Man, I must be getting old, because I was genuinely shocked — shocked, I say! — during tonight’s episode of ER to hear one of our hunky, idealistic young doctors called somebody an asshole. I remember when Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H called someone a bastard — which is, to my mind, a far less vulgar and offensive term — and it made headlines. I find myself wondering which expletives still remain on the verboten list for broadcast TV, and how long will it be before that list ceases to exist altogether? And is this a good thing?
I used to think it was cool that TV standards were loosening and that characters were starting to speak more like real people. But now I think this new-found realism comes with a price. You see, these words used to have real power when I was younger, and part of their power was that you only heard them in the movies. You only heard grown-ups use them, and often only under very specific circumstances. Today… well, today profanity just doesn’t accomplish much. For example, a certain four-letter word that starts with “f” has become as common in casual conversation as “you know” and “um,” and it’s just as meaningless. And that bothers me. Not because I’m a prude, but because the word has been drained of its effectiveness. It used to be the ne plus ultra of cussing, the atom bomb of expletives, the one you reserved for extra-special occasions when nothing else was strong enough to make your point. What are we supposed to say now when we’ve just dropped a sledge hammer on our foot?
I’m telling you, the world has gone to hell. And those kids today… I swear.
Well, I’ll be d—-d.
Actually, it’s the third week in a row they’ve used the word. The first two times, I practically jumped out of my chair. Now I’m getting used to it.
Which I guess is your point…
I don’t know that I had much of a point here, except that the standards for broadcast TV have become much, much looser in recent years, and I’m really not sure how I feel about it…
And also it would appear that I haven’t been watching ER regularly, or not paying enough attention, or something, because I was caught completely off-guard…
Yeah I’ve heard it on ER before as well. I, like Brian did a double take. As one with small children (not that they watch ER) it’s harder and harder to even watch broadcast television and feel like I’m not corrupting them somehow. I’m not a prude either, or maybe I am. There are stronger words that burn my ears but it’s surprising what can get past the censors nowadays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MmLsfch3oQ
SNL around Christmas
“Asshole” is kind of old-hat by now; NYPDBlue was using that word in its first season, way back in 1993.
I don’t mind salty language all that much; what gets me is the stuff on during the “family hour” at 8:00, when on weekends you get things like Dateline and 48Hours, which always seem to run a “Let’s examine a really grisly murder for an hour!” episode.
Jaquandor, I never watched NYPD Blue, so I missed out on that earlier exposure.
I totally agree with you about the Dateline/48 Hrs/Murder of the Week hour. Very disturbing stuff, usually played up for maximum sensationalism instead of just letting the facts speak for themselves. I find I’m even getting squeamish about CSI as well, a show I’ve long considered myself a fan of (the original, Vegas-based version at least). It runs at 8 PM in these parts, and it seems like the violence has gotten not only more graphic, but weirder, too, and much more based on sexual kinkiness. Again, I’m no prude, but I do wonder just how much farther that envelope can be pushed before it completely disintegrates.
I know one thing: I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the parents out there who have to explain this stuff to their kids…