It seems as though a great cleansing of the foul language, vulgarity, obscenity, crudeness, sexual explicitness, gratuitous violence, etc, from the mainstream of movies, music and television is not likely to happen anytime soon. This is of great sadness to me, as I view this problem as one of the great issues facing our civilization in the west today, and a blight on our dignity as a common society and individual human beings. That said, however, I recognize that any change from public acceptance of such content is not likely to happen soon. One can hope, but one sadly also has to be realistic.

The question I have, the question that eats me up inside, is how can otherwise seemingly nice, upstanding people have no problem with the foul language and vulgar filthy content in entertainment (not to mention on the internet). Even some people who don't swear themselves will rent R-rated movies or let their kids listen to profanity filled rap and rock music, seemingly not at all offended no matter how vulgar or profane the material is. I guess they feel that as long as they "work hard and pay their taxes" as Bill Clinton used to say everything else is ok. Yet, I personally don't understand why they don't find it unpleasant to hear the foul language and vulgarity themselves.

I mean putting aside the legitimate moral and ethical aspects inherent in entertainment choices, if you yourself don't generally swear or are not crude and vulgar why do you enjoy hearing people do so in movies and music? In short, even if foul language and vulgar, crude content is legal in mainstream entertainment, is sold by major entertainment companies and marketed as mainstream Americana, why aren't there more people who simply choose not to watch or listen? How can you be an ethical person and pay money to hear a bunch of swear words, women called "bitches" and human sexuality turned into some sort of crude vulgar joke?

I see nothing wrong with vulgarity or profanity so long as it is done at the appropriate time. Entertainment is one of those times in my eyes because you have the option to watch or not watch. Inappropriate times are work, school or places of public accommodation, and I mean this from the standpoint of good manners, not from the standpoint of government intervention. Government should never step in to prevent "vulgarity".

When I am with friends and family, I swear quite often, however I have never done it at work. For it is only a form of expression and should not be given too much import.

Yes, vulgarity promoted to children is wrong. If done at the appropriate times, it is up to the individual if they want to listen. If 99% of the population didn't want to hear it, you wouldn't see it anywhere...

it warms my heart to hear dave chapelle say the 'n' word night after night..

its like a battle won against the FCC..

i dont even notice when they cuss half the time.. it puts emphasis on shows, and enhances the motional output of charactors, and the roles that they portray, making them more influential.

Censorship is just wrong. I don't care what you're censoring - it led to a Dark Age in human history that lasted 500 years. No censorship. It's very easy to self censor the stuff your kids hear and see, you simply tell them, and you don't use the words yourself. On our satellite decoder, we can switch over to the family language that has gaps where all the 'bad' words are and it is terrible. So I leave it on, I do however, give a shudder or comment and discuss the use of bad language with kids afterwards saying how it shows a lack of education because the English language has so many better words blah blah blah. So rather than listen to the lecture, my kids simply heard the words but didn't use them.
One morning I overheard the two older ones trying to out curse each other, saying all the bad words that they knew. I took them to a table, told them to find the word in the dictionary and to write a sentence with it using a synonym. It was a wonderful punishment for one, he doesn't swear anymore and cringes when we do and the other one - it stimulated a desire to become a master of the English language and to learn as many other languages as he was able.
There is far too much government interference in our lives, I hate the thought police who tell you which words are bad and which good, no word is bad, every word learned expands your vocabulary, like every other tool we use, it's not words that make someone bad its the person who uses them.
As for nudity, violence etc. I said somewhere else, its ok to show Saddam being strung up over and over on the news but heaven forbid a child should see Mark Antony having a bath in his courtyard without an 18 rating please.

How can I be an ethical person and watch movies with foul language? Well, to me ones ethics is not defined by their language. What is the correct language? Using only the Church's "approved" words of the English language? What if I watch movies and shows with bad language as research about how culture is turning, as a means to educate myself? What if I watch these shows and do community service on the weekends as a response to it? You are pigeon-holing people who have seen it and given them cookie-cutter reactions. Just because someone sees something doesn't necessitate that they will behave a certain way to it. I grew up watching Ren & Stimpy and other such shows. They were constantly under threats of being banned. However, I grew up without becoming a criminal and currently am attending a higher education institution. And I never acted out anything I saw on those cartoons physically.

No, my parents allowed me to view such things because they knew I was going to experience the world someday (which can be way worse than some stupid vulgar cartoon). They also took the time to educate me on the show and on life in general. It seems people that call for censorship of the "lack of ethics" in viewing some show are usually those that are too lazy to raise their own kids, or are ineffective at it, and wish to find another scapegoat (in this case, the TV).

__________________
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
Isaac Asimov

On language, it's fair to assume that kids are going to hear bad language - and no, this is not a current phenomenon of Gen X and on. It seems to have only currently been brought to light via the media and other mediums of concentration on the topic. I can't count how many times I hear middle-aged adults tell me (once they find out I am a spanish speaker) that they learned all the "bad" words in Spanish on the playground. Really? What else did they learn? Who cares, really?

I did my fair share of using curse words (and still do). But I know when to use them and when not to. My parents raised me to be a more upstanding person than to walk around throwing F-bombs around.

It's all a matter of how involved parents want to be with their kids.

__________________
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
Isaac Asimov

Oh good, I thought I was the only one who feels more relieved when Chappelle does that too. He should do it more just so everyone's head can explode.

I enjoy intensity in my entertainment. Suspenseful horror, hilarious comedy, psychological thrillers, gritty action/adventure flicks--I don't like to be bored when I'm supposed to be having fun

I also like amusement parks usually head straight for the highest intensity ride. When I write (I'm an author) my books always include explosions, hand-to-hand combat, etc.

This is what I enjoy, and the majority of the time, this intensity is accompanied by intense language. We designate "family" oriented movies we watch when the kids are awake--the rest comes after they're in bed.

For my 14 yr.old, however, we've been getting a bit more lenient in what he watches with us. I have no qualms about his being exposed to some adult material (not talking porn here--which I don't watch either--what little I have seen is just really badly written and completely boring.) I'm just of the parenting style that it's detrimental to raise a child with no knowledge of the adult world whatsoever and then expect them to function in the adult world. My eldest will be 18 in four short years, it just makes sense to start allowing him to experience some adult issues--through different mediums--in a controlled environment and in minimal doses.

But as far as language is concerned? He's in 9th grade now, there's very few words he hasn't heard already. Does that mean I swear around him and set a bad example? Heck no I'm not ignoring his experiences though in favor of maintaining a false relationship with him though.

Every year he has to "clear" words he wants to use with me. So far, I've allowed him to say damn and hell--but not 'sh*t'--I tell him that if he doesn't think it's a good idea to say a word in front of his grandmother, it's not likely anything he should be using at all

Either way, my goal is not to hide reality from him, but teach him right from wrong, respect, civility, and give him the tools he needs to evaluate situations when I'm not there. So far, he's been doing an excellent job and we often have long talks about grown-up situations.

In the end, it's not language I worry about, it's harmful attitudes--like manipulation, coercion, etc. to entice or tempt him to participate in unlawful or immoral situations and making sure I've done all I can to instill in him the knowledge and wisdom to make good choices.

Mike If yo read my post above. I have four of them and with all the tv etc it's so hard to hear the words. It's not the entertainment that bothers me but the news. I say again and again, how could they show Saddam's hanging yet I had to stay up late at night to watch Rome. Yes it was violent, and yes it had lots of sex and nudity but if parents don't want their kids to see it, change the channel or tell the kids they're only acting and look at the historical or other value in the movie. It's wehn they show violence for real, that's when I freak out.