Yeah, yeah, yeah — I get it: Certain words will send certain people running for the smelling salts upon hearing them. Sure, sure, sure — kids. I have em. I get that, too. And I agree — there’s adult entertainment and there’s ‘other’.
But we’re talking THE NEWS here. What IS. For REALS.
And if a word is part of THE NEWS then I cannot fathom why the MSM in THIS COUNTRY suddenly gets ‘all editorial’ about the capacity of its audience to handle THE TRUTH.
I’m not getting that wrong, am I? That IS what you’re doing. Same way the MSM always sanitized WAR COVERAGE in-country.
As a kid, I used to love going to the library and sitting with a stack of PARIS MATCH magazine — in large part because its coverage of war looked a lot more like what I imagined WAR to look like than what Time & Newsweek & the Big 3 Networks were showing (I’m bordering on ancient, okay?)
American coverage always looked away just when fluids were about to flying. In Paris Match, by comparison, there were pictures of decapitated heads sitting atop burnt out tanks. The Truth about WAR was jarring — well, yeah! But it’s THE TRUTH.
Another piece of ‘background’ from my memory stack — again, from my distant youth in the Jewish suburbs of Baltimore.
Back when there were just 3 Networks — CBS, ABC & NBC — programming and counter-programming were intense and, as there was no way at the time to record anything (aside from perhaps pointing your super 8 camera at the TV screen) — where TV viewing was concerned, you had to make choices. Time shifting was not an option.
I remember one night were there were two shows on that I REALLY wanted to watch. CBS (if I recall) was broadcasting its original run of ‘HELTER SKELTER’ — the dramatization of the Manson ‘Family’s’ Tate-LaBianca murders. Fairly graphic for the time (but mild compared to now).
On NBC was the other show I wanted to see: The Broadcast Premier of the feature film “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”.
I LOVED that book (‘Poo-tee-weet!’) but was too young to see the movie (I was 14 maybe) without my parents and though my parents would have taken me to see the movie had I asked back when it was in the theaters… I hadn’t seen the movie and really, really wanted to.
And so I chose to watch ‘Slaughterhouse Five’. And it was great. Not the book (what could be?) but… for me, at the time — great! One thing I clearly caught though — as I watched the endiing — the NBC censors cut away just as…
You probably don’t know the story. I’ll thumbnail it for ya. Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time. He travels freely between all the various moments in his life — from his birth, to his very ordinary youth — to joining the army during WWII where he got captured by the Germans and, as a POW, witnessed the Allied firebombing of Dresden, Germany. Billy Pilgrim also travels to his life AFTER the war — including wife, kids, business as an optometrist and — the most important part — his time on the planet TRALFAMADORE where he lives with porn actress MONTANA WILDHACK as part of a ZOO EXHIBIT where THEY’RE the zoo animals. And, being zoo animals, one of the things the Tralfamadorians expect from Billy Pilgrim & Montana Wildhack is that they ‘breed’.
Which brings me back to where I was. Billy and Montana HAVE bred. They have a baby. Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine) goes to put the baby to HER NAKED BREAST — TO FEED IT — when the NBC Censors cut away.
Fair enough, I guess — naked tit (even as actual food source) — seeing it could cause untold horrors to the masses.
‘Slaughterhouse Five’ finishes. I check the time. Good news! It’s the climax of the 6 hours of ‘Helter Skelter’ — it’s extra long tonight and I flip over just in time to catch the Manson’s doing unspeakable things to Sharon Tate…
Yes, Game of Thrones makes anything ‘Helter Skelter’ did look like a Wiggles sketch. But there was a funny contradiction going on…
On ONE channel — carnage, horror, depravity — and all dramatized — AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN — in fairly graphic detail.
Meanwhile — on the very NEXT channel — our eyes must be saved from the sight OF A BREAST-FEEDING BABY BECAUSE BREAST.
Americans are weird. As to why — that’s a whole other conversation. But it gets to the thrust of WHY we’re so FUCKED UP about words…
In particular (oh, good — he FINALLY got to his point!) the word ‘PUSSY’. There’s a bit of Carlin’s routine about the 7 Dirty Words — the ‘both-ways’ words like ‘balls’ — it’s okay when the slugger has two balls on him but when he gets plunked — it better not be there… Pussy seems to have gotten there.
I recall chuckling with smug glee as MSNBC’s Ari Berman introduced (prior to interviewing) one of “PUSSY RIOT” — a word he clearly savored saying. I think he added about fifty extra syllables — like how Australians pronounce the word ‘nose’ — don’t believe me? Check it out… And yet — same network — Niccole Wallace (who I’ve come to enjoy immensely) — felt ‘unable’ to speak the very same word though she would have been QUOTING the POTUS.
Suddenly the same FUCKING word became… toxic? Unhearable? Whaaaaaa?
I don’t get it. But I do.
Talk about bullshit.
How can we solve a very real problem if we can’t even speak its name in the context of news? The president of the United States — prior to getting elected — admitted on an open mic — of CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. Toward women. While more than a dozen women had already claimed that this same men HAD DONE A LOT OF THOSE VERY SAME THINGS.
That’s outrageous. He said this AND STILL GOT ELECTED. Clearly — NOT HEARING THAT WORD — had an impact. WE WERE NOT OUTRAGED ENOUGH.
Because, as usual, our MSM — reflecting who we are — FELT COMPELLED TO SUGAR COAT THE NEWS FOR US. When they weren’t breathlessly passing along Russian propaganda, that is.
PUSSY-GRABBING. Our POTUS is a PUSSY-GRABBER. We knew it before he was elected. And, yeah, we talked about it. Talked around it. But treated the word ‘PUSSY’ like it was a slap in the face.
And, apparently, the American Public couldn’t ‘handle’ that. Though a SLAP IN THE FACE is exactly what we needed. We were ignoring the fact that a SEXUAL PREDATOR and CHILD MOLESTOR and LIAR and THIEF and TRAITOR was almost succeeding at winning the presidency of our country.
I think — just my not-so-humble opinion — we need to toughen up a little — and HEAR the EXACT WORDS that the man spoke — about women.
Go on, Niccole — YOU (of all people) can do it. You know you wanna… say it — because just saying the word — that gesture speaks a truth — about words and how powerful they are both WHEN YOU USE THEM and, as with PUSSY — when you don’t.