# In which I pit the fucker with the huge LCD screen **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 6, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081 "2004-01-06T21:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/61 "2004-01-08T09:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*And while you might be able to make an argument against showing sexually-explicit material, what if the TV was showing “The Last Temptation of Christ,” and the offended passer-by was a devout Christian who felt the movie was heresy? Same problem. \*\* People who were offfended by LToC were offended by the movie in its entirety. People who are offended by porn are mostly offended by the visuals. (Some take offense at the scenarios as well, but IMO, you have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy porn at all, so who cares what the setup is.) Any one frame of a porn movie is potentially offensive (excluding the minute or so it takes for the performers to walk onto the set and exchange rudimentary dialogue). Only a very few frames of LToC, absent the dialogue and exposition, are potentially offensive, so the odds are much lower that someone would see the screen at the exact moment that those visuals appeared. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/62 "2004-01-08T15:46:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*To a degree, yeah, but AFAIK there’s no way to draw a line where the burden shifts from the distracted driver to the guy with the distracting vehicle. I mean, there are cars with neon undercarriage lights, cars with ultra-bright “viper light” LEDs for the windshield washers, cars with oddball and foul-mouthed bumper stickers, cars with eye-catching detail work – where do we say “this is too much, tone it down”? \*\* The undercarriage lights are not legal here, they’re too distractive. I’d bet that everthing you mentioned, with the exception of the detail work, is illegal in one place or another. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/63 "2004-01-08T16:38:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > **Irrelevant. Firstly, just because MrMyth didn’t see anyone else in the vehicle doesn’t mean there wasn’t anyone else – maybe there was a passenger slumped down in the seat, hidden by the tinted glass and seatback. Secondly, even if there were no other passengers in the vehicle, MrMyth’s primary responsibility was the safe operation of _his_ vehicle, not the monitoring of other people’s movies. As I said before, there’s really not much to do about it other than to be somewhere else.** You know, this reminds me of an event that happened six years ago when I was waiting in line to check in at an airport. Long story short, there had been a blizzard the previous day and it took me three hours just to check in at the ticket counter. But at hour two-and-a-half, three people who weren’t in line started to have a conversation a few feet to my left. They had apparently arrived at the last minute and so a ticket clerk had just checked them in specially to help them not miss their flight. Now they were congratulating themselves on their good fortune, and commenting on “the idiots who are spending hours standing in line”. They were literally less than four feet away from me, not to mention everyone else in line around me. So I turned around and said “Some of those ‘idiots’ can hear you.” Judging from the reaction of one of them, you’d think I’d gone through their baggage and spat in their undies. “What are you doing butting in on a private conversation?!?” or some such. But you know what? They insulted me within my earshot. At that point, their privacy became pretty much null and void because _they threw it out themselves_. You have to right to privacy in your own home, but if you start having sex on your front lawn then you’re going to get arrested, and claiming that the cops are invading your privacy is just stupid. Same if you project a pornographic movie on the outside wall of your house, and same if you start showing porn from a moving car where it can be seen by anyone who pulls up behind you at an intersection. The fact that the movie _might_ be for the benefit of a hypothetical midget hiding in the wheel-well is what’s irrelevant. In this society we have chosen not to tolerate lewd public displays, and that’s what this is. The driver of the car in the OP threw out his own privacy when he made his porn visible to the public at large. Maybe there is no way to draw a bright line between neon undercarriage lights, foul-mouthed bumper stickers and backseat porn. Maybe there’s only a fuzzy line. But I’m pretty damned sure that the situation described in the OP is on the _wrong side_ of that line, however fuzzy it may be. Just because we can’t enforce community standards with pinpoint accuracy and perfect legalistic rigour all the time doesn’t mean that some situations aren’t clearly _wrong_. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/64 "2004-01-08T17:15:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dryga\_Yes \* > \*\ ***MrMyth** _did_ say that he didn’t want his children to know about fellatio until they’d reached the age of consent. That _is_ mind-bogglingly stupid. I don’t really know where the Ilsa-Lund pile-on free-for-all came from. \*\* Well obviously you didn’t read what was said and have bought into **Isla-Lund** ’s strawman. What **MrMyth** said was he didn’t wish his daughter **exposed** to it. If you and **Isla-Lund** can’t figure the difference between that and _knowing about_ perhaps you should go ask someone to explain. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/65 "2004-01-08T21:02:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > The undercarriage lights are not legal here, they’re too distractive. I’d bet that everthing you mentioned, with the exception of the detail work, is illegal in one place or another. Well, when “playing porn in your in-car entertainment system” is illegal where **MrMyth** lives, then let’s talk. 🙂 (I personally find high beams in my rear-view mirror distracting as hell, but nobody takes up the cause for that…) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/66 "2004-01-08T21:40:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > \*\*I wouldn’t want my (hypothetical) five year old to see a blowjob either, but the age of consent is sixteen. I imagine a bit of hyperbole is at play, but parents who don’t want their kids to to _know what oral sex is until they are sixteen_ are often parents of _unwed teenage_ parents. That was what I took issue with. \*\* 1. Age of consent varies by state. In many it is 18. 