# TV Stations Cancel 'Saving Private Ryan' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 11, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136 "2004-11-11T03:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/21 "2004-11-11T10:10:58Z")
Fuck the FCC. Why not just let adults decide what they want to watch, and let parents decide what their children can watch? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/22 "2004-11-11T11:06:29Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Fuck the FCC. Why not just let adults decide what they want to watch, and let parents decide what their children can watch? What, are you fucking crazy? If we did that, then your kids might watch something I find objectionable! ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/23 "2004-11-11T13:11:19Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > But I’m leaning towards pitting the stations. If I owned a TV station, I’d air the movie, with the appropriate “foul language” warnings, and _dare_ the FCC to come out against “Saving Private Ryan” . I think this would be a good strategy. I get the feeling that the cancelling is more of a “see what you make us do FCC?” rather than a real fear of being fined. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/24 "2004-11-11T13:26:47Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Yet, at the end of your rant, you bunch in Janet Jackson with the rest of the group for doing exactly what you pit the station owners of NOT doing! Your opinion seems a bit inconsistent. If the attention-whore didn’t have a “wardrobe malfunction” :rolleyes: , then this conversation would not be happening. That brief showing of nipple seems to have taken away our ability to decide for ourselves what may or may not be seen on broadcast television, and in some cases, taken away our ability to operate the remote control. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/25 "2004-11-11T13:33:13Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Let’s see - FC=fucking clowns. What’s the other C for? Cunts maybe? Fucking clown-cunts. Has a decent ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/26 "2004-11-11T13:40:56Z")
I agree the movie sucks. The Super Bowl also sucks, I wouldn’t be caught dead watching it, much less the half-time show (when the half-time Simpsons episode is on?), but that doesn’t mean I think it should be _fined_. Fuck the FCC for cracking down on what had been an expanding open-mindedness about what was aired. The curse-word on ER (I think it was fuck?) and the South Park shit-fest probably couldn’t air with great publicity now, even though they were both on after 10 PM. Yes, I think those things were helping our society. Censoring bad words is childish. We were evolving past that. What happened to the FCC that gave Puritans the smackdown for complaining about Eminem’s lyrics? What happened to the FCC that allowed Schindler’s List to be aired at 7 PM? Even given the FCC’s attempt to be the Ministry of Truth, I ultimately blame and pit the affiliates, since ABC said it would cover any fines levied. Props to ABC for that. The only thing worse than oppression is cowardace in the face of it… … No wonder they don’t want that movie to be aired. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/27 "2004-11-11T13:42:32Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > If the attention-whore didn’t have a “wardrobe malfunction” :rolleyes: , then this conversation would not be happening. That brief showing of nipple seems to have taken away our ability to decide for ourselves what may or may not be seen on broadcast television, and in some cases, taken away our ability to operate the remote control. 😃 It really is incredible how that one fricking incident is having such a cascading effect through culture. I’d like to kick her in the teeth. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/28 "2004-11-11T13:51:55Z")
That’s fucked in the extreme. Why are the rules governing free to air stations so puritanical? On our national station we get Natural Born Killers, Sex in the City, Sopranos, OZ etc. all uncut in fact their policy is not to cut a movie or program at all and try and acquire the most complete version. SPR which has been shown several times. Do you guys not have a watershed? We have one. After 9pm it’s the viewers responsibilty to control what is viewed in the house as the station will broadcast ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/29 "2004-11-11T13:54:14Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > It really is incredible how that one fricking incident is having such a cascading effect through culture. I’d like to kick her in the teeth. Wha???! She shows some skin and you want to kick her in the teeth!?! If you really want to hate someone go for those who sit there trying to tell you what to watch and what not to watch. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/30 "2004-11-11T14:00:44Z")
Quick question for all those opposed to censorship: Would it be OK if, during airings of Sesame Street, a few scenes of hardcore porn were cut in? Should the Disney Channel randomly show (real life) decapitations? Should capital punishment be a prime time show? If not, then where do we draw the line? Is any level of censorship acceptable? ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/31 "2004-11-11T14:02:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > your trite propaganda film What the fuck? Were you born an asshole or did you have to work really hard at it? ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/32 "2004-11-11T14:20:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Quick question for all those opposed to censorship: Would it be OK if, during airings of Sesame Street, a few scenes of hardcore porn were cut in? Should the Disney Channel randomly show (real life) decapitations? Should capital punishment be a prime time show? > > If not, then where do we draw the line? Is any level of censorship acceptable? I think there are two issues here. The first is the general sense of puritanism (is that a word) driven by the more right-wing fundies that seems more focused on _anything_ even remotely related to naked bodies and, to a lesser extent, language, but that couldn’t care less about violence it seems. The second is the surprise factor. I wouldn’t expect to find hard-core porn during Sesame Street. But I would expect bad language and gore in a world-famous, Academy Award winning recently produced movie about World War 2, especially one that specifically gives warnings about said language and gore in every advertisement about it, and before and during the show itself. So, from my personal point of view, I thought the nipple incident was no big fucking deal, and I pit the people who think that seeing a nipple is going to ruin society. But, on the other hand, I can understand their point that “well, I shouldn’t have to expect to see nudity during the half-time show of the Super Bowl”. So you draw the line somewhere in between. But if as consenting adults we can’t watch a movie with bad language before 10pm because some other people think it’s offensive, we’re getting into a quasi-censorship area. In other words, I have no idea what I’m talking about 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/33 "2004-11-11T14:27:15Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > What the fuck? Were you born an asshole or did you have to work really hard at it? Trite? Yes. Propaganda? By Spielberg? Perish the thought. **rexnervous** , damn you and your good point! I do respect an **informed** public who can make their own decisions, and believe the expectations you present are reasonable regarding the nipple incident. I’m afraid that rational, free-thinking people who can see both sides of an issue and find middle ground, however, are a danger to society. I hope your passport is current. