Hollywood's Ridiculous Lawyers
By Brent Bozell
November 21, 2008
Page 2 of 2
Once "tolerance" is assumed, inundation follows.
The profanity virus is also moving earlier and earlier into prime time. In 1998, no shows on broadcast television aired the S-word at 8 or 9 p.m. By 2007, the S-word appeared in 73 shows at 8 p.m., and 52 shows at 9 o'clock. In 2007, 52 percent of the programs that contained the F-word and 55 percent of the programs that contained the S-word aired during the family hour of 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central. In 2007, the F-word aired in 96 shows during the 8 p.m. hour.
Hollywood's lawyers are also arguing against the FCC's legalistic definition of profanity (and common sense) when they suggest that when people use the F-word, it doesn't always have a sexual connotation. When Chief Justice John Roberts argued that the sexual charge of the F-word is what gives the word its shock value, Phillips bizarrely claimed: "I suppose you can say it, but I don't understand on what basis. There is no empirical support for that." This caused Scalia to tickle the audience again, saying people "don't use 'gollywoggles' instead of the F-word."
This whole argument may have been ended up being politically unnecessary, but it was nonetheless culturally instructive. It demonstrated that Hollywood's legal hired guns could perform even more shamelessly than Hollywood itself.
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L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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