Censorship?

[knocturnal]

So I was watching Impact tonight and I noticed that they censored the word ass anytime that it was used throughout the night...except when Mr. Anderson said Asshole. Can anyone explain to me why ass is worse than asshole.

 

[DangerousDave]

I was thinking the same thing, if Anderson can say "asshole", why bleep "ass". Aries can talk about "big balls", but they don't want to offend us with the word "ass". WTF is Spike or TNA thinking? Must be an ass that made that decision.

 

[Leviticus]

Ive noticed stuff like this this as well on Raw lately, a week or two ago CM Punk said Bullshit and it got bleeped, but I've heard him say bitch countless times and Rock says ass almost every other sentence. I don't understand why bullshit would get bleeped on not those.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I doubt that the decision came from TNA. TNA doesn't regulate their show, Spike does. Therefore if they censor "ass" and not "asshole" then it's Spike's call and it's a moronic one. If you want to censor ass or asshole, censor both or censor none. It's just awkward.

Either way, TNA's a TV show and they have to abide by what the censor wants as far as censorship so we'll have to live with it.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

Television (and movie) censoring is completely weird. Anderson doesn't get censored for saying "Asshole" because he's talking about himself in a typically insulting manner, if he were to talk about a literal ass-hole on the body, in that context it would be censored.

It's stupid and it doesn't make sense, pretty much like everything regulated by the government.

 

[Unocinco]

It has to do with what each company feels like paying for. They don't have to censer the words, but if they don't they'll get fines. Sometimes the WWE or TNA will eat the fine to keep the drama, other times they wont. It also has to do with the time that these programs are on TV at(fines are larger during prime times). I don't know if you have ever seen comedy central "raw and uncut", but they show R rated material uncensored.

 

[kor420]

What i don't understand.... WWE is PG and they don't bleep "ass" but Impact is tv-14 and the bleep "ass"

 

[Fireball93]

I've been noticing that too and was actually upset thinking about it tonight. I was gonna make a thread haha but you beat me to it. It's annoying. And yeah, TNA is TV-14. Why would they censor "ass" when it's TV-14? Total garbage.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I've been noticing that too and was actually upset thinking about it tonight. I was gonna make a thread haha but you beat me to it. It's annoying. And yeah, TNA is TV-14. Why would they censor "ass" when it's TV-14? Total garbage.

I ain't a total expert on this but I do believe that the Network still has a right to censor whatever they feel like censoring, regardless of what rating the show has. It can always be altered and tinkered with and TNA can't do shit about it. I'm fine with censoring wrds like bitch, shit or fuck ... but censoring "ass"? Really? That's not such a foul word. Asshole is filthier (literally and figuratively).

But, that's rules, policies and regulations in the media for ya. A big nasty clusterfuck. Enjoy. Just another reason for TNA to look for a new home, eventually. The show has been showing signs of progress rather consistently unlike the WWE which is failing in the numbers department right now (lowest viewership for a 'Mania go home show since 1997. Funny how the 'sheets aren't reporting that right?), and has been for a very long time.

 

[trashboy]

Ive noticed stuff like this this as well on Raw lately, a week or two ago CM Punk said Bullshit and it got bleeped, but I've heard him say bitch countless times and Rock says ass almost every other sentence. I don't understand why bullshit would get bleeped on not those.

Really? You're confused as to why they beeped "shit," and not ass or bitch? I'd say because "shit" is a worse word than those other two. I know these days though, certain channels will let "shit" go through like TBS and FX. But I'm guessing it's after certain times, like 9 or 10??

But the censoring of words doesn't bother me at all because it's just TV. The networks censor what they feel like censoring.

 

[trendkiller]

It's good to question censoring, because if they can choose to censor these "naughty" words today, then what other "naughty" words will they ban tomorrow? "Revolution"?

