious injury\"? Wha wha what??? Is he gonna sue Budweiser if a dog bites him in the nuts? You knew that this just had to happen next:
QUOTE
A banker from Knoxville, Tenn., filed a class action lawsuit against Jackson, dance partner Justin Timberlake, CBS, halftime show producers MTV and the networks' parent company, Viacom. Terri Carlin said the \"sexually explicit conduct\" by the performers caused millions of people to \"suffer outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury.\"
The Knoxville News-Sentinel story
So Tagliabue complained that the halftime show was not "tasteful." This from a man who has endorsed the Coors Twins, ads (with the NFL logo) featuring scantily-clad swimsuit models, and the ongoing connection between beer drinking, sex, and football. The foul, fetid, fumy, foggy, filthy stench of hypocrisy surrounds him.
~Adam
~Adam
Adam, I hear you loud and clear my friend. While surfing the channels the other night on cable, most of the right wing talk shows are still talking about this whole thing. Get a life people, and move on! You hit the nail on the head regarding the hypocrisy my friend.
For lack of a better place to post...
Has anybody heard Janet's new single...and what do you think of it?
Has anybody heard Janet's new single...and what do you think of it?
QUOTE
puckman1:
Adam, I hear you loud and clear my friend. While surfing the channels the other night on cable, most of the right wing talk shows are still talking about this whole thing. Get a life people, and move on! You hit the nail on the head regarding the hypocrisy my friend.
The reason Faux News goes on and on about it is because it's all that sexual frustration from the guys on the right. They'd be gettin' some if they were part of the "liberal" media. Adam, I hear you loud and clear my friend. While surfing the channels the other night on cable, most of the right wing talk shows are still talking about this whole thing. Get a life people, and move on! You hit the nail on the head regarding the hypocrisy my friend.
QUOTE
GatorJamie:
I have a solution:
BRING BACK MARCHING BANDS TO HALFTIME WHERE THEY BELONG!
Sounds like a good idea to me. I think that the reason this topic has such legs is that people on the right have been complaining for years about some of the raunchy stuff on TV but the more they complained it just made it MORE popular and made the advertisers (who can't dare to seem backward or unhip) happy. Now some people are actually listening and conservatives may actually see some changes. If you look at the costumes that Janet Jackson't chorus members/dance troupe were wearing - now come-on it looked inappropriate & out of place to me - women & guys in bustiers, & garter belts I believe. Now I agree that the commercials have been tasteless enough, but that is the most popular defense I have heard for the risque show. "Well its not any worse than the commercials" OK - well clean up the commercials, then. There is a time and a place for this past halftime show- maybe on cable -I just don't think that this was the right time or place. I have no problem with a boob on ER as part of the breast cancer story line. I don't think Janet has breast cancer, Thank God. I have a solution:
BRING BACK MARCHING BANDS TO HALFTIME WHERE THEY BELONG!
Thanx for listening to my rant. NOW feel free to JUMP ALL OVER ME! [ February 12, 2004, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: copman ]
For anyone who was offended by this year's halftime show, be careful what you wish for.
Sporting News magazine is saying "FOX is suggesting a Super Bowl 39 halftime starring American Idol winners". God help us all! Certainly not surprising that FOX would try to involve the Idols sinc ethey are so underexposed! I'd rather have Aretha Franklin flash her mammories at us than be subjected to a Ruben-Kelly duet!
Sporting News magazine is saying "FOX is suggesting a Super Bowl 39 halftime starring American Idol winners". God help us all! Certainly not surprising that FOX would try to involve the Idols sinc ethey are so underexposed!
I'd rather have Aretha Franklin flash her mammories at us than be subjected to a Ruben-Kelly duet!
QUOTE
George_vikingfan:
Sporting News magazine is saying \"FOX is suggesting a Super Bowl 39 halftime starring American Idol winners\".
Yet another sign "The Apocalypse" is upon us. Sporting News magazine is saying \"FOX is suggesting a Super Bowl 39 halftime starring American Idol winners\".
Looking forward to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Halftime Show next January!
QUOTE
George_vikingfan:
Sporting News magazine is saying \"FOX is suggesting a Super Bowl 39 halftime starring American Idol winners\".
I hate to say I told you so...
Sporting News magazine is saying \"FOX is suggesting a Super Bowl 39 halftime starring American Idol winners\".
Sorry to burst your bubble Joe, but predicting FOX would resort to using American Idol contestants hardly qualifies as a bold, daring prediction. Even Miss Cleo could have seen this one coming! wink
wink
Frank Rich has a typically excellent column about the event which will destroy Western Civilization as we know it. Money quotes:
QUOTE
It's the unwritten rule of our culture that the public is always right. The \"folks,\" as Bill O'Reilly is fond of condescending to them, are always the innocent victims of the big, bad cultural villains. They're never complicit in the crime. The idea that the folks might have the free will to tune out tasteless TV programming or do without TV altogether — or that they might eat up the sleaze, with or without young 'uns in the room — is almost never stated on television, for obvious reasons of fiscal self-interest. You don't insult your customers.
