Nudity versus violence
A coworker was recently recalling frequent plane trips as a child and stated how the in-flight movies were often edited to remove any scenes of nudity. My coworker realized in retrospect how many violent things weren’t edited from those movies and commented on how violence appears regularly on TV. He is a father of two and mentioned that his kids frequently ask about violence they’ve seen or heard about in the media, but that they’ve never seen nudity on TV.
When the whole Janet Jackson / Justin Timberlake fiasco happened at the “the big game” a few years back, people were outraged that they saw a woman’s naked breast on television. However, I find interesting the lack of collective uproar every time someone is portrayed as shot or beaten on any number of prime time television shows or movies edited for television. Let alone, football can be violent at times, itself.
When one considers the subject matter outside of the context of media, it seems as though sometimes movies and TV may put a different spin on things. I love action movies with explosions and fight scenes, but in real life I would much rather be involved in a boob-related incident rather than a violent attack or fight. When you consider how many people have seen nudity in person (anyone who’s ever changed their clothes) as compared to those who have witnessed murder, assault and violent explosions, it seems strange that the image of nudity is looked upon so negatively.
It seems as though the image of a breast has become so taboo that people prefer images of death to that of a very natural physical attribute. I can’t help but wonder if this attitude is part of the reason why breastfeeding seems to be the center of so much controversy.
I’m not saying that there should be more nudity on TV or that violence is acceptable either. I’m just making a social commentary on American media. So, what do you think?
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4 opinions for Nudity versus violence
Phil
Oct 4, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I would much rather my kids saw a naked woman than a bloody chainsaw-wielding madman.
Walk through any Halloween display at the store right now and what do you see? Jason, Freddy, Leatherface. It’s disgusting and pointless.
So, yes, a boob beats blood every time.
Abel
Oct 4, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Geez, what a difficult question, Bill!
Both are bad for kids. But I am with Phil, if I need to choose one: nudity. At least with proper education, I think it’s easier to educate kids about nudity as compared to violence. Furthermore, nudity is not fatal.
Cozmo
Oct 11, 2007 at 1:40 am
It seems that our society in the US is too prudish for nudity, but we’ll gladly splatter someone’s brains all over on prime time tv. Remember when it was a huge deal that a tv show showed someone’s butt? WTF is wrong with us?
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Nov 7, 2007 at 5:03 am
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