sisyphusshrugged | more breast stuff

seamusd reminds us of the poetically succinct demonstration of the moral priorities of our nation's guardians of public values that was given unto us when the network tried to have a breast excised from Schindler's List so that no-one who tuned in to see still-warm bodies incinerated would be inadvertantly exposed to obscenity.

edit: aha. woops. the money quote (ahem) is here

Limits on the depiction of violence were crossed years ago, and anyone who has seen network reality shows like ABC's "Are You Hot?" or "Temptation Island" on the Fox network understands that network standards about sex are almost as skimpy as cable's. The F.C.C. has jurisdiction over networks, not cable, and its enforcement of indecency statutes is scattered. Last year, the commission received about 240,000 complaints about some 375 different radio and television programs, and issued a total of three fines.

The networks are careful not to violate the mammary taboo. Breasts are shown at varying angles of nudity depending on the hour of the day, but nipples are not normally shown on network television. (The first broadcast of "Schindler's List" was a notable exception. The director, Steven Spielberg, refused to edit his Holocaust film, and NBC went along, assuming viewers would not consider nudity the most disturbing element in the film. The network got complaints anyway.)

For millions of Americans who believe that the violence, sex and nudity on network shows keep growing bolder and sleazier, Janet Jackson's extreme exposure (her metal sunburst enhanced rather than concealed her nipple) was almost welcome. Like federal prosecutors sending Al Capone to jail for tax evasion, critics of all stripes used the Jackson infraction as a chance to vent about far worse, unpunished, offenses.

"The outcry is really about the glaring lack of accountability or responsibility at some of the most important media and entertainment institutions in the country," James P. Steyer, the founder of Common Sense Media, a parents' lobbying group, said. "How could they think this was O.K.?"

Mr. Timberlake did more than just expose Ms. Jackson's breast. The move, a pantomime of sexual assault, is not widely accepted, however commonplace it may be on MTV and at hip-hop concerts. And it was particularly jarring during the testosterone-fueled Super Bowl, an event that to some minds is linked, however speciously, to male violence against women. (A women's advocacy group in 1993 got a lot of attention by stating that rates of spousal abuse were higher on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day, even though research did not support the claim.)