2. Who said anything about not knowing what a blowjob is? The words used were “exposed to” which I took as meaning “being shown” in this case on a tv screen. (continued reading shows that **Futile Gesture** has already pointed this out…) On a total side note, my van (full size conversion van with a high top) has a 9" tv in it and we do watch movies and play video games at night… but only with all the pull-down blinds and curtains closed. The side widnows have pull-down blinds AND curtains, and the windows in the rear doors have curtains (and the windows out the back doors are so small as to be nearly useless for actual driver visibility anyway, so it isn’t a great loss.) and we have a curtain that closes off the whole rear of the van from the front seats. We close that when the people in the back want to have reading lights or something on as well. Again, with the curtains closed. **rjung** - I’d be willing to bet that it IS illegal. Public broadcast of porn is no doubt against the law most places. And in closing, this line: \*\*The fact that the movie might be for the benefit of a hypothetical midget hiding in the wheel-well is what’s irrelevant. \*\* is priceless. In fact, **Orbifold** ’s whole post is an awfully disturbing pile of rational thinking that really has no place in a pit thread 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/67 "2004-01-08T22:24:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Well, when “playing porn in your in-car entertainment system” is illegal where **MrMyth** lives, then let’s talk. 🙂 > \*\* Just for you, **rjung** , I performed a Google search that has probably already drawn the attention of the Department of Homeland Security: [The Lewdness Public Nuisance Act](http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2042&ChapAct=740%C2%A0ILCS%C2%A0105/&ChapterID=57&ChapterName=CIVIL+LIABILITIES&ActName=Lewdness+Public+Nuisance+Act%2E) from the state of Illinois. Note in particular the bit about “all moveable contents thereof”. There’s also the charge of “obscenity”, a misdemeanor which includes anyone who “publishes, exhibits or otherwise makes available anything obscene”, but I can’t find a reference to the Illinois criminal code online. I _have_ found far too many naturist web sites, however, so now I’m going home. **OpalCat** : aw shucks, ‘tweren’t nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/68 "2004-01-09T00:15:02Z")
Well, this certainly gives new meaning to “Junk in the Trunk.” What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/69 "2004-01-09T01:00:20Z")
The guy (or gal) playing porn in is car is just as wrong as the example of the guy playing porn in his living room with the curtains open. Both of these examples are just as wrong as if someone were standing in thier window naked. All of these examples are forms of exposure. Playing your music too loud is annoying (and possible illegal in some places), but attempting to Force others to view sexual organs or activity is an illness and should be illegal if it is not already. Because we are such inventive folks, perhaps the laws and DSMII will lag. It is still wrong. I don’t think anyone here would defend the guy standing naked in his living room window which, to me, is exactly the same as the car or the movie in the window of the house. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/70 "2004-01-09T02:51:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ca3799 \* > **Playing your music too loud is annoying (and possible illegal in some places)…** Here, for example. Arlington County has noise restrictions which some consider Draconian. They did come in handy when a couple of curbside mechanics were parked up the street from my apartment one night, blasting their car stereo loud enough to hear with my windows closed. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goofballz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@Mr.Goofballz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goofballz)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/71 "2004-01-09T02:57:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > \*\*I have never actually seen a strawman created in such a blatant fashion before. Congratulations! \*\* Amen Brother! This thread is hilarious. I’ve been reading this board for a long time and seen some amazing leaps of logic. But I must say Ilsa’s leap really impressed me for some reason. I think I’d like to party with that dude. Or maybe not. I’m not quite sure. I must take an emphatic stand. I believe a 5 year old is slightly too young to watch porn. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/72 "2004-01-09T08:47:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orbifold \* > [The Lewdness Public Nuisance Act](http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2042&ChapAct=740%C2%A0ILCS%C2%A0105/&ChapterID=57&ChapterName=CIVIL+LIABILITIES&ActName=Lewdness+Public+Nuisance+Act%2E) from the state of Illinois. Note in particular the bit about “all moveable contents thereof”. Well, there, hit 'im with that. Matter closed. But just to be _mildly_ contrarian here, 😉 I still maintain the view that – assuming no laws were being broken – even if Driver A is ridin’ down the street in a ride that is distracting or in-your-face provocative or whatever, it’s _still_ the responsibility of Drivers B, C, and D to not get distracted by the spectacle and _remain focused on driving their own vehicles._ Either that, or pass laws requiring all motor vehicles to be unadorned and painted flat black… ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/73 "2004-01-09T13:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Well, there, hit 'im with that. Matter closed. > > But just to be _mildly_ contrarian here, 😉 I still maintain the view that – assuming no laws were being broken – even if Driver A is ridin’ down the street in a ride that is distracting or in-your-face provocative or whatever, it’s _still_ the responsibility of Drivers B, C, and D to not get distracted by the spectacle and _remain focused on driving their own vehicles._ Either that, or pass laws requiring all motor vehicles to be unadorned and painted flat black… \*\* Agreed. And if this were a court of law then we’d have to abide by law. But its a discussion that also includes safety, consideration of others, and just plain old common sense. In a way this argument reminds me of something that happened to me two years ago. While teaching my son to drive we almost had an accident because he started to pull through an intersection just as a guy ran the stop sign. I could tell by the way the guy was not even beginning to brake his car as he approached that he might run the stop sign. I had to yell at my son to stop just as we started up through the intersection. My son turned to me and said,“If that guy hit us it would have been his fault”. I said,“Yes”. They could write It was the Other Guys Fault on our tombstones. The law says who is right or wrong. common sense says who survives. Just because the law may allow you to distract other drivers doesn’t mean its a good idea. Bubba ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/74 "2004-01-09T15:06:16Z")
