TV Censorship in America
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It's been very entertaining to be watching how censorship has evolved on television in the USA. The original intent of the censors was to remove "obscene" language and material from the airwaves (and now cable) so as to protect the innocence of the young. At least that was their stated intent. But to those that became subject to such rules, it seemed like much more was going on; their message, whether political, religious or otherwise, was being edited in and of itself.

But what has struck me as quite funny is the high pitched beeping noise that is used to "bleep out" unwanted words. Rather than totally removing the word from the conversation, "eleeping out" the word makes the it into some kind of exclamation point, thus giving the word even more power than if it was said in the first place.

It makes me wonder, is this uniquely American phenomena? A much more pernicious way to edit out unwanted words is to make the sound track empty at that moment, thus down playing the word like they often do on Canadian TV. It removes the exclamation point from the word and if it's done well, is hardly noticeable. And if you think about it, this is a much more diabolical way to edit the media.

So why are they bleeping it out with that high pitched tone? Was it a compromise by the censors that the artists argued for so that the viewer would know the censor’s heavy hand has edited the piece? Or was it part of some kind of politically or religiously motivated agenda to pursue a "War on Filth" or some such thing. Makes you wonder.

The artists have responded in a rather entertaining way in that they will voluntarily "bleep out" the words. But since they know the "Bleep" will be there, they write the conversation so that the bleep will be placed in such a context that it is obvious what the character is saying. As well, sometimes they do not fully "bleep out" the word, so hearing part of the word, such as "F**K you!" makes it fairly apparent what is being said.

Can the censors ever win? Yes, but their victories are usually small and pyrrhic. If people want to hear or see things that are out there, they cannot be prevented from doing so. You can always buy the movie, get the uncut version, or see it on-line. We live in a society that is based on openness and access to information for the individual. In such a state, the censors will always be fighting a losing battle.

I thikn it's funny that with their zelous drive to "protect" America from itself, they in essence give more power to the forbidden words and deleted scenes. After all, it's the forbidden fruit that tastes the sweetest. The strategy of censorship backfires on them, as it should.