Hollywood and the FCC

If there is a government agency I find more useless and more offensive than the loathesome FCC, I am hard pressed to name it. With that in mind, let me state something that I think is being overblown in this whole MNF/Desparate Housewives dust-up.

It is not just holyrollers and bible thumpers who found the introduction offensive. My mother found it offensive. I found it offensive. Normal people all over the country found it offensive for a variety of reasons.

My mother found it offensive, stating: “Even though I was alone, I felt uncomfortable. And besides, what kind of athlete would leave his team-mates on the field just to hook up with some slut?”

I found it offensive because it was so stupid and over the top and so unnecessary. Why? Why? MNF is a franchise- it is how I make it through Mondays- knowing MNF is around the corner. Why did they need to cheapen this, knowing full well there are millions of kids watching? IN other words, I was not offended by the skit itself, but I was pissed off that they would air it because I knew the reaction it would create.

I don’t know what these execs are thinking sometimes. Why must the always heapen good ideas with something unnecessary, and why is taht something unnecessary usually something so tawdry?

I have issues with infidelity- it pisses me off. It is easy enough to get divorced, and if you aren’t married- break up with the person. In short, infidility infuriates me. I simply can not watch movies or shows that contain or are centered around cheating. In fact, I remember watching about 20 minutes of Unfaithful with Diane Lane before turning the movie off in disgust. A year later, I saw Diane Lane’s character in Under the Tuscan Sun going through a painful divorce, and all I could think was: “Good. I am glad you hurt. You deserve it for cheating on your husband in Unfaithful, you bitch.”

At any rate, back to my point I watched the Horse Whisperer this afternoon for the first time (side note- Chris Cooper is the quintessential American actor), and I loved it. Until they turned the whole damn story into an issue of infidelity. Why?

Monday Night Football is a solid product. So could the Horse Whisperer have been a solid product. Why ruin them?

This, of course, does not mean I condone the nanny-state mentality of the FCC, but I want my fellow readers to understand that both sides in this case are wrong from my perspective.