# TV censoring ethnic slurs from movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672 "2018-08-15T17:58:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/21 "2018-08-16T18:43:54Z")
IIRC, doesn’t the edit to **Die Hard With A Vengeance** make it so a bunch of black guys take offense and become violent because John McClane — expresses a dislike of people in general? Minus the edit, sure, they react as if a racist who’s using a slur is looking for a fight; but with that change, they’re, what, just _wrong?_ ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/22 "2018-08-16T18:57:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > 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. And then there is [this gem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9TS1pRmajU) from SNL in the 70s that gets nearly every racial slur in one skit. I have seen it rerun as recently as the last 5 years, whenever Richard Pryor died. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/23 "2018-08-16T19:00:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > 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. Same on Antenna TV, a broadcast network. It seems to me most of these movies and shows are on basic cable right? They’re not subject to FCC guidelines, but they do self-censor to keep the sponsors and audiences placated. There isn’t any of this censoring going on on subscription networks such as HBO and Showtime, is there? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/24 "2018-08-16T19:13:45Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > 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.) Mrs. Plant (v.2.0) a less than nice Jewish girl, told me it means “fuck”. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/25 "2018-08-16T19:18:46Z")
as an extreme example I knew a guy who lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years. For some odd reason they showed Three’s Company but it was so heavily edited he said you could not even follow the plot . Seems very odd that they would even show that sitcom to begin with. Smokey and the Bandit movie Jackie Gleason says “sumbitch” a lot but on regular cable they made it “scumbum” but you can tell someone else overdubbed it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/26 "2018-08-16T19:19:02Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > 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. Well then yes, that is even more weird. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/27 "2018-08-16T19:39:13Z")
HBO , Showtime, etc. don’t censor anything. I remember as a college student visiting someone and I saw a naked woman on TV and figured it was HBO and I was correct. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/28 "2018-08-16T20:31:42Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > What I find hilarious is that nobody would bleep out ‘damn’ but a few channels will bleep out ‘goddamn’. Makes perfect sense to me. Not saying I agree with it, but the difference is obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/29 "2018-08-16T20:33:53Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > And then there is [this gem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9TS1pRmajU) from SNL in the 70s that gets nearly every racial slur in one skit. I have seen it rerun as recently as the last 5 years, whenever Richard Pryor died. He died only the one time, 12 years ago. But SNL sometimes has reruns on at 10:00 PM on Saturdays, and within the last couple of years they showed an episode from the 70s he hosted. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/30 "2018-08-16T20:35:29Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IIRC, doesn’t the edit to **Die Hard With A Vengeance** make it so a bunch of black guys take offense and become violent because John McClane — expresses a dislike of people in general? Minus the edit, sure, they react as if a racist who’s using a slur is looking for a fight; but with that change, they’re, what, just _wrong?_ Yep, my first few experiences with that movie were on TV. I never understood what was going on in that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/31 "2018-08-16T20:37:52Z")
I recently watched _The Fortune Cookie_ on TCM. A spoiler for a 52 year old movie follows. In it Cliff Osmond; playing a private detective named Purkey; calls a friend of the character played by Jack Lemmon a coon. It’s in a successful attempt to goad that Jack Lemmon’s character into revealing that his disability is fraudulent. TCM aired the slur intact. To the best of my knowledge TCM does not censor for content, although they will adjust scheduling to put more problematic material later at night. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/32 "2018-08-16T21:33:44Z")
Sometimes it’s done for effect. Like when Skyler White on Breaking Bad told Walt “I _bleep_ed Ted”. That show had plenty of cursing and violence, but they bleeped that line to give it more force. Cable channels don’t have to censor anything. If they do, it’s because they’re afraid an army of housewives will call and complain and threaten to boycott. And TV execs don’t want to have to deal with that. But this is the 21st Century. I suggest we get an army of housewives to call whenever they _do_ censor something. “It’s a travesty to the artwork! This is America, what about free speech! You’re treating me like an idiot, as if you’re hiding dirty words from me! Keep up this censorship and I’ll take my TV watching eyeballs to another channel!” Who’s with me? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/33 "2018-08-16T22:02:45Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Makes perfect sense to me. Not saying I agree with it, but the difference is obvious. Not obvious to me. Damn means condemned to hellfire. If God is the only creature that can sentence something or someone to the fires of hell, then goddamn is only directly stating something that is otherwise implied. It amounts to the same concept with both expressions. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/34 "2018-08-16T22:05:29Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Not obvious to me. Damn means condemned to hellfire. If God is the only creature that can sentence something or someone to the fires of hell, then goddamn is only directly stating something that is otherwise implied. It amounts to the same concept with both expressions. One of them arguably comes up against one of the Ten Commandments. The other, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/35 "2018-08-16T22:36:26Z")
I recently watched several episodes of ‘All in the Family’ on the Hallmark channel. The only word they bleeped, near as I could tell, was ‘fag’. ‘Coon’, ‘spic’, ‘spade’, ‘dago’, ‘hebe’, and others were left un-bleeped. I also remember an episode of ‘Cheers’ where a bleep occurred that had me stumped. I concluded, after several rewinds, that the word was ‘ass’. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/36 "2018-08-16T22:46:13Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > One of them arguably comes up against one of the Ten Commandments. > > The other, not so much. Oh PUH-lease!!! With every TV character breaking Commandments in plain sight on every program with the killings and the adultery and the coveting and whatnot, taking the Lord’s Name in vain is something we just CANNOT allow? Really? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/37 "2018-08-16T22:59:20Z")
When WTBS had the James Bond catalog, they used to bleep out ‘honky’ in Live and Let Die. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/38 "2018-08-16T23:16:40Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Oh PUH-lease!!! With every TV character breaking Commandments in plain sight on every program with the killings and the adultery and the coveting and whatnot, taking the Lord’s Name in vain is something we just CANNOT allow? Really? And what if the character on screen is in fact sincerely witnessing that whoever or whatever is being addressed is worthy of divine smiting? Is that still “in vain” (unless you are a strict Sermon-on-the-Mount observant)? ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/39 "2018-08-16T23:39:36Z")
In the last stage showing of West Side Story I watched (2017), they no longer pronounced it hard “Puerto Ricans”, just “PR’s.” But they also showed breast mashing and (clothed) pumping, so I’m not sure it’s an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672/40 "2018-08-17T00:16:02Z")
actually they even do that in books these days In the god father I bought the cop that becomes mike coroleones personal enforcer went to jail for beating a pimp called nig— barnes to death in the latest reprint they used his real name ……… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-censoring-ethnic-slurs-from-movies/819672.md?page=3)