But anyway; no this isn't about taking fines for "dramatic effect" lol or some other great conspiracy. This is about SpikeTV having, you know, 5-6 junior editors in for the night and the supervising senior editor steps into the room where the guy editing TNA sits and gives him a list of words that need to be censored. The junior editor, if he's clever, follows that list to a fuckin' T and if the word "asshole" is not on there, he doesn't censor it. Free will and initiative is not appreciated in slaves, y'see.

(Then, when umpteen sect-indoctrinated teenage moms call in, horrified at the usage of such coarse and volatile language, the junior editor gets blamed, obviously.)

This is just more corporate BS with the blind leading the blind.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I think it's partly the different channel, but honestly I wouldn't be surprised if TNA themselves didn't press the "bleep" button a lot to make their program seem edgier. A lot of times hearing a lot of bleeps makes it sound worse than it really is. Maybe that's the goal? I have no idea. Could be a variety of reasons. However, if I'm marketing my show as the "edgy, cussing, bloody, rasslin you guys love" then I'd be bleeping out stuff to make the show seem more "edgy, cussing, bloody, rasslin" etc.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

It's good to question censoring, because if they can choose to censor these "naughty" words today, then what other "naughty" words will they ban tomorrow? "Revolution"?

But anyway; no this isn't about taking fines for "dramatic effect" lol or some other great conspiracy. This is about SpikeTV having, you know, 5-6 junior editors in for the night and the supervising senior editor steps into the room where the guy editing TNA sits and gives him a list of words that need to be censored. The junior editor, if he's clever, follows that list to a fuckin' T and if the word "asshole" is not on there, he doesn't censor it. Free will and initiative is not appreciated in slaves, y'see.

(Then, when umpteen sect-indoctrinated teenage moms call in, horrified at the usage of such coarse and volatile language, the junior editor gets blamed, obviously.)

This is just more corporate BS with the blind leading the blind.

lol

first off, a teen mom would probably be sharing a beer with her infant kid, because white trash rednecks are like that (and also don't use birth control or seem to believe in it) so I doubt it'd be a teen mom.

What's your background? As someone in business, it seems they LOVE initiative. Maybe I've just gotten lucky though.

I don't think it's far off what you said otherwise though. Spike really doesn't seem like a very well ran channel honestly, probably just their own stupidity.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

The way I understand it each network has their own standards and practices group. They can decide what makes it on tv. People at S&P can change which then change what can be on tv. Networks can also say, well saying ass and asshole is too much, lose the asses or the assholes. They can also say you can only use ass 5 times. So lose one of the times you said ass. Now those are examples from normal scripted tv shows.

I recall Eric Bischoff talking about it in his book. I think they had to send in scripts for S&P at Turner to look over.

Also a story about The Simpsons episode with John Waters. If you know the episode Waters plays a gay man. Most of the time the staff would send in the script for an episode take the censor notes and toss them cause those jokes may be gone by the time the animate the show. Most the time it would be something like please can one use of ass to butt. But this episode got pages back. So they kept throwing them in the trash then by the time they sent in the final scrpit, which still had tons of gay stuff that was once too much for tv, Fox had a new S&P team who just said episode ok.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've noticed this as well and it's asinine when you think about it. The words "ass" and "bitch" are censored, yet words like "asshole" and "prick" seem to be perfectly fine for some odd reason. I can understand with the words like "fuck", "shit", "cunt" and a few others as they're kind of the real biggies.

It might very well be a decision from the brass at Spike but, in all honesty, I think it's a directive from Dixie's old man Bob Carter. I might be totally off base about Bob Carter, I dunno much about the man, but I can't help but feel that there's a very good chance that he's probably an old school Tennessee Republican. If he is, then it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he got into Dixie's ear, told her to talk to the boys at Spike and get them to censor some of the curse words. After all, last I heard, it was actually Bob Carter that owned more than 70% of TNA so if he wanted to pull rank and have Dixie do something that he personally liked or wanted to see, I'm sure that he could.

