Blame It All on the Nookie

Apparently, White Ribbons Against Pornography week began on Sunday; kicked off by a bunch of “moral majority” types – Focus on the Family, Morality in Media, etc. Oh the joy, or rather, the lack thereof:

The 20th annual White Ribbons Against Pornography (WRAP) Week kicked off on Sunday as a yearlong effort to combat the spread of porn across the American culture and to push for the enforcement of federal obscenity laws.

Because as we know, America’s problems can be traced back to pornography:

“Our nation … faces a moral crisis, giving rise, among other things, to teen promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS), abortions, children born to single mothers, divorces, sexual abuse of children, sexual harassment, rape, and trafficking in women and children,” said Robert W. Peters, president of Morality in Media, which is spearheading a national awareness campaign. “It is clear that the explosive increase in the availability of hardcore pornography is helping to fuel this moral crisis.”

This moral crisis isn’t due to lack of parenting or a general moral malaise that accepts whatever is laid in front of it. No, it’s brought on by the despicable, evil pornography industry, because accepting personal responsibility is not the way to go when you can blame “The Other.” Nor is this moral crisis all that it appears to be.

According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, teen pregnancy is at its lowest point ever, and the teen abortion rate has declined 50 percent since 1988. And according to the Kaiser Foundation, teenage sexual activity has also declined, while safe sex has increased. In 2001 and again in 2004, the Justice Department noted a decline in the number of child abuse, and their conclusion was that one of the factors was indeed an actual decline in the occurence of abuse. And aside from the fact that there is no significant increase in any of the areas he mentions, in fact they are mostly in decline, there absolutely no proven causal link between pornography and crime; all there is is correlation (at best).

Just because the media hypes these stories to get ratings, and Dateline has a recurring special on entrapping child predators, it doesn’t mean there is an actual, real increase in these behaviours. It’s more likely that we’re living in a more voyeuristic world in which we want to see a lot more, even if there’s not a lot to see.

I’ll leave you with this thought from the Marquis de Sade’s Philosophy in the Bedroom: “Voluptuaries of all ages, of every sex, it is to you only that I offer this work; nourish yourselves upon its principles: they favor your passions, and these passions, whereof coldly insipid moralists put you in fear, are naught but the means Nature employs to bring man to the ends she prescribes to him; hearken only to these delicious Promptings, for no voice save that of the passions can conduct you to happiness.”

Other blogs on this topic: White Ribbons and the War on Porn (FleshBot)

FCC’s Filthy Mouth

On June 4th, Chairman Kevin Martin of the FCC sent out a press release regarding the 2nd Circuit’s ruling on “fleeting expletives.”

The Second Circuit’s ruling in Fox v. FCC basically undercut the FCC’s position on obscene and indecent speech on television, citing the FCC’s own statements on fleeting expletives. Essentially, when some one cusses on live television, such as Bono’s use of the word ‘Fuck’, the broadcaster is not liable for the utterance, because it is fleeting rather than repeated use of the term to shock and awe an audience.

However, the FCC chairman did not address that in his statement, instead choosing to comment on the effectiveness of the V-chip:

But even a vigilant parent using current blocking technologies such as the V-Chip couldn’t have avoided this language, because they rely on the program’s rating, and in this case the programs were rated appropriate for family viewing.

The Court addressed this issue, but I would like to note something here. Given the recent antics at awards shows, why would a parent think that such would be appropriate family viewing? Frankly, awards shows – like most television nowadays – are shit, and if you’re watching them, then you deserve whatever you get.

They also want to give parents more “tools”:

Today’s decision by the Court increases the importance of Congress considering contentneutral solutions to give parents more tools and consumers generally more control and choice over programming coming into their homes.

However, parents already have a sure fire method of avoiding these programs: the power button. Essentially, the FCC wants to dig it’s claws into the cable and satellite markets, which it has had trouble getting it’s claws into. They’re being left behind as broadcast television is losing place to cable, satellite and the internet, and as broadcast goes down, the FCC loses its purpose and power.  

Oh, Chairman Martin couldn’t even censor himself, using ‘fuck’ and ’shit’ seven times.

Hollywood and “Torture Porn”

A new article from AdAge.com discusses the new fad in Hollywood – “torture porn.”

No, not actual snuff films. Films like Hostel, Hostel 2, Saw, Saw 2, Saw 3, Turistas, and on and on.

Maybe it was just me, but Hostel was boring, as was Saw, and thus I did not see the Saw sequels, won’t be seeing the Hostel sequel or the Hostel knock off Turistas. However, the MPAA and Hollywood seem to have developed a concern with these films, and apparently, it boiled over recently with promotions for the new movie: Capitvity.

In late March, owing to what Mr. Solomon insists was a printing mix-up, outdoor billboard ads for “Captivity” banned by the Motion Picture Association of America went up all over Los Angeles anyway…

But after the “Captivity” firestorm, the MPAA brought the hammer down. For the first time, the ratings board suspended its rating process for two months in order to punish After Dark and Lionsgate for their transgression.

Now, based on the article’s description (not able to find any images), I can see why there would be a concern with the billboard, but the concern from the movie industry who spend millions to promote these films seems a tad disingenuous. And the MPAA’s concern, ha, we know how that goes (just don’t show them as sexy):

Mr. Roth has some hard-won tips for horror filmmakers: Woman bathing in blood? OK with the MPAA. Woman bathing in blood while fondling her own breasts? Not OK with the MPAA.

These movies are nothing more than gore fests lacking in story, depth, or any entertainment value. It took Hostel forever to get going, and when it did, there was nothing especially frightening in the movie. And Saw, I won’t even go there, but I want my money back. Could it be that Americans are so vapid that they enjoy these films, and are such wussies that they are scared by them?

Sounds about right. On Bravo yesterday, they were doing a show about the 30 scariest scenes from the movies. Now, most of them I would not consider scary – like the scene from Cabin Fever (a movie where I was kind of rooting for everyone to die because they were stupid enough to stay at the damn cabin) – but what struck we most was when came time to discuss the movie Grudge. And what was most intriguing and I believe the most important thing to take away from the program was the the director of Grudge – Takashi Shimizu, who directed the original Japanese version – noted that the movie had to be changed for its American audience.

Why? Because most Japanese horror movies are significantly more frightening than our latest generation of American horror movies, which are so focused on gore that they lose the more haunting elements which make a movie truly scary. But for my money, give me The Abominable Dr. Phibes (yeah, I know it’s not scary, but dammit, it’s Vincent Price).