Fox’s goddamn hypocrisy.
By on Sep 20th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Fox’s goddamn hypocrisy.
During the Fox network broadcast of the Emmy Awards this week, Actress Sally Field’s acceptance speech was censored because she used the word “goddamn.” “If mothers ruled the world,” Field said, “there would be no god-damned wars in the first place.” Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films catches Fox News cable pundits using the word “goddamn” repeatedly on air. Watch it:
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the blackout was not about the word ‘goddamn’. it was about what she might have said about one particular war and perhaps just censoring the idea that war, any war and that one in particular, should be questioned. These were artists after all. One never knows what will fall out of their mouths.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:51 amI love Glenn Greenwald and Brave new Films. Now, if only the entire country could see their productions. Nothing is going to change in this country as long as the right has a stranglehold on our MSM. The sheeple need to be informed so that they can make decisions based on fact rather than the propaganda they are fed daily by the MSM.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:56 amSally Fields spoke more truth in one sentence than Fox has uttered in over a decade.
This is exactly why Dems don’t debate on Fox.
Fox is a goddamned corporate shill for the Bushits.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:04 amFox made a mistake here…had they let the statement air, no one would know about it because no one watched their broadcast!
September 20th, 2007 at 10:05 amAgain, this censorship was NOT about profanity. If it was, they could have simply bleeped the offending word out.
This censorship was about Sally Field almost speaking truth to the American sheeple, which might – just might – have managed to wake some of them up.
Obviously, that could not be permitted.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:08 amTripMaster Monkey
This censorship was about Sally Field almost speaking truth to the American sheeple, which might – just might – have managed to wake some of them up.
If it takes a celebrity awards show to wake someone up, I think I’d rather have that person still sleeping.
Now if American Idol woke them up, thats a good thing.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:12 amFaux Entertainment has just added another star to their illustrious BushCo flag. I just find that any time the Faux logo shows up in the lower left corner, anything on the screen has no truth or value to me.
Wonder what they will be doing for programming in ‘09, airing the “Reality” show, Where did my GOP Party Go, Dude?
September 20th, 2007 at 10:16 am“Fox’s goddamn hypocrisy”
Best. headline. ever.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:18 amAt FoxSnooze, there’s “goddamn” and there’s “goddamn”.
goddamn war –> bad, bad, censor, censor!
goddamn liberal –> okay
goddamn muslim –> okay
goddamn Democrat –> okay
You know . . . “fair and balanced”.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:19 amI fell asleep watching the MTV awards show.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:20 amI expected to see Exley come here & explain why this is still not hypocrisy on Fox’s part. Guess he’s busy. I’m sure there’s still some way of saving this… ABC, CBS, NBC played it edited too. There, that should do it. What a disgrace. Can’t let the American public hear any dissenting viewpoints can we?
September 20th, 2007 at 10:24 amYes, the FX censors stepped on their d**ks the other night. Had they let it go, it would never have had the attention that their censorship has attained.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:24 amBut they are so dedicated to licking the boots of their leaders and the warmongering fool in the white house that they obviously can’t think clearly — nothing new there.
If you are unhappy about Fox, pick one of its major sponsors and don’t do business with them. Keep picking more sponsors until it hurts.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:30 amTo be fair (in a real sense, not the Phocks Nooz sort of way) the real comparison is with other network programs like The Simpsons or 24. Cable news and network programming work under different rules.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:34 amDoc… it’s hard to pick a sponsor to boycott–I’m boycotting the entire “goddamn” network. Therefore, I have don’t know who advertises there. I do have some pretty good guesses, however…
September 20th, 2007 at 10:35 amDoc… it’s hard to pick a sponsor to boycott–I’m boycotting the entire “goddamn†network. Therefore, I have don’t know who advertises there. I do have some pretty good guesses, however…
Comment by Menehune — September 20, 2007 @ 10:35 am
You might as well – Simpsons hasn’t been good for at least four seasons now. What else have they got?
September 20th, 2007 at 10:36 amYeah, the newspaper was gushing about this new show that was on last night, but when I saw it was on Fox, I knew I wasn’t going to watch it. Not because I despise Fox (which I do), but because I knew that if the show was really that good, Fox would be canceling it in two weeks’ time.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:38 amPeople, there is a difference between Fox Entertainment which airs on network television, versus Fox News which airs on cable television. The FCC can and does fine networks for their definition of what is unacceptable profanity. However, they have no authority over cable networks. That’s because of the legal difference between the “public” airwaves vs. paid tv (cable). It’s also why NBC, CBS and ABC also bleeped her words. It’s also why even Air America Radio bleeped her words.
Don’t we have enough real battles to fight with this impending dictatorship without erecting our own strawmen to try to knock down? This “controversy” is as ridiculous as the Republicans in Congress calling for a vote on a resolution condemning Moveon.Org.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:43 amIf sally said it is wrong…but if we say it at Fox it right.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:45 amWell, I was going to correct TP by explaining the difference between a broadcast network and a cable network, but “impeachcheneythenbush” has already done so….
Nice try, TP. But you really need to do better research.
Next topic.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:48 am.
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She should have been tazed!!!
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September 20th, 2007 at 10:48 am.
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September 20th, 2007 at 10:49 am.