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/34 "2004-11-11T14:30:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > If not, then where do we draw the line? Is any level of censorship acceptable? It’s a false dilemma. No, nobody wants hardcore porn in the middle of Sesame Street. But that on its own is sufficient. We do not need censors to point this out; the very fact that no-one wants it means it will not be present. If there _were_ an episode brought to you by the letters Oh Oh Oh, the audience would drop off immediately and the creators would be buggered (as it were). Do you believe that it’s only by the grace of the FCC that such episodes have so far failed to air? The same goes for decapitations on the Disney Channel. We _really_ need to give more credit to people for having the capacity to make their own choices, and to networks for being able to respond to them. As for televised executions, I believe that making them entertainment would clearly bias the judicial process. The government should therefore not contract with anyone to televise executions, making judicial fairness a priority over profit. I don’t believe this is the same thing as censorship, however, since it is in effect a rights-holder simply withholding those rights. Self-censorship is perfectly fine in my eyes, and in this instance there is a clear reason to do so. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/35 "2004-11-11T14:35:23Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > Self-censorship is perfectly fine in my eyes, and in this instance there is a clear reason to do so. I was with you up until that last sentence. Where’s the clear reason? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/36 "2004-11-11T14:43:57Z")
A further point has occurred, which is that a lot is made of the surprise factor. However, this presupposes the existence of a set of expectations regarding content. It seems to me that these expectations are themselves created largely by censorship. A nipple in the daytime? Shocking; but (IMO) it’s shocking largely because it’s not allowed, rather than for any intrinsic shock that a little bit of skin evokes. When I hear someone on TV say “fuck” before 9pm, I am surprised; but I could go to any pub and hear much worse at 3pm. There’s nothing shocking about “fuck” at any time of day. It’s 2.45pm here, and I just typed “fuck” twice without the world ending. The surprise caused by pre-watershed "fuck"ing is _entirely_ generated by the fact that it’s forbidden. I therefore think groups like the FCC are invoking censorship as a means of protecting the expectations that censorship creates. This is patently stupid. > [@Rysler](#): > > I was with you up until that last sentence. Where’s the clear reason? Is it any clearer if “in this instance” refers to the televised executions question, and not Private Ryan? Sorry, I wasn’t being very clear. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/37 "2004-11-11T14:52:32Z")
> [@Rysler](#): > > Trite? Yes. No. trite 1. Lacking power to evoke interest through overuse or repetition; hackneyed. 2. Archaic. Frayed or worn out by use. > [@](#): > > Propaganda? By Spielberg? Perish the thought. prop·a·gan·da 1. The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause. What doctrine or cause would Spielberg be advancing in this case? For those of you who think this movie is ‘trite’ or ‘propaganda’, please keep it to yourself. Some of us have fathers and grandfathers who fought it that war and believe the movie to be an accurate depiction of what happened there. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/38 "2004-11-11T14:55:51Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > If the attention-whore didn’t have a “wardrobe malfunction” :rolleyes: , then this conversation would not be happening. That brief showing of nipple seems to have taken away our ability to decide for ourselves what may or may not be seen on broadcast television, and in some cases, taken away our ability to operate the remote control. 😃 Um, no. It was the people who called in/wrote in, whatever, to complain. And it was the ball-less FCC who had to make an example of CBS (?) who caused this problem. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/39 "2004-11-11T15:01:43Z")
> [@rexnervous](#): > > I think the problem is the rules aren’t very clear - they’re determined by public/political outcry. If the rules were clear, then there wouldn’t be this indecision. Either you are or you are not allowed to broadcast, with appropriate warnings, films uncut. This is really the crux of all of the FCC problems: No clear rules, no apparent statute of limitations on offenses (people are getting fined now for things done 3 years ago), no legal remedy or appeals process (since the FCC has demonstrated it will merely suspend renewals of broadcast licenses if the accused try to go to court to protest). Basically, you’re taking your livelihood in your hands every time you broadcast something–and you won’t know for years whether or not it was appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136/40 "2004-11-11T15:09:43Z")
Sorry, **Bruce\_Daddy** , I meant [banal](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=banal). Let me point out that I never accused Spielberg of propaganda, nor would I, regarding _this particular film_. One point for each of us. Truce? > [@toadspittle](#): > > since the FCC has demonstrated it will merely suspend renewals of broadcast licenses if the accused try to go to court to protest How is that not illegal? (Please don’t answer. It’s a rhetorical cry of pain). > [@Dead Badger](#): > > Is it any clearer if “in this instance” refers to the televised executions question, and not Private Ryan? Sorry, I wasn’t being very clear. Yes. :o Carry on. I’ll be out for a bit taking Reading Comprehension for the Third Grade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-stations-cancel-saving-private-ryan/274136.md?page=3)