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Who the "bleep" are you? Parents censor Live 8


RonJonSurfer

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The Who's Live 8 Performance Sparks Complaints

The Who's performance at the London Live 8 concert earlier this month has prompted a parents group to fire complaints at ABC.

The Parents Television Council (PTC) has accused ABC of violating broadcast decency standards when it failed to censor all profanity uttered during the recent Live 8 gig, an event held to draw attention to poverty in poor countries.

The PTC has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to levy a fine on ABC stations for failing to censor the performance of "Who Are You" by The Who.

Tim Winter, PTC executive director, says in a statement, "The program was aired on a tape delay, which should have given ABC ample time to edit all obscenities from the concert prior to broadcast."

The complaint was filed against the Washington, D.C., ABC affiliate WJLA, but the council has asked the FCC to take action against all the ABC stations that aired the profanity.

ABC says in a statement, "Unfortunately, one inappropriate phrase sung by one performer was initially missed and made it into the East Coast network feed. It was subsequently edited out of the West Coast feed."

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i don't remember the who swearing at all!

Moi non plus... Did they? :P

I remember first Christmans after John Lennon´s death, we were in London in my brother´s house watching a documentary and they just let the line "when you´re f***ing crazy", from "Working Class Hero" sound as it was, without bleeps censoring. It was the BBC and I guess it was a kind of exception...

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Sorry to say it and be one of the "over reactors" who dares have an opinion about it, but the reason why kids on the streets swear is because of this type of blase' attitude about swearing! I'd rather my kid was not swearing until they were old enough to choose (hopefully not!) to use it in conversation. I'm 25, I don't swear much and I never swear around my mum. If you think kids on the streets are hooligans and swear, you have to wonder what the inspiration is - it's obviously "cool" to swear, everyone else does it. It's on TV, it's at "all-ages, family" shows like Live 8 = it's ok.

If I don't want my kids to be exposed to swearing, that's my business. There's a reason there's such a thing as censorship and movie, game and album age ratings. I don't swear because I grew up with shows that contained no swearing, our MNET decoder had a green "family" option that filtered out the swear-words in movies, music was bleeped and things were cleaner. I listened to music with some swearing when I was older, and I swore here and there, but it wasn't something I heard every day. I had a live, uncensored version of Radiohead's Creep, and it was a huge deal to hear it at a party! It was a sign of rebellion!

Let's push it one notch up, this will probably be within the next 5 years - performers at functions like Live 8 performing topless. Why not? Swearing is a former 18+ censorship, so is nudity. Why not? Parents have seen their kids naked, kids have seen someone naked in their life - well, then it should be ok for a performance. I mean, it's not like they can't see it in magazines or on late-night TV, what's a nipple here and there? Can't do any harm if it's all over the place anyway...so where do we draw the line?

Am I overblowing it all? Of course! But it is to draw attention to the point that there needs to be some sort of "safe" things left in the world. Something that is truly for the whole family, something that is wholesome and something that is good and can be enjoyed by everyone. I'm sure adults attending the function with their kids would not have missed an afternoon without swearing.

Yes, it happened and there is nothing they can do about it, but I think it's a big difference to a kid to hear a single swear word amongst alot of other sounds, guitars, drums etc compared to an artist addressing the crowd and swearing. If I was little, I probably would not even notice that a swear word had been used in a song, but I definitely would if I was spoken to with one!

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I also dont swear and dont like my kids in that enviromnt.

But i cant censor every thing for them. As when they go to school

or out with friends they hear all sorts of things.

If i know a film or programme has a lot of swearing in it

they just dont watch it, but as for people who phone a tv

company or radio station to complain cause one or two words

slip though,i just dont see the point its done, end of.

If parents dont think what their kids are watching is suitable switch over

or off. Same for adults.

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That is the point, those parents who were there couldn't switch it off or change channels. They had forked out to be there and spend the day with their family to enjoy the acts and support a worthy cause. Those that sat at home watching it could have switched it over, but there was a timed delay - it wasn't 100% live and it could have been censored. I can see that it is over-reacting to phone in or want to sue about it, but if someone feels passionately about something, then by all means, don't let me stand in the way of their opinions and rights.

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Fair enough, but that is irrelevent to the story above. Because it was "free" doesn't mean they have any less right to be unhappy about it. I know the complaints are petty to a large degree, but if something made you that unhappy, you would also wish to express your feelings on the subject :D

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It's a vicious circle....you can't and don't want to police your kids 24/7....they gravitate to popular music thru friends, media, etc....but it is obvious that popoular music is not always suitable for kids anymore. So the answer is to keep kids away from popular music, but we know that is not practical, possible or desirable. Parents are put in an intense battle with their kids and the entertainment business....parents are the ones that lose the battle.

Once something like foul language gets out like this incident, there isn't a thing you can do about it. After the fact there is nobody who can be hurt...the artist? The record company? The network? They'll never be hurt by this.

The children won't be exposed to this anymore from this incident....you can only improve future efforts to avoid this sort of problem.

It happens so much now, that I can't see how we'll ever stop it...

