Paq

Hi, i wasn't sure where to put this, so i thought..politics bc it seems politically driven..


imagine: 3:30 a.m. you've just had a long day, you get out of the shower and you're sitting down to sketch in your sketchbook and listen/watch music videos. First, it seems..Music television only means music at 3 a.m....but that's another story..

So, you're sitting and drawing and watching some new vids and life is dandy..then you hear the familiar beat of "This Love" by Maroon 5, one of my fave songs/videos. The vid is pretty simple and elegant and catchy. There is a couple in a bedroom and a band on a sandy stage with a red backdrop and interspersed shots between the two. pretty simple, has a pretty message, etc.

So..first time you see it, it's pretty racy, but NOTHING compared to most rap videos with the bootyshaking. This one has the couple engaged in some topless, harmless forplay with nothing really showing other than the girl's underwear. Her unclothed upper body is pressed against the guy's unclothed upper body, so you're given glimpses of nothing, really, but yet..at 3:30 a.m. you start hoping...j/k. Still, nothing that you wouldn't see on..well, probably 90% of network TV.

So..first time you see it, nothing is really edited/cut, all the lyrics are there and the bodies are there and it's a really catchy, upbeat song. No big deal, i totally recommend this song for anyone who's ever been in a turmultuous relationship.

3 weeks go by, and you see the song again and notice they cut out, "keep her coming everynight, so hard to keep her satisfied" They just mouth the words "her coming" with no sound from the vocalist. Ok, i could pooosssiiibbblllyyyy see how that's offensive, but it doesn't detract much from anything, other than i hate edited for content anything..

another month goes by, all's well.
then a few more days and you're watching again..Now..instead of getting a full vid, etc, whatyou're treated to is one of the most horrendous panderings to anyone who may be offended by anything...Seriously, the vid is just like normal, except that anytime you see the couple or even just the guy w/out his shirt on, you're treated to moving flowers across their bodies. I'm talking computer generated moving flowers that destroy the entire video. At first, i thought MTV was going to put up a promotion for something during the vid, then i realized it was part of the vid now...and it seriously pisses me off that they would edit out something like that and make it more raunchy by making it more mysterious. Now people will think they are getting it on or something instead of just making out/whatever, and it's just INSULTING to anyone with any bit of common sense. It makes you feel like a child when you're given all of something, then having it slowly stripped away in front of you.

I know it's a stupid thing to get upset over a video, but i am seriously seeing this as a threat to our freedom of expression. This is akin to putting a fig leaf over the statue of david, (they did that in my city when any depiction is shown of that statue..) But seriously, this video was well within any guidelines and has been slowly changed into a 'safe for anyone under the age of 2' show. I am waiting for them to start depicting married couples in separate beds again...I mean, i just hate having regulations that restrict what you can honestly watch. The most damning thing, though, is that the next vid was "Toxic" by britney spears...in completely unedited glory...as if that wasn't sexual enough to warrant editing...
Gee..a 20something yr old girl in a skincolored bodysuit with jewels isn't as offensive as a topless guy..Hmmmm...

And i will admit that all this happened after the janet jackson halftime debacle, but COME ON!! it was a breast...on one of the most watched events of the year. I'm talking about a girl's back and a guy's front on 3 a.m. non-basic cable.

Sorry for the incredibly long diatribe here, I'm just frustrated with censorship and editing and the lack of another form of expression or harsher guidelines or whatever. It's just annoying to me that something was well into the guidelines 2 months ago, but is now deemed too expressive or too sexual to be shown in the same manner.

I think i'm going to start an anti-censorship club.

(mods, if this is wrong place or totally out there, move or delete, i dont' want to ruffle any of those feathers, i'm just looking for a place to vent/receive comments on the current censorship of the media)

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Live.

Chris