Disney-owned ABC delivered on the network's promise to air Saving Private Ryan on Veterans Day, complete with the biggest deluge of profanity ever heard on the public airwaves.
Advance publicity of the special focused on the network's plan to air the movie uncut. In addition to profanity, the movie contained the most graphic blood-and-gore scenes prime-time has ever shown — dismemberment, body organs lying outside the body, blood running in the streets, and more.
“We're no longer shocked by anything the networks choose to air, especially ABC,” said Dr. Don Wildmon, president of American Family Association. “Disney and its subsidiaries have long been committed to breaking barriers that attack traditional moral values. We believe ABC could have delivered the same stirring message without the explicit profanities and graphic gore.”
The engaging World War II script delivered a steady stream of profanity, including the “F” word, the “S” word, and “GD” (plus several more uses of “God” and “Jesus” as profanities). Each of those terms was used at least 10 times, according to AFA monitors. AFA said the movie carried about 40 national ads, only two-thirds the normal number for a three-hour movie.
Wildmon said the Ford Motor Company was the major sponsor, and others included Capital One Credit Cards, Sears, and McDonald's.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)