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Earth Angel, I could not agree more with you.

:bow: :bow: :bow:

It´s up to us to teach our kids, they will see and hear everything outside, but they need the tools to decide for themselves. Growing in a house where you hear no dirty words will let them know that some things, though they exist, are not the rule. So when they get older they can choose if they will say that word or this other one, but "we don´t need no education"?????? Couldn´t agree less with Pink Floyd.

RonJon, seems the server was excited tonight!!!! I got double post, you got triple, you win!! :) :) :) :thumbsup:

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Its a fact of life that kids are exposed to swearing wherever there are adults. Take a walk down any street and you can hear people 'effin & blindin' nowadays. Kids do tend to copy if they think they will get a reaction, and it is up to us as parents to not react, other than by explaining that it simply makes people look foolish and not very clever. It is the aural equivalent of dropping litter IMO. Fine in your own house if you choose but not in public or with impressionable folk about.

As for an expletive on the telly, again it happens all the time. To draw attention to it is simply to magnify its effect and make it interesting for kids to hear and copy. We all chose at some point in our lives how we use swearing, and our kids will be the same. I think most kids will swear a bit in the playground, and a bit at home if they need the attention. As they get older though, the swearing will be reserved for peer-conversations, and if the peer group doesn't swear then neither will the kid.

I don't think censorship is the answer though. Kids will reach their own conclusion about language irrespective, and the power of a parent in this respect is infinitely greater than a censor in a suit, or indeed a singer on the telly.

Regards

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I think that's a little ridiculous:

1) The kids probably aren't paying really close attention to the lyrics, or even the song, unless they're parents play Who albums a lot. And even if they did, it wasn't censored on the album in the first place.

2) Most of the parents probably know the words to the song. What were they expecting? The Who to censor themselves, and give in to the man? That seems pretty unlikely, especially playing in front of a live audience.

3) Who the f*** cares? Like the kids have never heard their parents swear at each other. Parents saying "[bleep] you" to each other is definitely more damaging to a child than Roger Daltrey singing "who the [bleep] are you?"

I don't really understand adults. They make a big deal out of "dirty words" yet they spend tons of cash buying their children gory video games.

Also, I think that it should be parental responsibility to tell their children when it's ok and not ok to swear. For some it will be always ok (which would be rare) or for some it will be never. But if children know from the start that swearing isn't OK, it won't matter if they hear swearing. Kids listen to their parents more than everyone seems to think. Just tell a kid repeatedly what they can and can't do, and they'll listen.

Also, sorry if this sounded mean spirited towards anyone who has a different opinion. It's not supposed to sound mean, it's just me stating my opinion.

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Earth Angel, I could not agree more with you.

:bow: :bow: :bow:

It´s up to us to teach our kids, they will see and hear everything outside, but they need the tools to decide for themselves. Growing in a house where you hear no dirty words will let them know that some things, though they exist, are not the rule. So when they get older they can choose if they will say that word or this other one, but "we don´t need no education"?????? Couldn´t agree less with Pink Floyd.

RonJon, seems the server was excited tonight!!!! I got double post, you got triple, you win!! :) :) :) :thumbsup:

That's a full house!!! I'll split the winnings with you.

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I think the parents doing the hollering are over-reacting. It's done, it's over. Let it go. It was one word. If these parents don't think their children have never heard it before, they're not doing a very good job of parenting to begin with. They are out of touch.

My kids are 10. I know they hear the 'f' word at least 20 times a day, especially my son, as he hangs around with boys. That's what they do. They play ball. They play in the creek. They cuss.

They don't, however, hear it in this house, from their parents. All you can do is teach your children what you believe to be a decent way to live, and hope they follow your example.

That's not to say I don't agree with Sue, though, because I do. There has to be some sort of limit on what filters through and gets into my living room on the TV.

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As the son of a son of a sailor with morality equal to or less than Gomorrah on a bad day I have subjected my kids to a lifetime's share of profanity, but I've tried to teach that the time and place for such color should be well chosen. The song in question contains a line well in keeping with the mood and attitude of the situation. If I was in Pete's shoes I would ask the very same thing...and I'm sure my son would too.

And I'd probably wait a day or two to bail him out.

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I think that's a little ridiculous:

1) The kids probably aren't paying really close attention to the lyrics, or even the song, unless they're parents play Who albums a lot. And even if they did, it wasn't censored on the album in the first place.

...

Also, sorry if this sounded mean spirited towards anyone who has a different opinion. It's not supposed to sound mean, it's just me stating my opinion.

If the last bit is directed at me:

Yes, it happened and there is nothing they can do about it, but I think it's a big difference to a kid to hear a single swear word amongst alot of other sounds, guitars, drums etc compared to an artist addressing the crowd and swearing. If I was little, I probably would not even notice that a swear word had been used in a song, but I definitely would if I was spoken to with one!

I was referencing artists who swore at the crowd, not one word in a song :) Not agreeing with it, just saying it was less of a big deal than it is being made out to be. It shouldn't have passed through the censors, but it did and things can be better organised in future. Hardly any point in half-censoring something.

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