**rjung** , I think you live on a different planet sometimes. You actually think that playing porn on a rear facing 15 inch screen is the same as having religious bumper stickers on your car? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/75 "2004-01-09T18:35:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > **I still maintain the view that – assuming no laws were being broken – even if Driver A is ridin’ down the street in a ride that is distracting or in-your-face provocative or whatever, it’s _still_ the responsibility of Drivers B, C, and D to not get distracted by the spectacle and _remain focused on driving their own vehicles._** I agree. From now on, I’m only going to drive with my high beams on. It’s clearly the responsibility of oncoming drivers to pay attention to the road and not get distracted by my headlights in their eyes. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/76 "2004-01-09T21:51:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Debaser \* > You actually think that playing porn on a rear facing 15 inch screen is the same as having religious bumper stickers on your car? Not exactly. The person playing porn in his car _might_ be trying to shove porn down people’s throats. On the other hand, he might merely be amusing himself, or entertaining his passengers, or doing it for some unknown reason. The person who has “JESUS SAVES - REPENT OR BURN” in foot-tall vinyl letters on the back of his car is _definitely_ trying to shove religion down people’s throats. As I was saying before, the price of living in a free society is that everyone has to tolerate obnoxious behavior from everyone else. Unless, of course, there’s a law specifically against the behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/77 "2004-01-09T23:18:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > **But just to be _mildly_ contrarian here, 😉 I still maintain the view that – assuming no laws were being broken –** Yeah, and if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a bus. What exactly is your point here? And by “here”, I mean in the entire thread? That porn is somehow no worse than “Jesus Saves” in foot-high neon letters? That’s preposterous. Show “Jesus Saves” in foot-high vinyl letters to a three-year old in the park. Then show porn to a three-year old in the park. See which one gets you arrested. (And spare me the “well if it wasn’t illegal” hypotheticals.) Or is your point perhaps that **MrMyth** should have been paying attention to his own driving? _Is there the slightest evidence that he wasn’t?_ Pulling up behind a car at an intersection and noticing porn on a fifteen inch screen in the car in front of you doesn’t constitute bad driving. This entire thread just gets more and more ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/78 "2004-01-09T23:28:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*As I was saying before, the price of living in a free society is that everyone has to tolerate obnoxious behavior from everyone else. Unless, of course, there’s a law specifically against the behavior. \*\* Then you won’t mind if I follow you around, shining a laser pointer in your eye? I’m pretty sure there is currently no law against it, so you’ll just quietly go about your day, right? You can still have a free society and expect people to have some basic consideration for others. And complain about them when they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/79 "2004-01-10T00:20:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orbifold \* > What exactly is your point here? And by “here”, I mean in the entire thread? Just that each of us individual drivers must bear the burden of not being distracted or outraged by what our fellow drivers are doing with their vehicles. > [@](#): > > That porn is somehow no worse than “Jesus Saves” in foot-high neon letters? Actually, that “Jesus Saves” in foot-high neon letters is as bad as porn. 😉 > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Giraffe_ > Then you won’t mind if I follow you around, shining a laser pointer in your eye? I’m pretty sure there is currently no law against it, so you’ll just quietly go about your day, right? Assuming my eye doesn’t get physically damaged by it, I can’t see this being any different than the guy driving behind me with his high beams on last night. Somehow, I managed to avoid having a hissy-fit about that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081/80 "2004-01-10T00:47:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Assuming my eye doesn’t get physically damaged by it, I can’t see this being any different than the guy driving behind me with his high beams on last night. Somehow, I managed to avoid having a hissy-fit about that, too. \*\* First of all, I’m not talking about shining a laser pointer in your eye once. I’m talking about following you around 24 hours a day, and every time you are in or near a public place, I’m there shining a laser in your eye. From what you’ve said in this thread, I can only conclude that you feel it would be your duty as a citizen in a free society to silently ignore me. The fact that my behavior is obnoxious and unnecessary and likely to eventually drive you completely batshit wouldn’t phase you at all? There’s nothing I can do that would prompt you to complain about me to others, as long as I don’t break any laws? Second of all, congratulations on not having a hissy fit last night. While I agree that someone’s high beams briefly in your face is nothing to lose your shit over, it doesn’t change the fact that a person who consistently drives around with their high beams on is a dick. As is a person who stalks you and shines a laser pointer in your eye. As is a person who drives around broadcasting a porno. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-fucker-with-the-huge-lcd-screen/223081.md?page=5)