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TV-14 doesn't mean what you think it does

V

vchimpanzee

I don't spend a lot of time watching cable channels. I got the basic basic package when I decided an antenna wouldn't do the job in my location when TV went digital. I do have WGN America which I assumed was staying true to its history of meeting broadcast standards. When I go to the beach or the mountains I can watch other channels. Some movies get cleaned up to meet broadcast standards (or come close) and some do not. A few additional curse words the big five won't allow do make it on to those other stations even if they clean up the language.

Somewhere I got the idea that if a program goes significantly beyond what broadcast TV will allow, the rating changes from TV-14 to TV-MA. I may have used the logic that ABC, if not the others, will give a perfectly clean kids' show a TV-PG (occasionally even ABC will give a TV-G).

In fact, Hulu offered me another free month and since there were a couple of network episodes I had missed due to them getting deleted prematurely, I accepted. I have found one of the TV episodes but not the other. I did hear "Veronica Mars" got another season, on Hulu. So to make sure I took full advantage of the opportunity, I watched. A TV-14 rating. I did hear the S-word, but no big deal. This sometimes happens on movies that have been cleaned up for TV or don't require significant cleaning up. But then I heard it again and again, along with the A-word, the G-word, and some words you can use on TV but only if they don't have certain specific meanings. On this show, the words often had those specific meanings. Certain concepts that network TV doesn't talk about got discussed. In other words, a show that was once on broadcast TV got to use pretty much every word many times except the big one, and they found a funny and creative way around that. Only Veronica and her Dad used the Word but instead of using that word, they used a substitute word in every way possible. And the dirtier the use, the funnier the substitute word sounded.

After a while, it seemed like the language got cleaner. But only the frequency of use of certain words.

Over the weekend, I watched the movie "Platoon". I had avoided this highly acclaimed movie for many years. I'm glad I did. WGN America didn't even have the courtesy to put an L in the rating. D was enough? Really? Why? And TV-14 certainly wasn't. And not just because of the language. But the language was even worse than on "Veronica Mars". Oh, they bleeped the F-word and I heard just plain "Mother" a few times. And they said the C-word (no, the other one) four times. I forgot George Carlin had two C-words. By the way, George's list is down to six words, and two of them made it to network TV in rare cases before the Janet Jackson incident. One of them I think can be heard on the big five in very rare cases.

A few rare and very select uses of certain words shouldn't get a TV-MA, but I hardly think frequent use of such words is covered by TV-14.
 
Chimp,

If you are surprised/amazed/offended by the language in TV movies these days do not, I repeat DO NOT walk any distance next to a group of teens.

I spent four years in the Navy and thought I had a complete X-rated vocabulary.....until I heard those teens. And the girls are just as bad as the boys.
 
Don CT said:
Has the ratings system done anything except point out that the good shows are all TV MA.
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That's only because many of the best writers want the freedom to curse.

I don't think the cursing is essential (and even if it is, bleeping means the implied cursing is there and that makes it work). And I don't buy the argument that people ought to talk in movies and on TV the way people really talk.
 
vchimpanzee said:
That's only because many of the best writers want the freedom to curse.

I don't think the cursing is essential (and even if it is, bleeping means the implied cursing is there and that makes it work). And I don't buy the argument that people ought to talk in movies and on TV the way people really talk.
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The way people really talk is how people talk, why not show that in movies and on TV. For people to be offended by the f word on TV and then say it in their personal lives is hypocritical.
 
TV-14, by definition, contains inappropriate language. TV-MA contains FREQUENT inappropriate language. But, how do you define "frequent"?

Broadcast TV is the only medium in which profanity is regulated. Streaming services and Cable TV channels are not held to the same standard, because they are not freely available and you must choose to subscribe to those channels/services/etc. As I understand it, it is at the discretion of the network or service to determine the ratings, within the guidelines set forth.

