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Monday, January 23, 2006

Somehow I think the next Jerry Bruckheimer shoot-em-up will be exempt
Posted by Jill | 9:31 AM

Unbelievable:

Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg on Thursday called fining actors for indecency on TV "incomprehensible." The SAG chief made the remark in his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which is currently considering legislation that would raise FCC fines for indecency.

Under the new legislation, which has already been approved by the House, the FCC could fine individuals up to $500,000 for speech or actions deemed indecent.
"SAG members work primarily on scripted projects – we are hired to perform a role. To be threatened with half a million dollars in fines for doing our jobs is incomprehensible," he said during the committee’s Jan. 19 hearing on decency in Washington D.C.

Unlike broadcast licensees, individual citizens, including the members I represent here today, are not aware of the FCC’s vague and changing indecency standards. Should they really be subject to half million dollar fines without a warning?," he asked.

Rosenberg also spoke out against censoring programming to make it suitable for children. He cited CBS’s 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', on which his wife Marg Helgenberger stars, as an example of programming that is not appropriate for children, but should be available for adults to watch.

"If all of America’s entertainment output were to be distilled to a level that is appropriate for children, every movie and program would be rated G," he continued. "If you allow the content considerations of a single demographic (be it children or some narrow segment of an adult special interest group) to dictate the standards for what is appropriate for the entire nation, you suppress one of this country’s greatest assets – the diversity and creativity of the American people."

He pointed out that many safeguards already exist to protect children from inappropriate content, such as the V-chip, the TV ratings system, and the cable industry’s new family-tier of channels.

Tom Carpenter, AFTRA's general counsel and legislative-affairs director, and noted actor Joe Pantoliano, co-president of the Creative Coalition, previously decried the proposed legislation before the committee on Nov. 30.

As of press time, legislation remains in committee.
A full transcript of Rosenberg’s statement can be found on SAG’s website: www.sag.org.


The Christofascist Zombie Brigade already has a potent tool at its disposal where television is concerned: The remote control. You don't like it? Turn it the hell off. You think a movie is offensive? Don't see it. And if you have kids, you have ScreenIt.com to see if the movie your kids want to see is appropriate.

Parents don't want to take the responsibility for determining themselves what's suitable for their kids; they don't want to enforce bedtimes; they want to be their kids' best friend; and that's why we have moves like this -- to make the only entertainment available to anyone that which is suitable for a four-year-old.

Funny how conservatives are so pro-business, unless said business is the entertainment industry.

There's no reason why a kid has to have his own TV in his own room. If you're a parent, and you want to monitor what your kid watches, take the goddamn TV out of his room. But don't tell me what I can and can't see because YOU don't want to do your fucking job as a parent.

(hat tip: ModFab)
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