I guess they're going to have to start subjecting sporting events to the TV ratings system.
Over the past months it's become increasingly clear that athletes are oblivious to both FCC regulations as well as common decency. Athletes have certainly never been stereotyped as wordsmiths, but their limited vocabulary has people across America covering their ears, not to mention their children's ears. Kellen Winslow claimed to be a “[expletive] soldier” after a Miami game last season; Shaquille O'Neal twice dropped F-bombs in live post-game interviews; and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. let a curse word slip after his October 3 win at Talladega.
Used to be that sporting events were pretty safe viewing fare, something you could share with the whole family. With all the filth spilling from athletes' mouths these days, though — not to mention network promos for the smut that passes for prime-time programming — I have to make sure the little ones are in another room, or at least be quick with the mute button.
Fortunately, we didn't have the race on when Junior uttered a profanity in Victory Lane. But about 7 million other people did, and Earnhardt paid for his slip-up with a $10,000 fine and the loss of 25 championship points, dropping him into second place in the standings. I think perhaps the points penalty was a bit harsh, but then again, a message needs to be sent (plus, a precedent had already been set with other dirty-mouthed drivers, though I don't know when NASCAR decided to start following precedent). Apparently, Earnhardt didn't get that message.
“If anybody was offended by the four-letter word I said…I can't imagine why they would have tuned into the race in the first place,” Junior said. Gee, I can't imagine either. Maybe so they could watch some entertaining racing? That comment implies that viewers should expect a certain amount of “colorfulness” from the drivers. Personality is great and is what drives NASCAR's success, but cursing is not just a harmless habit.
As I've said before, the mouth is a portal to the soul. A person's true nature rolls off his tongue in moments of passion, be it a happy moment (as with Junior) or an angry moment or a sad moment. The TV honchos try to tell us that coarse language merely reflects real life. In a sense, it does, but that doesn't justify its usage.
As an aside, I'd like to note that the MA (Mature Audience) rating ironically means the program's content is usually sophomoric. And the ratings system itself is a joke.
The networks long ago caved in to puerile script-writing. It bothers me, but I don't watch much TV anyway. When I do watch, it's usually sports. It's what I love. It's what I write about. Now it's being infected by athletes' thoughtless words, young athletes who grew up watching Steven Bochco-written shows and the like that have little to no artistic value, and they think curse words are just “colorful” expressions of emotions.
I have a Non-Sequitur cartoon on my fridge that both humors and sobers me. It depicts a beggar on a street corner with a sign around his neck that says, “Tried literacy instead of the F-word.” The caption reads, “The rebel screenwriter.”
Vulgar words are far more damaging than some people realize. First Peter 3 warns us of the tongue's power and basically says that the tongue guides the body. The tongue is “full of deadly poison (v. 8),” and we're told that “a salt pond (cannot) yield fresh water (v. 12).”
There has been a crackdown lately on various vulgarities, with the FCC levying a heavy fine against CBS for Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's brain malfunction, and the NBA fining Shaq $295,000 for his offenses. Clear Channel Communications has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for its numerous radio and TV stations when it comes to indecent material. Some of these actions seem more a result of paranoia than a sincere moral objection. Janet can't show us her breasts during the Super Bowl, but it's OK to show extreme close-ups of a decapitated, maggot-infested body on CSI.
Compared to that kind of filth, Junior's verbal slip may seem minor. To me, though, it's another symptom of the pervading immorality that plagues our culture.
“Do you want the commercial of Matt (Kenseth) being a robot to come to fruition?” said Earnhardt, who fears (somewhat justly) that NASCAR wants its stars to become bland automatons.
No, we don't want that, Junior. We want to watch our games and races without verbal garbage being poured into our ears. We just want some decency.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
