Viewpoint by Jonathan Mitchell
Editor’s Note: WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE AND DUE TO ITS GRAPHIC NATURE SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE.
You’re never gonna hear the word bang on the CBS sitcom “Big Bang Theory.” Sure someone might say, “Sheldon, stop banging on my door,” but you’ll never hear Leonard say “so I banged Penny last night.”
The difference here is context. Words such as bang, blow, cream, fingered, fisted, suck, swallow, head and moist are all prohibited if used in a sexual context.
The same goes for masturbation euphemisms like jerking off. You can call someone a jerk-off but you can’t declare that you are going to jerk-off said jerk-off.
These rules extend to filmmakers as well. The MPAA allows PG-13 films one non-sexual use of the word fuck before bumping them up to an R rating. This raises the question: why is it more appropriate to say “fuck you” than “let’s fuck?”
Comedian George Carlin first brought notoriety to this subject with “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television”: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits. In the decades since, this list has kaleidescoped to include upwards of 60 words, by some accounts. But where do these words come from?
It’s hard to determine the true origins of these words as there have been many different theories as well as many false etymologies. The long held belief was that the f-word could be traced back to the Middle Ages when the Black Plague was rampant.
As such, resources were dwindling and the townsfolk were required to receive royal permission in order to reproduce. As proof of this permission they were instructed to display a sign reading “FUCK” that notified passerby that they were engaging in “Fornication Under Command of King.”
It is now widely believed that the word has its roots in old Latin and German words. In his book, “Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido,” Carl Jung drew parallels to the German “pfluog,” which means “to plow, as in a field.”
Jung supported this with evidence in the form of a vase dug up in Florence, Italy. The vase showed six men with erections tending to a plow.
The origin of the word shit is equally murky. Historically manure was transported by ship below decks. When the water came into contact with the cargo it not only made the manure heavier but also caused it to ferment which leads to the production of methane gas which is highly flammable.
To avoid catastrophe they began marking the containers with “S.H.I.T.,” which indicated to the crew that they should “Ship High In Transit” to avoid the fermentation issue. This has since been disproved and it is now believed that “shit” originated from old English and German words much like with the f-word.
The rise in popularity of cable channels as well as the advent of pay channels like HBO and original programming on streaming services like
Netflix and Hulu only help to muddy the waters.
The fact that HBO and Netflix must be paid for outside of a normal television subscription allows them to subvert the same censorship as their basic cable brethren.
Shows like “The Sopranos” and “Orange Is The New Black” often contain frequent profanity and nudity in addition to sometimes graphic violence. Yet these are among some of the most critically acclaimed shows in recent memory.
Does this mean that a show has to use profanity in order to be poignant? Of course not, but perhaps allowing creative people to do their job without fear of censorship causes the final product to be a far less watered down version of the initial vision.
At times censorship can deflate the reality of a situation. If someone you know just got “capped” by the Gambino family, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that you might drop an f-bomb or two, especially if you’re the Don.
Cable TV doesn’t have quite the same freedom as HBO but they exist in a far less restrictive state than network shows. AMC’s hit “Breaking Bad” was allowed one use of the word fuck a season but was free to use other expletives like shit as well as portray graphic violence and persistent drug content on a weekly basis.
On an episode of “The Colbert Report” Stephen Colbert enlisted “House” actor Hugh Laurie to help with a dramatic reading of an updated list of words they were now allowed to say on the Comedy Central program.
“Bang, banging, bitches,” Colbert said in a volley of approved profanities. Another newly approved vulgarity was coochie juice. So apparently you can only say fuck once a season but you can have a never-ending glass of coochie juice. Bottoms up.
There are other weird anomalies and extenuating circumstances that complicate the matter exponentially. Words like Christ and Jesus Christ are prohibited when used as an expletive. This suggests a sensitivity towards religious sensibilities if not a Christian influence from inside the group itself. Paradoxically when movies are edited for rebroadcast often times the only part of goddamn that gets bleeped is the damn.
Censorship is not a new issue. Comedian Lenny Bruce was arrested on Oct. 4, 1961 and charged with obscenity for saying the word cocksucker in a set at the San Francisco Jazz Workshop.
Ten years later in a California courtroom the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Cohen v. California. The case centered around Paul Robert Cohen, 19. On April 26, 1968 Cohen had been charged with disturbing the peace by wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “Fuck the Draft” in the corridors of the Los Angeles Courthouse. Though Cohen was the defendant it was clearly the First Amendment on trial. The Court overruled Cohen’s conviction in a contentious 5-4 split.
If you manage to cut through all the double speak and specious reasoning of these censorship organizations, you’re still left with a question. How can a set of rules decide what is offensive for everyone when everyone’s opinion of what’s offensive is different? With the threat of fines for television networks and the possibility of imprisonment for civilians, the stakes are as high as ever. Should we acquiesce and tiptoe across eggshells? Nah, I say fuck it.