Prudes Taking Over America — Rick Steves is a tour guide and PBS maven showing travelogue footage on PBS and also on HDNet. I was shocked to hear him yesterday talking about how his show is banned for being smutty in certain regions. By smutty that means he shows 500 year old Titian and Ruebens museum paintings that have a bare breast. He also shows statues by Michaelangelo who is considered a softcore pornographer by station managers in the South and elsewhere. He mentioned that his show, which is incredibly tame (if not lame) in general, can only be shown after 10 PM in some markets and must have a disclaimer/warning at the beginning. What is wrong with these people? This is totally perverted and a disgrace. Yet another example of the American’s inability — especially in the Bible belt — to prioritize things correctly. The link above is an older essay Steves wrote about the problem.
I completely agree with you. I often write about this subject on my own blog… a few idiots think nudity=pornography and it forces certain restrictions on the rest of us.
Ridiculous.
I used to work for a PBS affiliate back in the 80/90s. It was quite common for shows such as Mystery or Masterpiece Theatre to contain nudity, i.e., bare breasts. In fact, I even kept a tape collection I entitled “The Breast of Masterpiece Theatre.” Or was it “The Greatest Tits of Masterpiece Theatre”?! We even aired these shows in the afternoon! We never received one complaint.
Times have changed.
Thank you for keeping us abreast of the situation……….sorry
Con Nutjob #1:
“Hmm, how should we honor God and our religion these days?”
Con Nutjob #2:
“Let’s censor our bodies which are created in his image!”
Con Nutjob #1:
“Brilliant!”
The country was founded by prudes, and they never left.
Pornography has become a ubiquitous and thriving multi-billion-dollar publically-traded business, hardwired into almost every American home and hotel room, even as it enjoys First Amendment protections granted by the Supreme Court. The whole Internets drips with graphic depictions of every conceivable variation of sex in which the human species has ever engaged.
Yet, somehow, the banner reads:
“Sick Prudes Taking over America.”
Give me a break.
And you think that’s a contradiction?
Hmmm… Nehhh…. Could be….
This is fantastic. Its good to see that the human body is still an object of shame You have to realise though that some people live to be shocked by such things, they will force themselves to watch TV shows that are clearly marketed at a different audience then run frantically to their desk to write letters of condemnation.
If you don’t like a tv show don’t watch it. Don’t load internet sites you find offensive. Don’t read books that contain adult themes. Live by your own moral code, just don’t try and take the rest of us along on your crazy ride.
Anyone that would consider Michelangelo too graphic to appear before 10 PM should seriously have their head examined. It is yet another sign of failing education when people consider genuine art masterpieces to be too graphic. This is reminiscent of the time I heard someone say that they did not like the movie Amadeus because of the music.
Last year a couple restored a older home in our town. they put a garden in the side yard that was acrossed the street from a school in the garden they placed a life size copy of Michelangelos david. the teachers rather then use this as a teaching tool they tried to get them to remove it saying it was indesent. these were soposedly educated people. fortunatly our town leaders told them to get a life.
As much as people accuse “prudes” of trying to control what goes in our minds, I fear a larger problem.
Recently the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was forced to resign over some actions he took trying to steer PBS and NPR towards a more conservative stance. Many Republican politicians have tried the same thing over the years. Public broadcasting, well recognized for it’s neutrality, has had its funding cut and cut by Congress because some feel it is not conservative enough.
Why some are so offended by the sight of God’s creation is beyond me. I am very offended yet say nothing about these Television Evangelists begging for money to do Gods work. Why does God need a bigger TV studio, or more assistants, or need money for someone to pray for you. That is obscene.
Nudity is the human condition; display is cultural. Anyone who displays the body in a manner that is absurd, unsolicited and blatantly sexual should be laughed at, not prosecuted. What value is there in enforcing a modesty that some people, or even most
people, do not share? I don’t display my body because I’m unconvinced that people would find it particularly interesting or edifying; I would find it personally absurd. Fortunately their are many bodies that are both interesting and edifying. Nudity in art is rarely absurd unless that was the specific intent of the artist. Nudity has been the subject of art since the cave dwelling cultures. Let’s get over imposing our unsophisticated and narrow world views on others. Our culture celebrates the body, is infatuated and titillated by it, finds it unendingly interesting – as is proved every day in the media, in advertising, in cinema, in literature and on the internet. When will those who censor realize that their actions don’t lessen interest in the body; making public nudity and sexually arousing images taboo only serves to make it more desirable in the minds of those who would be less unhealthily attracted if it was understood as a natural part of life, no big deal? If more people simply ridiculed the
irrational instead of taking offense, the world would be a saner place.
If public broadcasting is recognized for its neutrality, then how come it’s always Democrat politicians that are buying PBS’ donation lists?