Why do "liberals" defend CBS on this Janet Jackson deal ?

[kentuck]

I am so tempted to say, let's join in the campaign against CBS. CBS refused to show an ad they said was an "advocacy" ad and then they show this??? If the liberals of this country don't defend CBS, they have no defenders. They are at the mercy of the right wing and the FCC and the morality police. Maybe that is the example that America needs? Let them make an example of CBS. This could be a wake up call for the rest of the media out there. Let them know that they are not exempt from the fascists either...But .....

[Dookus]

1. because they're two entirely different issues

I wish they'd run the moveon ad, but they didn't, and it doesn't seem to me like they were being particularly discriminatory about it, either. In fact, we should rejoice in the fact they rejected the ad because it caused 10 times more media attention than it would've gotten if they had run it without comment.

The second issue is: it's just a tit.

[Eric J in MN]

2. the real issue is why does Michael Powell care more about CBS

The real issue is why does FCC Commissioner Michael Powell care more about CBS showing a nipple than about public concerns over Viacom, which owns CBS, being allowed to buy more tv and radio stations?

[LiberalFighter]

12. Could it be that they almost ran the Reagan movie?

[regnaD kciN]

21. That, plus...

...the reich wing has had CBS on an "enemies list" since the days of the Nixon administration. Wingnuts have always considered Dan Rather a "radical" who was somehow (through means that were invisible to normal people) giving a leftist slant to the news, thought of "60 Minutes" as a left-wing show, etc., etc.

I can only wonder if we'd be seeing the same uproar from congressional Republicans, Michael Powell, etc., had it been Fox's turn to cover the Super Bowl this year?

[Terwilliger]

3. liberality is not involved

I have no problem with the stunt, but the hypocrisy is what I find astounding.

CBS keeping the MoveOn ad off the air seems so trivial considering everything else they were advertising or showing.

[lastknowngood]

4. High moral stance. Only why waste it on the

enemy

[pinkpops]

5. It's just a boob

and there is nothing obscene about it. If I remember correctly my mommy had some and they were damn useful too.

[JPZenger]

6. Publicity Stunt

It was a classless publicity stunt. The best thing we can do is fine CBS ($25,000 per station is allowed) and then completely IGNORE Jackson and Timberlake. They got more publicity than they ever could have dreamed about. They live for publicity. I hope they are blackballed from appearing on Television.

Then again, it is common for breasts to be shown on European TV. I would rather have my kids see breasts than bloody violence. Then again, it was a really ugly boob.

[regnaD kciN]

23. Why is "the best thing we can do" to fine CBS?

Unless it can be shown that the "costume malfunction" was being done during camera rehearsals, they had no way of knowing it was coming up. Nor were they the ones to decide on the halftime show's content -- it was staged by MTV, under contract from the NFL. CBS didn't have anything to do with it other than broadcast it, as television networks broadcast virtually every halftime show of a major bowl game, college or pro.

Blame a faulty costume, or blame Jackson and Timberlake if you think it was intentional. But CBS strikes me as being pretty much innocent in this. As I said before, I doubt that we'd be seeing much Republican outcry if Fox had been carrying the Super Bowl -- this is simply a political witch-hunt against a network the GOP has long considered the cornerstone of the "liberal media."

[Woodstock]

7. CBS is on their own

I'm not defending them.

I personally would rather have a G rated Superbowl so I can share the game with my nieces/nephew. I love football & think it's a great time to bring together the generations.

This isn't about a breast to me - it's about sleaze. The human body is beautiful. What they were doing at halftime was trading sex for money. That's not beautiful.

Personally, I'm sick of watching Britney/Christina/Janet Jackson/Madonna writhing around at every turn - they're just plain gross.

[Tinoire]

9. Ditto- except for Janet

This is the first time she's done something sleazy like this and I'm willing to give her a pass not knowing all the details.

Madonna, Britney, Christina? Dear Lord, please get those no-waiste hags off the stage! If I HAVE to be subjected to this "I'm going to outdo you game" then please let it at least be a pleasant sight like Beyonce who has too much class to leave nothing to the imagination.

Tit in your face is just not my idea of family entertainment. I'm more European than American but trust me, no matter how naked we get, it's done with a little more class. That was just plain tacky. Shock value nudity is tacky.

I really believe it was an accident because Janet Jackson has always been a very classy woman.

[noiretextatique]

10. generally...she does have more class than most

i don't know what happened with this stunt, but i am amused by all the uproar and sanctimony. tonight i will count the number dead bodies i see on "law and order," and perhaps i'll be treated to actually witnessing one of the murder simulations. classy or crass...i find it laughable that people are up in arms over this given the nightly carnage to be found, even on network television. there are plenty of simulated assaults on tv every night.

[Woodstock]

15. I guess I'm a dinosaur

Oh, I agree about the violence. And I agree completely, it's a lot of hoopla over this, but none over that. But I also am sick of the gratuitous sleaze. I pretty much leave network TV and the WB/Fox/UPN type channels alone, so I get to avoid both violence and sleaze. PBS mostly, BBC America, that sort of thing is all I watch.

Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but the sexiest scene I ever saw was in "It's a Wonderful Life." George Bailey is taking a call and Mary listens in. Suddenly the closeness gets to them, and everything they'd been trying to resist falls away. Whew!

And then I think of Britney writhing and gyrating away.

I'm reminded of Katherine Hepburn's line in the African Queen:

"Nature, Mr. Alnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above."

[noiretextatique]

18. i hear your lament

i am a poet...i sometimes perform in group shows. i sometimes do erotica; my work is very tasteful and understated...and never vulgar or crass. i am routinely embarrassed by other performer's work and behavior...because it is gratuitous, unimaginative, vulgar and crass. as it happens, most of the other performers are younger than me...perhaps it's a generational thing.