It might've been a decision made by the Spike brass, however. I just don't see it. When you look at Spike's programming, words like "ass" aren't really that much of a deal. They have shows like 1000 Ways to Die that show pretty raw recreations of graphic death, I've seen movies on Spike in which "goddamn" is used, they have shows with women running around in barely there outfits or bikinis barely large enough to cover anything. I dunno, I just think Big Daddy Carter or even Dixie herself might have had something to do with this.

 

[sweetcosmicpope]

The way I understand it each network has their own standards and practices group. They can decide what makes it on tv. People at S&P can change which then change what can be on tv. Networks can also say, well saying ass and asshole is too much, lose the asses or the assholes. They can also say you can only use ass 5 times. So lose one of the times you said ass. Now those are examples from normal scripted tv shows.

I recall Eric Bischoff talking about it in his book. I think they had to send in scripts for S&P at Turner to look over.

Also a story about The Simpsons episode with John Waters. If you know the episode Waters plays a gay man. Most of the time the staff would send in the script for an episode take the censor notes and toss them cause those jokes may be gone by the time the animate the show. Most the time it would be something like please can one use of ass to butt. But this episode got pages back. So they kept throwing them in the trash then by the time they sent in the final scrpit, which still had tons of gay stuff that was once too much for tv, Fox had a new S&P team who just said episode ok.

This is very accurate. I'd seen somebody mention fines and stuff, but fines don't apply to pay t.v. It's all about whatever image the cable network wants to portray. Some are stricter than others. Comedy central is probably the best example I can use for a lax one. Late at night they don't bleep anything, in primetime anything from "shit" and below (ass, bitch, etc is allowed, and during the day it's the light ones like "ass."

On the other hand, say ABC Family: they're probably not even going to allow "damn" on the air. It's all about target audiences, and trying to stir the pot as little as possible, while getting away with as much as they can.

 

[trendkiller]

lol

first off, a teen mom would probably be sharing a beer with her infant kid, because white trash rednecks are like that (and also don't use birth control or seem to believe in it) so I doubt it'd be a teen mom.

What's your background? As someone in business, it seems they LOVE initiative. Maybe I've just gotten lucky though.

I don't think it's far off what you said otherwise though. Spike really doesn't seem like a very well ran channel honestly, probably just their own stupidity.

I've worked part-time as a junior editor. No joke. Was kind of a horrible work place, though. On the other hand, the magical shimmer that once surrounded "working in media"? Not there no more; this is many TV editors' interpretation of agile methodology. Sad though that is.

I was of course also exaggerating for comical effect. The point still stands, afaic

 

[Pedigree1]

To me makes no sense!! You Censor Ass but not Asshole? Huh i guess its spikes call but it doesnt make sense to me at all. I thought TNA was tv14 WWE has been getting away with more bad language lately than TNA has! But whatever its annoying either censor none or censor all i say

 

[ABMorales787]

It's common. Especially when the person walks up to the camera and says the word. That's why it's censored. The execution of the word is blatant, gaphic and expressed in the most derogatory way possible. The word isn't censored because it's a word. It's because of the delivery. When Anderson comes out and calls everyone "assholes" you know it's him calling out to his fans. But when Bobby Roode was on the mic and walked up to the camera and said "they should just kiss his A**!" it was done with as much anger, disgust and seriousness as possible. It's a notable difference that makes certain words seem more heinous depending on the context.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I've worked part-time as a junior editor. No joke. Was kind of a horrible work place, though. On the other hand, the magical shimmer that once surrounded "working in media"? Not there no more; this is many TV editors' interpretation of agile methodology. Sad though that is.

I was of course also exaggerating for comical effect. The point still stands, afaic

Media is totally different. Most businesses are still "who you know" but don't seem to be at ALL as bad as media/entertainment. In most other lines of business, if you show initiative and perform well, you'll rise. In media it seems that you have to kiss ass an know someone.

Anyone actually know the site where you can look at the standards? There HAS to be some actual reference available.