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The above comment was a snark, btw ;>)
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Combine this with the recent taser incident and you have a free speech crisis in just the past week. The other night on Chris Matthews they talked about free speech in our nation and whether it is being eroded. Very interesting/scary stuff:
VIDEO – Hardball, Assault On Speech?
September 20th, 2007 at 10:52 amhttp://beta.redlasso.com/Community/ClipPlayer.aspx?i=770a5ec0-d307-4b44-8358-953f121a3b79
I think this was already said, but Fox is on broadcast tv which is regulated by the FCC while Fox News is on Cable.
That’s why broadcast channels have to censor movies while HBO can show soft-core porn.
Take a deep breathe.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:57 amAnother tack on the wall. The good part is that YouTube exists, and people can see exactly what Fox censored out within seconds. It’s impossible to censor anything now-a-days. Praise the internets :-).
~Sean
September 20th, 2007 at 10:57 am#25 – That may be true. You can’t blame us for jumping the gun a little bit on this one though, eh? ;-) I’ll file this in the “MAYBE” mental database :-P.
~Sean
September 20th, 2007 at 10:59 amYou know. Fox kinda shot themselves in the foot on this one… I didn’t watch the Emmys, but I’ve sure seen this clip about ten times…
Way to go Fox!
September 20th, 2007 at 11:04 amMind you, as was stated on the previous thread, the FCC allows the networks to let the words “god damn” get on the air. There was no need to censor.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:05 amMind you, as was stated on the previous thread, the FCC allows the networks to let the words “god damn†get on the air. There was no need to censor.
Comment by Dave C — September 20, 2007 @ 11:05 am
If “goddamn” had been the real issue, Fox could have beeped it. Networks have had the technology to do that for decades. What’s offensive is that they made an obviously political decision to chop the whole phrase, not just the “offensive” word.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:12 amThere is a big difference between Fox News and HBO.
Additionally, Sally Fields’ statement is mild compared to shows like Family Guy, Malcom in the Middle, Arrested Development and The Simpsons.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:16 amgodawgs7 sez:
First of all, I think the word you’re looking for is “breath”.
Second, your glib explanation doesn’t explain why FOX didn’t just bleep the one ostensibly offensive word out, rather than censoring her entire point.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:16 amI’m starting to wonder about who writes these things. The broadcast was on FCC regulated broadcast channels. FOX News is not so. To combine them, is inductive sillyness. You can do better that that.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:12 pmWhat does the FCC have to do with it?
September 20th, 2007 at 12:17 pmLet’s cut to the chase here folks. The FCC is equally silent regarding the use of the words “god damn” on both Fox Entertainment and Fox News. It doesn’t prevent either from using those words. Therefore the only difference between the two broadcasts shown on this clip is that Fox feels it’s ok to use the terms “god damn” unless you’re referring to something negative about GWB.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:22 pmMargaret Thatcher had children.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:38 pm“ABC-TV decides not to air Bush’s news conference.
is this fair?”
Bush’s poll numbers are too low. He’s not as profitable as showing reruns. Blame it on economics.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:54 pmbarfly sez:
Yup. The market has spoken. ^_^
September 20th, 2007 at 1:09 pmAnd if I’m not mistaken, Planet of the Apes (”god damn you all to hell!”) was a 20th Century FOX movie!
September 20th, 2007 at 1:34 pmI wrote about this back on Monday in my piece “Fox Guards the Hollywood Henhouse of Obscenity.”
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2007/09/at-emmys-fox-guards-hollywood-henhouse.html
September 20th, 2007 at 1:46 pmI hate Fox with a passion. However, I think that the censorship rules are different for Fox News which is a cable channel than for Fox entertainment channel, which is broadcast over the airwaves. I don’t know whether the FCC specifically bans the use of “god-damned” on the airwaves, but it would make a better point if the video included clips of people saying “god-damned” on the Fox entertainment channel broadcast over the air.
In any case, the fact that Fox completely cut away from Ms. Field’s speech instead of just bleeping out the phrase “god-damned” through their 7 second delay shows that they were not just censoring that phrase to appease the FCC.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:26 pmIs she refering to all mothers or just select ones? I am just wondering if she would include the ones I hear talking bitterly about the unfortunate other woman who had the misfortune to: wear a dress smaller than theirs, throw on a pair of sexy heels, change her hairstyle, bake a good dish at a potluck or so many other catty issues the worst being the failure to show up to coffee,martinis or what ever. I think having watched moms go just as ballistic as dads over juinor’s playing time, sally’s cheer tryout or the hapless teacher who suggested that her little angel lacked some social skills, that not much would be different in the world.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:46 pmThe way the censors cut Ray Romano was similar to Sally Field … one bad word, several seconds of silence. You couldn’t tell at all what he was talking about, but it was easy to fill in the blank when Sally was cut … (something like) If women ruled the world, there would be no more g[cut] … see, it’s not hard to figure out.
If the evidence suggests anything (which it doesn’t), it is that they wanted Sally’s comment to be heard, but that they had a problem airing the names of Deborah Heaton and Kelsey Grammer, or however you spell their names. This was a live broadcast with several seconds delay … if any of you want surgically precise censorship, well you can just want.
The censors would have done Sally Field a greater favor if they had cut the entire sentence, such an idiotic thing it was to say.
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:47 am