Get a life, America

Super Bowl Telecast Still Draws Protests

Despite complaints that Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show was bland and forgettable, the FCC received 33 complaints Monday from viewers who either objected to Paul McCartney’s rendition of “Get Back,” which contains a reference to “California grass,” or were upset by the content of some commercials. Those who complained about the ads deprecated one for GoDaddy.com (a web hosting company), featuring a young woman who almost bares a breast; ads for erectile dysfunction medication; and a scene in a spot featuring one member of the Queer Eye For the Straight Guy crew ogling a man.

(Incidentally, you can see all the Superbowl ads here, and a few of the banned ones here)

Paul McCartney cannot in any sense of the word be deemed offensive – certainly not in his set at the Superbowl. It was the very epitome of mediocrity…

If you (not Americans in general, just the 33 people with nothing better to do with their time than complain) find Paul McCartney or web hosting adverts offensive… don’t get me started on a long list of classic movies, plays and literature that would have to be banned for violence, sexual content or other ‘deviant’ behaviour.

America was founded on its principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The McCartney (different one) witch-hunts in the 1950s were a dark time for those principles – and now it seems that such a witch-hunt is back to haunt the States. The fantastic thing about new technolog is that almost everything has an ‘off’ button – you can simply switch off ‘Saving Private Ryan’ if you find it too violent – and the warnings and disclaimers before and after broadcasts make it absolutely clear what you are going to see. You would need the intellect of a president gnat to watch something even after those repeated cautions and then complain that you found it offensive.

Live broadcasts are, by their very nature, live. Things do go wrong. Would you rather that the Superbowl was delayed by 20 minutes so a panel of lawyers and other ‘experts’ can check that everything is ‘suitable, wholesome family viewing’? Or would you rather watch 14 players kick the crap out of each other as it happens? You choose.

Incidentally, for those of you living in the UK – this organisation was responsible for almost all of the complaints about the Jerry Springer opera fiasco – in the process, drumming up one of the biggest audiences the BBC has ever had for an opera! Muppets.