television paradox #14,285

I am really tired of the U.S. obsession surrounding what words cannot be said on television. We all know these words, so not showing them on television is not going to protect us from learning what these words are. It's okay for us to watch blood gushing out of patients on innocuous romantic dramas like Grey's Anatomy, but it's completely unacceptable for Jane Fonda to use the word "cunt" on The Today Show, even when that word is the title of a play and is not being used in a specifically profane or insulting manner? Meredith Vieira then apologized to the nation, claiming they would never want to offend the audience. Well, I'm offended that a word that appears in the title of a play is considered offensive. If Fonda had been using it in a derogatory manner, then maybe we could argue about whether it belonged on a morning talk show. Maybe. I think that if The Today Show really wanted to apologize, they could focus on how empty their programming generally is and how they contribute to a kind of national malaise.