What's decent about European TV?

[madformac]

Standards looser than those of U.S., but debate is on


http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/1....ap/index.html


LONDON, England (AP) -- When the BBC recently announced it would air "Jerry Springer: The Opera," the West End hit famous for its vulgarity and a cast of characters including transsexuals and a man wearing a diaper, no one batted an eye.

In Britain, after all, the biggest-selling daily newspaper carries a photograph of a bare-breasted woman every day. ( )

The musical inspired by the self-consciously salacious talk show will air uncut, though in keeping with the country's rules it will be shown after 9 p.m. with a warning that it may not be appropriate for children. In European countries, people often regard U.S. rules about indecency on public airwaves -- and their enforcement by the Federal Communication Commission -- as puritanical. (The FCC's powers apply to broadcast TV and radio. It has no powers regarding cable TV, newspapers, the Internet or satellite radio.)

"The climate in the U.K. is much more liberal than in the United States regarding the kind of sexual content that there is on TV," said professor David Buckingham, a specialist in television at London University. "The Janet Jackson breast incident at the Super Bowl probably wouldn't have attracted much interest here."

Still, the issue is debated in Europe, too. The difference is that the content on the continent would make many Americans blush. In Germany, where each state has its own agency to keep an eye on what airs on television and radio, there's a lot of leeway about nudity and sexuality, especially compared to the United States. Recently, the mass-market Bild daily newspaper ran a front-page story -- complete with a topless photo -- suggesting that a starlet's full-frontal nude scenes were cut from her TV movie because she wasn't pretty enough. Last year, a new national media commission was set up to promote standards for TV, radio and the Internet. It was a response to a 2002 school massacre in Erfurt, Germany, carried out by a former student who authorities believe may have been inspired by violent video games.

The panel has gone so far as to order that reality TV shows about cosmetic surgery -- including a German version of the beauty contest show "The Swan" -- be shown after 11 p.m., because it was concerned that such programs sent the wrong message to children about "human worth." Stations that break the rule can be heavily fined.

In addition, the popular German version of "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" -- in which German stars performed stomach-turning stunts -- prompted some hand-wringing this year. But no ban was considered on the grounds of freedom of speech. "What should one decide? How far can it still go?" asked Kurt Beck, the governor of Rhineland-Palatinate state and former chairman of its media commission. "Cockroaches are allowed in the mouth, but not snakes or worms?"

In Italy, the Communications Authority ruled in 2002 that every "adults only" TV program must air after 10:30 p.m. and be announced as unsuitable for children. Films shown on television also contain a color-coded rating regarding their suitability for youths. Despite that, daily Italian TV is full of examples of scandalizing shows. The latest edition of "Big Brother" stirred a nationwide debate, as participants threw parties with binge drinking, on-air sex and heavy cursing.

Earlier this year, a new show featuring people undergoing plastic surgery called "Bisturi! Nessundo e' Perfetto" ("Scalpel! No One is Perfect") stunned many viewers. It featured a flat-chested young woman baring her breasts to the scalpel for implant surgery. The knife sliced through flesh, blood spurted, and viewers deluged the network's switchboard with calls of protest. Consumer groups urged Rome prosecutors to consider obscenity charges, but the show has not been fined or suspended.

For years, there was no debate or controversy about nudity or sexual explicitness on television in Spain (where independent commercial TV stations only emerged in 1989 after years of repression and censorship under the Franco regime). And the country had no regulations to control TV content. But that changed this month when a campaign against "telebasura," or "rubbish TV," prompted the government and Spain's three main broadband TV stations to sign a code of conduct to safeguard children. The time a program can be shown depends on its intended audience.

In Russia, TV shows that are considered too racy for children must be shown after 11 p.m. -- after which some stations show fairly explicit erotica. But there's a debate under way now about the possibility of the harmful effects of TV violence. Last month, Russia's lower house of parliament unanimously approved -- in its first of three readings -- a sweeping bill that would ban showing "dead bodies, scenes of murder, beatings, the infliction of serious, medium and light injuries, and rape and other violent activity of a sexual nature."

Critics derided the draft as draconian, saying it would not differentiate between action flicks or scenes of violence in, for example, the film version of "War and Peace." Media analysts said such a law also would muzzle journalists' coverage of stories involving violence. Nonetheless, Russia doesn't know what to make of the American hubbub over "Desperate Housewives" actress Nicollette Sheridan dropping her towel and jumping nude into National Football League star Terrell Owens' arms or TV stations refusing to run "Saving Private Ryan" for fear of FCC fines.

