A while back I saw Goodfellas on basic cable TV. They blanked out the N word. Curious if this is common now along with blanking out curse words? Can’t recall which network it was on. Maybe USA network?
Yes, it’s pretty common, and it’s not something new AFAIK.
I just watched Wolf of Wall Street last night (I forget the channel though) and they blanked out “retard” but left in “dick” and “asshole” and others. I found that strange.
“The Sheriff is a n-GONG!!!”
I guess they figured retard is a slur on handicapped people?
…because it is?
The F word regarding sexuality is being bleeped now as well.
Retard is a slur on slow people. You know, like slow people got no reason to live…
Sure, but I don’t find it strange they blanked out “retard”, just that they didn’t do a lot of obvious swear words (although the F-word was blanked).
The term “retard” has a broad meaning and is just used when the speaker is ignorant, mean-spirited, and hasn’t the intellect to make a cogent remark. Kind of ironic, isn’t it. Much like the f-word. Whereas the term “dick” and “asshole” is usually truth-in-advertising and spot-on - unless the speaker is also a “dick” or “asshole”, but then that’s usually obvious. 
My favorite is in one edit of *Blazing Saddles *the word Shtupp (part of Lili Von Shtupp’s name) is beeped out, while the poster for her appearance with her name in large print is on screen. And worse, “shtupp” by itself isn’t really a dirty word, just suggestive. It means to push or stuff.
They always censor “shmuck” during Christmas time when I’m watching “Scrooged”.
I always thought that was a weird one, especially given the character is calling himself that after a face turn/revelation.
I always understood it to be Yiddish slang for “fuck”. In my town, her name becomes “Lili Von Sht”, which, to me sounds almost as bad as “Von Shtupp”. They also censor the fart noises during the bean-eating scene. (By the way, Slim Pickens’ facial expressions make that scene just as funny, even without the sound effects.)
There is a cable network called TV One that I sometimes watch reruns of The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son and similar on. Every once an a while, they use then n word, and it isn’t censored.
Whenever the Matrix films are on, they always censor the “irreverent” profanity:
“You’re my savior man, my own personal …”
“Judas Priest, he’s fast”
Seems, I dunno, stupid to me. These people are the sort of person who casually say these sorts of things, its their character. But I guess they’re going to get letters if everyone says “Jesus Christ” casually. But who really acts like this:
“I came to watch a 20 year old movie on the fundamental basis of existence, as told by a leather clad Carrie Ann Moss via improbable kung-fu. Not to hear our Savior defamed, thank you very much.” :dubious:
The recent news story, of the airport worker who stole the Alaska airlines plane and crashed it into an inland was bugging me a lot. They have footage, filled by some bystander, who says “Oh, BLEEP, oh BLEEP. BLEEP,BLEEP,BLEEP,BLEEP.”
Urm. Why do we need the audio, if you’re just going to bleep it? Do we lose something if there’s no audio? The bystander literally doesn’t say anything else, except what I quoted above. Yes, another person recognizes the plane, notes that it shouldn’t there, and curses and was bleeped. That makes news sense.
Basic cable/broadcast TV and movies have always been censored. TBS, USA, the major networks, they have done it for at least the last 40 years. Gradually over the years more and more “bad” language has been allowed, like “balls” and “piss.”
My favorite edit is from The Big Lebowski, “This is what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps!” Original line was “This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!”
BTW back in the 70s I remember sitcoms The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son throwing around the n-word like it was nothing. That word has definitely gotten a lot more controversial.
I despise the censoring of any words in any film for any reason.
If the word is relevant, leave it in. It is what the artist intended to be heard. If the work is of an adult nature play it at an adult-friendly time.
What on earth would be the point of “goodfellas” or “the wolf of wall street” without the profanity, violence, sex and drugs…THEY ARE ABOUT PROFANITY, VIOLENCE, SEX AND DRUGS!
You might as well stick a fig leaf on Michelangelo’s work as well. We all know Mickey-paintbrush liked a cock or two.
It’s occasionally been an issue here. I notice that a lot of the digital channels that make their money from showing old stuff in the daytimes frequently mute out even quite mild swearwords that were on the original tapes when the programme was shown in “adult time”; and the 1950s movie The Dam Busters, in the original, made no secret that the real-life hero’s black Labrador was called you-know-what, but the version they show on TV these days somehow loses any mention of his name.
Almost everything was shown on the broadcast of Wolf of Wall Street. Really, I only noticed when “fuck” and “retard” were blanked out. It was just weird.
What I find hilarious is that nobody would bleep out ‘damn’ but a few channels will bleep out ‘goddamn’.
Even more idiotic - when and animal’s penis is blurred out. I seem to recall an episode of Dirty Jobs that involved a dog groomer. When she was trimming hair on the dog’s belly, his little winky was all blurred! :eek:
Similarly on Dr Pol, they don’t dare show a horse’s dick, altho they have no problem with a cow’s prolapsed uterus. Censors are a strange breed.