Week 8 immoral tendencies in the media final

1. LIB235 Week 8
Immoral
Tendencies in
the Media
DR. RUSSELL
RODRIGO

2. What is Obscenity?
u Law of Obscenity pass by US Congress (1873):
u “Anything that had a tendency to deprave and
corrupt those whose minds might be open to such
immoral influences”.
u Lenny Bruce
u “What is dirty, and what is clean?”
u 1962: accused for obscenity, not charged.
Nowadays, the society is not necessarily a connection
between sexually explicit material and social harm.
Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August
3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce,
was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and
satirist. He was renowned for his open, freestyle, and
critical form of comedy which integrated satire, politics,
religion, sex, and vulgarity.

3. Tests to Determine Obscenity
u US Justice Potter Steward: “ I can’t
define pornography, but I know it
when I see it. “ (Jacobellies vs. Ohio
case, 1964).
u Is pornography by definition always
obscene?
u Variety of tests determine what is
obscenity and what should be
censored.

4. Roth-Memoirs Test
u New Definition for Obscenity by Supreme Court in 50s/60s in the
Roth-Memoirs Test:
u Taken as a whole, the dominant theme of the material appeals to an average
person’s interest in sex.
u Material is considered patently offensive based on community standards
relating to sexual matters.
uAssumed a national standard, applicable to entire country.
u Material possesses no social value at all.

5. Miller’s Test
u The work, taken as a whole, would be found legally obscene, when it:
u Appeals predominantly to “prurient” (having or encouraging an excessive interest in
sexual matters.) interest (jury determines it by community standards).
u Depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way (fact finding
again based on community standards)
u Lacks serious literacy, artistic, political, or scientific value

6. Obscenity VS Indecency
u Is there a difference between “obscene” and “indecency”?
u Obscene refers to utterance or act that strongly offends prevalent
(sexual) morality of the time.
u Indecent means offending against generally accepted standards of
propriety or good taste, improper, vulgar.
u Use of F-word
u Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEIWI15F6aA

7. Obscenity VS Indecency
u Indecency is protected but it might be offensive and
inappropriate
u George Carlin
u American stand-up comedian, actor, author, and social
critic. He was known for his black comedy and
reflections on politics, the English language, psychology,
religion, and various taboo subjects.
u Seven words you cannot say on television where central to
1978 US Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation
u Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Nrp7cj_tM
The seven dirty words are seve
n English-language words
that American comedian
George Carlin first listed in
1972 in his monologue "Seven
Words You Can Never Say on
Television". The words are: shit,
piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker,
motherfucker, and tits.

8. Carlin and the US Supreme Court
u Government has the power to regulate indecent material on public
airwaves.
u Indecency is connected to exposure of children.
u Indecency is measured by community standards (religious groups)
u Broadcasting sexual activities or organs
u Depending on time of the day
u Public airwaves and less protection
u Difficult to protect oneself

9. Skins =
Pornography?
u “ A wild ride through the lives of
a group of high school friends
stumbling through the mine field
of adolescence and stepping
most to the minds as they go. “
u MTV Show Skins promotes drugs,
alcohol, simulated masturbation,
implied sexual assault, and
teenagers disrobing and getting
into bed together.
u https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=c23aSUZpHrE

10. Outcome
u Resulted in controversy regarding teenage casual sex and
open drug use.
u Possible child pornography investigation (a male character
was running down the street naked).
u Withdrawal of advertisers
u Cancelled by June 2005

11. Advertisement and Obscenity
u Brooke Shields in Calvin Klein
Commercial 1981
u One of the many Clavin Klein
Jeans commercials featuring
Brooke Shields (16) 1981. The
famous quote "You wanna
know what comes between
me and my Clavin's?
Nothing.“
u Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=YK2VZgJ4AoM

12. Obscene,
Indecent or
Art

13. Obscenity and Music Lyrics
Source: npr.org

14. Obscenity and Music
Lyrics
This dude named Michael used to ride motorcycles
Dick bigger than a tower, I ain't talking about Eiffel's
Real country-ass nigga, let me play with his rifle
Pussy put his ass to sleep, now he calling me NyQuil
Now that bang, bang, bang
I let him hit it 'cause he slang Cocaine
He toss my salad like his name Romaine
And when we done, I make him buy me Balmain
I'm on some dumb shit, by the way, what he say?
He can tell I ain't missing no meals
Come through and fuck him in my automobile
Let him eat it with his grills, he keep telling me to chill
He keep telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal
He say he don't like 'em boney, he want something he can grab
So I pulled up in the Jag', Mayweather with the jab like
Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun
My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun

15. Obscenity and News
u Should
uA news program show nudity if it clearly adds to the news story?
uQuoting George Carlin style words from an interview?
uUse of blanks, dashes, and bleeps
What is acceptable for the news?
uUse of colorful languages in sport news
uExamples: https://www.huffpost.com/topic/obscenity

17. Obscenity and the Internet
u Must determine whether something is sexually explicit and whether this material is
obscene.
u Measured by “community standards” (different in each region of the world)
u Using the internet, no national barriers are given.
u 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act (USA) barres images of children appearing
to be under the age of 18 and are engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
u In 2003, the US Supreme Court required public and school libraries that received
government internet discounts to install filters on their computers to block
pornography.

18. Indecency
Case Study

19. Indecency Case Study

21. Discussion Questions:
u How do you judge the kitchen ad from an ethical
viewpoint?
u How do you judge the hospital ad from a similar
perspective? Compare it to the first ad.