As far as Konstantin Isakov of the MR&MC media consulting group is concerned, they only show that "life is less chaotic there, people generally obey the laws and, as a result, there's nothing better to talk about."






It is interesting how TV in the USA is so filtered. Matt Groening mentioned it last week at the British Comedy Awards about just how much dialogue from the Simpsons that is quite fine for the UK censors just won't make it into the show in America..

[wondergirl9847]

Earlier this year, a new show featuring people undergoing plastic surgery called "Bisturi! Nessundo e' Perfetto" ("Scalpel! No One is Perfect") stunned many viewers. It featured a flat-chested young woman baring her breasts to the scalpel for implant surgery. The knife sliced through flesh, blood spurted, and viewers deluged the network's switchboard with calls of protest.

Regardless of her breasts being shown, WHO wants to see that?! EWW!!!

Yep, when I was in England last year, The Osbournes was on TV and it was wierd to not hear *beep* every 5 seconds. LOL

[amber]

I think it's interesting (and good) that some of the countries are much more concerned about Violence on TV, and Plastic Surgery, then sexual content. As it should be.

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by madformac

In Italy, the Communications Authority ruled in 2002 that every "adults only" TV program must air after 10:30 p.m. and be announced as unsuitable for children. Films shown on television also contain a color-coded rating regarding their suitability for youths. Despite that, daily Italian TV is full of examples of scandalizing shows. The latest edition of "Big Brother" stirred a nationwide debate, as participants threw parties with binge drinking, on-air sex and heavy cursing.

Yes, that was a show that made all of us proud . The negative fact about not finding particularly scandalous nakedness and sex is that without a clear reason we have women dressed in almost nothing who smile and never talk for all the time in many TV programs (I could find this less annoying if there was an equal quantity of cute men in the same attire, but no ). The positive side, at least for me, is that one of our public channels has been airing, during the years, some movies by artists like Fassbinder, Ozu or Warhol, that at the time were impossible to be found anywhere.

Romy

[tommer]

Originally Posted by amber

I think it's interesting (and good) that some of the countries are much more concerned about Violence on TV, and Plastic Surgery, then sexual content. As it should be.

that's absolutly right.
i can tell you about tv here, that it is highly liberal in many terms, on broadcast channels you can see nudity on prime time, drug use often being portrayed as normative (and doesn't necessary brings to hazardous results of any kind), homosaxuality is of course free and open on every hour, you can hear swearing on youth programming too. on cable channels "morals" are even looser. i think there's this restriction thingy for kids you can use, and on some channels (not ppv) you have to enter a code to watch the more erotic oriented programming, but other than that i'm talking free playground here.
on the other hand, you'd never ever see even a fraction of the violence you can see on american programming.

[ThePenguin]

Originally Posted by tommer

that's absolutly right.
i can tell you about tv here, that it is highly liberal in many terms, on broadcast channels you can see nudity on prime time, drug use often being portrayed as normative (and doesn't necessary brings to hazardous results of any kind), homosaxuality is of course free and open on every hour, you can hear swearing on youth programming too. on cable channels "morals" are even looser. i think there's this restriction thingy for kids you can use, and on some channels (not ppv) you have to enter a code to watch the more erotic oriented programming, but other than that i'm talking free playground here.
on the other hand, you'd never ever see even a fraction of the violence you can see on american programming.

Pretty interesting, so different from here. It always amazes me how Americans go nuts over the shock of seeing a bared breast, yet the violence that seeps into prime time TV/children's shows/movies etc is just accepted as absolutely OK. I would much rather have my kids see a naked human body or even hear some salty language as opposed to being inundated with violent images.

-Lis

[dissention]

Originally Posted by wondergirl9847

Earlier this year, a new show featuring people undergoing plastic surgery called "Bisturi! Nessundo e' Perfetto" ("Scalpel! No One is Perfect") stunned many viewers. It featured a flat-chested young woman baring her breasts to the scalpel for implant surgery. The knife sliced through flesh, blood spurted, and viewers deluged the network's switchboard with calls of protest.

Regardless of her breasts being shown, WHO wants to see that?! EWW!!!

Yep, when I was in England last year, The Osbournes was on TV and it was wierd to not hear *beep* every 5 seconds. LOL

They show the exact same thing on MTV all the time. Same with TLC. I didn't realize there were so many ways to insert implants. I knew they cut off the nipples, but I did not know they could be put in through the bellybutton.