[Tinoire]

17. Hey! Welcome back!

:hi:

Your point is totally valid. Be not so amused by the uproar and sanctimony- the real amusement was last night watching perfectly good DUers starting thread after thread about "Did you see what a just saw?" "Holy Cow!"- the lounge was practically run over with titillating mice.

If Janet did that on purpose which I highly doubt, then I feel very sad for her. I don't even want to imagine the pain she's in over Michael and I hope she's not going overboard with plastic surgery. Honestly, are the Jackson girls having ribs removed or not? I am really wondering... First there was the rumor about LaToya having done so and yesterday, as I looked at Janet's waist... Looks like either corset training or rib removal ((or do I just need to not be so jealous of thin, voluptuous women?)).

[noiretextatique]

19. don't be jealous

they come and go...as do their surgery bills :7 poor janet...i thought she might escape the curse, but after 'rhythm nation'...she too became a plastic-seeking, rib-removing zombie. DU...did that surprise you? :7 you must be slipping, girl :D

[Tinoire]

20. It does. It makes me really sad.

Janet is a beautiful girl and I see her going the way of Michael- not as badly but still the same way and I keep hoping it's not true. If she did that on purpose last night, it really hurts me. I din't want to say this in my previous posts but it really hurts me because I would see it as a raw cry of anger and pain over everything that's been going on for years. Like you, I wanted Janet, very very badly, to escape that 'curse'. They are all breaking my heart.

Michael was the cutest boy in the world- I remember having the biggest crush on him when he still had his nose and afro in "Off The Wall". Seems his father one day made some stupid comment about his nose (I think what his father actually said was that he was cute and had a cute nose! but don't quote me) and wtf, Michael went out and bought himself a dozen more.

And they ALL have the same nose now except for Joe and a couple of the older brothers. How sad is that? And Michael not knowing when to stop- I hope Janet's not on that same path.

[LiberalFighter]

13. I can put up with jackson and madonna

but britney and christina have gone to the gutters... especially christina

[roughsatori]

8. Our late capitalist culture regularly features wealthy females

exposing body parts in magazines, movies, stage, and videos and labels it "empowerment." It disgusts me. And no Progressive should be supporting CBS.

I am against all censorship so I am not complaining abut the exposed breast, but I am angry at the co-opting of sexuality and female liberation to sell a product. And what repulses me is how frequently some woman pose in Playboy,etc. or simulate victim-hood in movies and videos and label it "empowerment."


I bet Charlise Theron wins an Oscar for playing the man-hating, serial, killing lesbian. I know there is an interview where she claims she is actually empowering lesbian women.

[noiretextatique]

11. ditto...well said

if i see one more women talking about how spreading her legs for millions of men to ogle over in their bathrooms is "empowering"...i think i'll :puke:

[Djinn]

14. personally versus socially empowering

I'm not defending CBS I just wouldn't join the call for their scalps -for me it's who cares. I would also prefer it if the quickest way to stardom for female popstars wasn't getting a boob out or writhing and crotch dancing but it's not like CBS invented tacky cheap gratuitous female nudity and with everythign else on myplate both personally and on the global front - Janet Jacksons tits aren't really on the outrage radar or even the give a toss radar.

As for the women who claim their nude shots are empowering - just an idea but perhaps they're confusing "personal" liberation - and getting a wad of cash for doing fuck all can be quite empowering and the "empowerment" of women as whole?

[noiretextatique]

16. yes, you have a point

i'm sure there is some empowerment in being a walking vagina (i'll keep it clean). it's a hell of an advertisement...depending on what one is trying to catch.

[Djinn]

22. a lot of $$ for nothing

is what most are trying to "catch" got to say I generally tend to be careful about moralising about what other people want to do with their bodies. If someone is a PLayboy pin-up (or even a hard core porn actor) and still sees themselves as a feminist it's not really up to me to say they can't be - at who's point is the line drawn, can I still be a feminist if I wear high heels? what about if I have a boob job? what about if I ask a bloke to carry the heavy stuff.

Personally some of the feminists I've met are way too quick to make judgements that are basically rooted in puritanism which I don't think is particularly feminist friendly. Live and let live - if you wanna flash your bits and call yourself a feminist - go ahead

[Muddleoftheroad]

24. Male sexuality

So you are bothered by promoting things based on female sexuality? What about a sport that emphasizes male athleticism and one where several women I know watch just to see the guys?

The human is beautiful. I refuse to get up in arms about (gasp!) a breast when you can see more than that on almost any cable movie.

[arewethereyet]

25. Beevis and Butthead mentality

hee hee heee

Fortunately the FCC takes it's responsibility a little more strongly than some liberals would like and will be doing something about this and if its not many millions of dollars I'll be pissed. Can't tell you how many nastygrams I've sent out over this.

[thingfish]

26. Because it's a tempest in a C-cup.

With everything else that's going on in the world right now, it's a waste of mature people's time to be worrying about such trivialities.

[Tinoire]

27. Well after reading this thread, you can bet I'm defending CBS!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1069718/posts

and other threads over there. This is war. They are blaming the Left for this as they organize to dump their AOL stock, cancel their NFL tickets and flood NFL and CBS with calls.

There is a principle involved here.

I will not allow those people to dictate things and to push for the persecution of a young woman because her top was pulled off during a show.

This is war.
The Religious Right will NOT win this one. Well, over my dead Religious Left body.

[ibegurpard]

28. I'm with you.

And even if it WAS planned...who the fuck cares? Are we so upset about seeing the flash of a breast on national television that it warrants taking coverage away from issues of true importance? The priorities that the coverage of this "issue" are showing is truly sickening.

[rman]

29. because Janet's tit is not a big deal

i guess any broadcaster should be defended when people make a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal.