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Many times when I sit down to bang out my weekly musings there are some topics that I try to stay away from. It’s either because the topic has been completely over saturated by the press or I have written about it in the past. Even though the problem still exists I don’t like repeating myself.
Sometimes though, if I begin dwelling on either topic, I can’t help myself. It’s kind of like I have short term OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I won’t be able to move forward until I do write about it and get it out of my system.
I want you to know that I tried to stay away from it. Everyone else under the media sun was writing about it, but like a moth to the flame, I have been drawn to it. I am of course referring to Janet Jackson’s breast, and the national obsession that has followed it. You would think with all the hoopla, that nobody had ever seen a woman’s breast before.
I must admit my family and I were watching the Super Bowl half time show when said breast was exposed and were surprised by
its appearance. As soon as it happened I turned to look at my son and wife to see their reactions. While there was a wide-eyed expression on their faces it was also accompanied by a smile, as if they were about to start laughing or to say, did you see that?
It happened so quickly that we immediately started discussing what we thought we saw as opposed to what was there. It turns out that my son’s description was the most accurate, good for him, because he was obviously looking at the right spot at the right time. He contended there was something covering, to some extent, the breast.
My wife and I, determined that my son was correct in his description after visiting the Drudge Report web site,
www.drudgereport.com. Just in case you missed it, there are close ups, and I do mean close, of the infamous breast and its sunny decoration. I guess we don’t have to worry about his eyesight because, as it stands now, he’s got 20/20.
What did not happen in my family room is that nobody suffered permanent psychological damage, felt ill, burst into flames, or joined a cult dedicated to the breast of Janet. None of us contemplated suicide or even felt dizzy. As a matter of fact, by the end of the third quarter, we had forgotten all about it. Sure it was a nice breast, but no offense Ms. Jackson, I’ve seen better.
Obviously the religious right, the FCC, and other groups had these things happen to them in their family rooms because there would no other reason for their panicked response to what boils down to, a case of bad judgment. Sorry folks, the nudity genie was let out of the bottle long ago and you will never be able to put it back in. Sure you might be able get it part way in for a little while but you will never be able to keep it there.
TV Producer, Steven Bochco, was right in his recent assessment of the situation. The ABC Network, which carries Bochco’s show NYPD Blue, a show that has always shown a little nudity here and there, decided in the wake of Janet’s exposure to re-edit a recent episode of Blue because, in the mid-west, it is shown at 9PM instead of 10PM as it is here. Bochco said after hearing this “It’s a hysterical, knee jerk reaction. I can’t stop them, but I think it’s really lame.”
Lame indeed. With a show like NYPD Blue you know what you are getting yourself into when you tune in. If you didn’t before tuning in, they certainly make you aware of it before the show starts. They do this via warnings about what you may see should you continue to watch and are a “more sensitive” viewer.
The whole situation has blown way out of control. Every group of boobs who has an ax to grind with anything that they don’t deem appropriate on TV are always ready and waiting in the wings to fan the flames of controversy. In this go around we have the American Family Association, who are attempting to punish MTV, who produced the Half Time Show, by attempting to boycott advertisers on that channel.
I may be wrong, but I doubt it, when I say that nobody in the AFA watches MTV. They are going after them because they don’t like what they represent, free thought, free speech, and multiple types of music that they don’t like, which equates to censorship. Just because I like to watch what you don’t doesn’t allow you the right to deprive me of seeing it or allowing my kids to watch it. If you don’t like it, do what I do when there is a reality show on, change the channel.
The bottom line here is this, Janet Jackson made a mistake, a bad decision, and she is and probably will continue to be punished for it for some time to come. To use her mistake as the catalyst for groups of over pious zealots, whether they belong to the AFA or the FCC, to try and mold TV into what their vision of the world should be, is a far worse crime than showing a part of anatomy that every woman possesses.
A piece of anatomy that has been on view since the Garden of Eden.
The Shrub Speaks: Yes, that's a -- first of all, Mom, you're doing -- that's tough. But it's -- I appreciate that. I appreciate the idea of you wanting to give your children the education from you and the mom. Springfield, Missouri, Feb. 9, 2004
B.D.’s Response: Whatever he’s trying to say about education, I just wish he would have gotten a better one.
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