Trash TV
Will Super Bowl Sleaze Prompt A Real Crackdown On All That Media Smut?
Today, TV sex is so casual that seinfeld built an episode around Elaine's limited supply of contraceptive sponges, which meant potential partners had to be deemed "spongeworthy." Bare bottoms pop up on NYPD Blue and other shows. Cable, of course, goes much further. "It's too much," says Manesiotis. "Everything is OK. What college kids see, a second grader sees. I feel like our country is just letting this happen."
Or perhaps not. Just days before the breast-baring incident, House members decried the state of broadcasting in a subcommittee hearing. A White House-backed bill to increase by 10 times (from $27,500 to $275,000 per offense) the fines the FCC can impose against indecent broadcasters has been put into hyperdrive. It now has about 100 cosponsors. A bill sponsored by Ose would ban six of the "seven dirty words" made famous in the early 1970s by comedian George Carlin. "My bill wouldn't impact what happened on Sunday," says Ose, "but it would set a clear line."
Congress has become increasingly angry that the FCC has done so little to enforce decency standards. The FCC has successfully fined only two television stations for indecency in its history. Last year the FCC declined to fine NBC for U2 singer Bono's use of the "F" word on the Golden Globe Awards on the grounds that it was used as an adjective, not a verb. Last month, Chairman Powell said that he wanted to reconsider the Bono decision, and the FCC has said it is investigating similarly foul language used by Nicole Richie in a recent awards broadcast. Now, FCC commissioners have been summoned to testify in front of a Senate committee and a House subcommittee this week. The commissioners can expect a tongue-lashing by members of Congress. "There are some pretty angry folks on the Hill," notes one staffer.
Ranny Levy, president of the Santa Fe, N.M.-based Kids First! thinks tighter rules may be both necessary and welcome. "We hear, `We're only giving the public what they want,' " says Levy. "I'm here to tell you parents are appalled at what they are finding on television." Steyer agrees. "People are fed up, and they don't know where to turn. They wonder, `How much lower are they going to go?' " Still, he notes, "nearly 50 percent of families with kids have no rules about television."
A 2003 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 64 percent of all shows and 71 percent of all prime-time broadcast shows have at least some sexual content. Only 15 percent of all sexual references or actions were considered to be "responsible," in that they suggested either responsibility or consequences. And while sexual references haven't been increasing, Kaiser found the content has gotten more explicit.
So far, no good solutions have emerged. "Not very many people actually use the V-chip. It's difficult to find and program," says Victoria Rideout, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Moreover, many parents don't understand the ratings. "Only 12 percent know that FV means fantasy violence," she says. "A lot of them thought it meant Family Viewing."
advertisement