Since the public is blameless for its role in creating a market for displays like the Super Bowl's, who should be the scapegoat instead? If you peruse Mr. O'Reilly's admonitions in his first three programs dealing with the topic, or the tirades of The Wall Street Journal editorial page and right-wing direct-mail mills like the Parents Television Council and Concerned Women for America, you'll find a revealing pattern: MTV, CBS and their parent corporation, Viacom, are the exclusive targets of the invective. The National Football League is barely mentioned, if at all. To blame the country's highest-rated sports operation, after all, might risk insulting the football-watching folks to whom these moral watchdogs pander for fun and profit
And this: Since the public is blameless for its role in creating a market for displays like the Super Bowl's, who should be the scapegoat instead? If you peruse Mr. O'Reilly's admonitions in his first three programs dealing with the topic, or the tirades of The Wall Street Journal editorial page and right-wing direct-mail mills like the Parents Television Council and Concerned Women for America, you'll find a revealing pattern: MTV, CBS and their parent corporation, Viacom, are the exclusive targets of the invective. The National Football League is barely mentioned, if at all. To blame the country's highest-rated sports operation, after all, might risk insulting the football-watching folks to whom these moral watchdogs pander for fun and profit
QUOTE
That investigation, piggybacked by last week's Congressional hearings, is an election-year stunt as full of hot air as the Bud Light horse flatulence ad. \"Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration,\" declared Michael Powell, the F.C.C. chairman, upon announcing that the entire halftime would be examined. A celebration of what, exactly? Didn't Mr. Powell, the nation's chief television regulator, watch the previous MTV halftime show?
He promises to conduct the investigation himself — a meaningless gesture, though it may gain him an audience and perhaps a photo op with Ms. Jackson. Mr. Powell's real agenda here is to conduct a show trial that might counter his well-earned reputation as a wholly owned subsidiary of our media giants. Viacom has been a particularly happy beneficiary of the deregulatory push of his reign, buying up every slice of the media pie that's not nailed down. Should CBS be found guilty of \"indecency\" by the feds, the total penalty would amount to some $5 million, roughly the price of two 30-second Super Bowl commercials. Congress's new push to increase those fines tenfold is just as laughable. Viacom took in $26.6 billion last year.
Not for nothing did the company's stock actually go up the day after the Super Bowl. The halftime show was great merchandising for both MTV and CBS, the go-to network for \"Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.\" Not to be left without a piece of the action, even NBC got into the act. Citing the Jackson flap, it decreed that two split-second shots of an 80-year-old woman's breast in an emergency room sequence in \"E.R.\" be excised. But the \"E.R.\" star Noah Wyle then went on NBC's \"Today\" show the morning of the broadcast to joke about the decision, and the network-owned NBC affiliate in New York used the banned breast as a promo for its post-\"E.R.\" news broadcast: \"What you won't see on tonight's episode of `E.R.' — at 11!\" Thus did NBC successfully transform its decision not to bare geriatric flesh into a sexual tease to hype ratings. This is true marketing genius, American-style
He promises to conduct the investigation himself — a meaningless gesture, though it may gain him an audience and perhaps a photo op with Ms. Jackson. Mr. Powell's real agenda here is to conduct a show trial that might counter his well-earned reputation as a wholly owned subsidiary of our media giants. Viacom has been a particularly happy beneficiary of the deregulatory push of his reign, buying up every slice of the media pie that's not nailed down. Should CBS be found guilty of \"indecency\" by the feds, the total penalty would amount to some $5 million, roughly the price of two 30-second Super Bowl commercials. Congress's new push to increase those fines tenfold is just as laughable. Viacom took in $26.6 billion last year.
Not for nothing did the company's stock actually go up the day after the Super Bowl. The halftime show was great merchandising for both MTV and CBS, the go-to network for \"Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.\" Not to be left without a piece of the action, even NBC got into the act. Citing the Jackson flap, it decreed that two split-second shots of an 80-year-old woman's breast in an emergency room sequence in \"E.R.\" be excised. But the \"E.R.\" star Noah Wyle then went on NBC's \"Today\" show the morning of the broadcast to joke about the decision, and the network-owned NBC affiliate in New York used the banned breast as a promo for its post-\"E.R.\" news broadcast: \"What you won't see on tonight's episode of `E.R.' — at 11!\" Thus did NBC successfully transform its decision not to bare geriatric flesh into a sexual tease to hype ratings. This is true marketing genius, American-style
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