 

[neildittmar]

In the United States, only broadcast network television (and radio) is under the thumb of the FCC and subject to violations and fines due to indecency. Cable TV is a pay service and can literally do whatever it wants, regardless of actual ratings on the show. Since you have to "subscribe" to cable TV, that effectively puts it out of reach of the long arm of the FCC. See "Louie" on FX and late-night movies on Comedy Central and even Spike for evidence.

That said, nearly every cable television network has imposed its own self-regulation either based on or heavily derived from FCC standards for network television. In some cases it's even more stringent than what the FCC regulations would demand. The reason for this is essentially advertising. Cable television providers sell advertising during their programs. Advertisers want to reach as many potential viewers as possible to sell to. If content on a program or channel is deemed by the public (read: vocal minority) as inappropriate, crude, or damaging, then that turns advertisers off to the channel/programming. A lack of advertisers essentially means a lack of positive cash flow. This is the reason why activist groups petition advertisers to withdraw their support from channels when an "incident" occurs. That's how you "hurt" them.

As for TNA specifically, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the censoring of certain words and not others was due to something as simple as a "word count" that Spike (or even TNA itself) has imposed. When an action group brings an indecency complaint against a channel or program, the two things routinely mentioned are severity and frequency. TNA wrestlers will shy away from the seven so-called "dirty words" to cover many bases, but frequent use of other "not as bad" words can be just as incriminating in the court of public opinion.

In TNA's world, Ken Anderson needs to use a certain term to refer to himself and his fans because it's critical to the character and gimmick. Other wrestlers using a derivative of the word, even if it is "softer", is not as important. Even with the censorship, fans can still figure out what's being said. As someone else mentioned, the bleeps can also serve to make the program seem edgier than it really is.

And as an aside, the FCC does not in fact have a clear-cut list as to what you can say and what you can't on broadcast television and radio. The language in its mandates is incredibly vague and gives nearly all power to the FCC/complainant and effectively nothing to the network/station. That is, something like an entire radio station can lose its license after an FCC investigation spurned by one public complaint of indecency if the agency finds it valid enough. It's pretty scary.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I gotta admit... I'm utterly confused by TNA or SpikeTV's decisions here.

Last night, early in the show, Storm cut a promo back stage (shown from the previous week) where he and the country band he's friends with talk about kicking Bobby Roode's ass at Lockdown. Ass is bleeped.

Fast forward to the closing showdown between the two and Storm says "the bullshit ends", and it's not bleeped.

So is shit or bullshit now OK, but ass is not, or what's the deal here?

Hell, they didn't even bleep bullshit in their promo for Lockdown!

[YOUTUBE]eSSdNrshgSE[/YOUTUBE]

 

[HBsam31]

I think it's funny what words people deem worse than others. Shit is worse than bitch but not as bad as ass lol. Come on guys think about what you are saying. I think tv and movie censorship is weird, and at times can mess up the quality of what is being watched. My best is The Godfather. The censor the italian word for the F bomb. Watch it on tv. In the scene where Connie gets beat up by Carlo they use different Italian for the F bomb than they do in the dvd version. Its ridiculous. Honestly if the company is using common sense then I don't think anything should be censored. Remember I said if the company is using common sense.

 

[Lowdown]

Heard "bullshit" as well. I question this considering how often ass has been bleeped over the course of several months. Keep in mind its all good whenever Anderson says "asshole". It makes no sense. Granted you think after 10Pm it would be OK to use the word shit on a cable network like they do on FX programming like Justified and Archer. They need to make their minds up on what words should be censored.

 

[whoopin' ass]

it makes me laugh. James Storm says bullshit and it gets by on a taped segment.

it is one of those moronic standards. Take the last Die Hard movie - there are little things that you can remove to make it PG-13 instead of R(can show someone being shot but can't have a loud bang, etc). same here. in order for Anderson to say asshole, you can't say ass anywhere else because in their minds, it balances out. same with the violence - need to censor Bobby Roode and Dixie Carter when showing what happened at the ppv but can have Eric Young be in tag matches against women because it is comical. it makes sense to someone