The last few months in America have seen a resurrection of the crusade against the omnipresent menaces of indecency and offensive material. Suddenly, America has become one big, furious, hysterical mob, ready to pounce on anything that can be viewed as not being politically correct or that can be conceived of as any bit offensive to any person or group. The corporate giants have heard the impassioned cries of these sanctimonious throngs of offended people, and they have responded with zeal. Just look at the last few months for CBS.
The Janet Jackson incident wasn't even the beginning of this censorship crusade. Even before the Super Bowl, CBS pulled its own TV movie on the Reagans, fearing an unflattering portrayal of the former president would offend those who view him as a conservative god.
CBS then refused to air MoveOn.org's anti-Bush ad (and no, it was not one comparing Bush to Hitler; it did, though, make the point that our children will be the ones forced to pay off his $1 trillion deficit). CBS claimed the refusal to air the ad was in line with its policy not to allow advocacy advertisements. But that didn't stop if from airing anti-smoking ads and propaganda promoting America ÷ that's not to say it shouldn't air those ads, just that it's hypocritical. Then came the Super Bowl.
After the overreaction to Jackson's breast and the ensuing official apologies, CBS aired the Grammy awards show on a five-minute delay and barred Jackson from attending. Did that stop people from getting offended by the show? Of course not. CBS once again had to apologize, this time to the "outraged" Native American Cultural Center for OutKast's performance of "Hey Ya!" dressed in American Indian-style clothing with a tepee on stage. One NACC board member called it the "most disgusting set of racial stereotypes aimed at American Indians that I have ever seen on TV." Has this guy ever seen any movie or television show portraying American Indians?
Just in the last week, communications giant Clear Channel fired a Florida DJ for being sexually explicit on the air, set a "zero-tolerance policy" on indecency the next day and consequently pulled Howard Stern from the air on its stations for indecency. Did Howard Stern just become "offensive" in the last week? I don't think so. But the indecency crusade has begun, so Stern can be taken down even though his show is no more offensive now than his shows of the last few decades were.
The "zero-tolerance" policy that Clear Channel has created has one major problem: If it is going to eliminate anything that offends anyone, why not eliminate itself? I'm offended by Clear Channel's legal ability to dominate the radio market by owning over 1,200 radio stations across the country. And I was also offended by the list of more than 150 songs that it banned from airplay after Sept. 11.
We can say goodbye to live broadcasts forever. We don't want the possibility of seeing or hearing anything that can be considered offensive. I can see it now: Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz get through their opening SNL bit and end it with the traditional shout of, "on five-minute delay from New York, it's Saturday night!" That's at least where it seems like we're headed.
Conspicuously immune from outrage and claims of indecency is "The Passion of the Christ." Many people have questioned the possibility of it being misinterpreted as anti-Semitic, but few people are offended by the gory violence seen in the film. If everything else in Hollywood is suddenly offensive and subject to protest, then why not this film? Perhaps those seemingly most offended by everything, members of the Christian right, don't mind "offensive material" when it promotes their own religious beliefs.
America needs to realize that we get offended by and overreact to too many things that really aren't that offensive. We all need to unclench and stop freaking out over everything. If you do consider something offensive and don't want your children to watch or listen to it, then just change the station! There's no need to continue this ludicrous crusade against indecency that inevitably opens the door to blatant censorship.
Brett Berry is a regional development sophomore who hates censorship but still has good moral values. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.