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A Violent Society, Afraid of Love
On February 1, 2004, during the Super Bowl XXXVIII, Justin Timberlake accidentally exposed Janet Jackson's breast (partially covered with a nipple shield) in front of an audience of millions.
The reaction from the United States was crazy. People were screaming in horror about how their children had seen the broadcast, and network producers were editing scenes of sexuality and nudity out of shows that were set to broadcast after the incident. The Victoria's Secret fashion show was called off that year out of fear that a repeat incident would occur. The FCC originally fined CBS over $500,000 for the broadcast, before the fine was appealed.
Meanwhile, other countries were left scratching their head at the American reaction and asking, "So what?"
As a society, we've simply become afraid of nudity. We're yelling at women for breastfeeding in public, slapping comics with simple depictions of nonsexual nudity with "EXPLICIT CONTENT" stickers, giving movies R ratings simply for showing topless artistic nudity, and making sure that any form of skin is restricted to the highest levels of pay television.
Meanwhile, we all gather around our television sets with the family and watch shows like "Hannibal", "Revolution", and "The Walking Dead", which contain graphic scenes of torture, stabbing, and mutilation. These programs are viewed by millions and are aired on regular broadcast and basic cable television. It is now estimated that PG-13 movies are twice as violent as the typical R-rated movie.
Why is it that we, as a culture, are simply more okay with acts of killing and harming another being then we are with beings expressing their love for each other?
Even after all the recent acts of violence and shootings in the United States, everyone started fighting over gun control and a select few started picking a fight with video games - not taking into effect what is considered family entertainment here.
I'm not at all suggesting that violent acts should be censored on television; but at some point you have to look at a culture that glamorizes violence and is scared of their own bodies, and wonder if we're really progressing forward in time.
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