SMUT!

Once again, a move is afoot to de-smut television. In an effort to better define the word, the FCC may reinstate a rule, the name of which escapes me, dropped in 1982 that defined a minimum baseline standard for decency. Presumably this move is being taken in response to criticism over what is decency on broadcast. The more important feature of this new rule is that it'll apply to Cable operators and not just broadcast.

Cable has always enjoyed certain freedoms not allowed to the big TV networks (CBS/ABC/NBC, and more recently, FOX, WB, UPN). In yet another move to Protect Our Children from that which is harmful to them, we get another round of censorship for our own good. The US maintains its puritanical roots in our culture, and wow does it show sometimes. The broadcast standards in most of the EU-countries are f-a-r more permissive than what we allow, and these nations are our peers and some are fellow G8 members.

Access to 'adult' material by adults is something that is greatly impacted by these moves. As a person in my majority I have the right to view pretty much anything without governmental interference. Problem is, I have to prove I'm an adult before viewing some of it and that barrier is a hard thing to really do effectively in media.

Bravo has recently run a mini-series called TV Revolution that details the evolution of several topics in television, one of which is sex and its portrayal. From the 1950's Ward & June sleeping in separate beds, to the 1990's Married: With Children. It is a very good guide to the evolution of how sexual relationships are presented in the media. Such as the first "both feet on the bed" bedroom scene was in the 1990's.

Unfortunately, until we get to the point where the cable-box can intelligently know the ages of everyone in front of the tee vee we're going to have to apply the 'most restrictive policy' to viewing. And that restrictive policy applies to that voracious sponge of a brain contained in your average 5 year old. And as we all know, knowing too much about sex or violence at an early age can cause harm.

*ahem*

To use the epidemiology model, sometimes referred to as 'memes', let me follow this one out. Knowledge is a communicable disease. There are more than one way such know-how can be passed on from person to person.

My parents, like may of their peers, tried to limit certain influences on my developing brain. Things such as gun play, no swearing, and other such GoodParent things of the time. It worked pretty good until my sister and I started coming into daily contact with other kids. And more specifically, other kids whose parents weren't as restrictive as mine. As such, while it took until fourth or fifth grade to learn what the Seven Dirty Words really meant, I knew what they all were by first grade (plus a few more that were depreciated with age, like 'fart'). Several uncouth characters on my bus to school further helped our cultural education, further helped by a good dosing of recess.

Kids these days have a few more things working against the parents:

• Marketers who learned how to market to kids (and not to the parents of kids, key difference) on me, and thus have decades of experience at it
• The wilds of the internet
• The fusion of Japanese Anime culture into the mainstream, something us adults didn't generally grow up with, and may not know how to deal with

On recommendation of friends, my sister and I used to sneak viewings of The Dukes of Hazard, a show both parents found morally disturbing on a number of levels. The underground information superhighway it still alive and well in our schools, trafficking in blackmarket information not approved by The Powers That Be. In my parents day it was the usual things plus a solid rumor mill regarding sex and its mechanics, something that is somewhat alleviated by Sex Ed in modern times (this alone is the topic of another rant).

Ideally, Parents would be the ultimate arbiters of what goes into their children's heads. But in this consumer culture that is patently, and absolutely, not possible. Until the time where we can V-Chip brains, we're not going to get that. The media will continue to be sanitized in order to preserve the rights of parents to raise their kids how they may, and thus greatly increase the barriers to consumption of the racy stuff for the rest of us.