Of course, the way we censor content in the US is a bit absurd. We are more afraid of kids hearing "bad words" than we are about them seeing violence, even though violence has been shown to have a worse effect on kids than language.
 
mnradiofan said:
TV-14, by definition, contains inappropriate language. TV-MA contains FREQUENT inappropriate language. But, how do you define "frequent"?
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One or two uses of the S-word in an hour-long show, not a problem. But in "Veronica Mars", I define their uses of the word as frequent.
mnradiofan said:
Broadcast TV is the only medium in which profanity is regulated. Streaming services and Cable TV channels are not held to the same standard, because they are not freely available and you must choose to subscribe to those channels/services/etc. As I understand it, it is at the discretion of the network or service to determine the ratings, within the guidelines set forth.
Click to expand...
I think if they're going to curse, be consistent with the use of the ratings.
mnradiofan said:
Of course, the way we censor content in the US is a bit absurd. We are more afraid of kids hearing "bad words" than we are about them seeing violence, even though violence has been shown to have a worse effect on kids than language.
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And what has any of this got to do with kids? I would have been much happier seeing both these programs without the language.
 
landtuna said:
Chimp,

If you are surprised/amazed/offended by the language in TV movies these days do not, I repeat DO NOT walk any distance next to a group of teens.

I spent four years in the Navy and thought I had a complete X-rated vocabulary.....until I heard those teens. And the girls are just as bad as the boys.
Click to expand...

I sadly have to agree with that statement. Young women have become extremely coarse and vulgar
in our society.
 
vchimpanzee said:
One or two uses of the S-word in an hour-long show, not a problem. But in "Veronica Mars", I define their uses of the word as frequent.
I think if they're going to curse, be consistent with the use of the ratings.
And what has any of this got to do with kids? I would have been much happier seeing both these programs without the language.
Click to expand...

The Ratings system is directed at parents so they can make informed decision for their kids. As an adult, you should be able to hear a word, and be responsible for it, but as a child many parents don't want their kids exposed to that, because they feel the words are not OK. Sounds like you deem these words not OK either, I just don't understand why you feel the need to censor them, when you can just as easily ignore them.

Veronica Mars is now an "online exclusive" series, so they are not governed by the FCC, therefore, they can rate the show however they want, because they are not governed by the rules of the FCC. My guess is, they didn't rate it AT ALL, and that the TV-14 rating you saw was actually left over from their broadcast day. If you truly have a problem with it, I suggest calling Hulu customer service and voicing your complaint.

My point on the violence is, that younger minds are more affected by violence than language, and that studies have shown if we took the words off the "naughty" list, people would be less inclined to use them. Seems to work in the UK, where you CAN say whatever you want (even on broadcast TV) yet you rarely actually hear foul language on most shows, because it doesn't bring about the same level of "shock".

Simplifying it further, desensitizing people to words is not as bad as desensitizing people to violence.
 
mnradiofan said:
The Ratings system is directed at parents so they can make informed decision for their kids. As an adult, you should be able to hear a word, and be responsible for it, but as a child many parents don't want their kids exposed to that, because they feel the words are not OK. Sounds like you deem these words not OK either, I just don't understand why you feel the need to censor them, when you can just as easily ignore them.

Veronica Mars is now an "online exclusive" series, so they are not governed by the FCC, therefore, they can rate the show however they want, because they are not governed by the rules of the FCC. My guess is, they didn't rate it AT ALL, and that the TV-14 rating you saw was actually left over from their broadcast day. If you truly have a problem with it, I suggest calling Hulu customer service and voicing your complaint.

My point on the violence is, that younger minds are more affected by violence than language, and that studies have shown if we took the words off the "naughty" list, people would be less inclined to use them. Seems to work in the UK, where you CAN say whatever you want (even on broadcast TV) yet you rarely actually hear foul language on most shows, because it doesn't bring about the same level of "shock".

Simplifying it further, desensitizing people to words is not as bad as desensitizing people to violence.
Click to expand...
When I cancel at the end of my free month, I am telling Hulu how I feel.

And why would I want to ignore the word? I don't want to hear them. I appreciate network TV censoring them.

The V-chip ratings provides a clue about what to expect.
 
Something odd I've noticed on TCM is that they will give movies that were rated PG or PG-13 in theaters a TV-MA rating at times. To me it looks like since they're showing uncut theatrical movies that they should use the the theatrical ratings. In the case of movies from before the ratings system was in effect then they could use the TV ratings in those cases.
 
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