"Trying to breathe life into a faded career" was, I think, how Gerry Ryan summed up the Janet Jackson episode at the Super Bowl during his Tuesday morning show. He didn't claim to have seen the incident, but he certainly nailed the rationale behind it. Apparently, she has a new album coming out and her new single was electronically delivered to radio stations across the US on Monday morning.
That much of the US is outraged is unsurprising. Americans, generally, are more conservative than Irish or British people. It's so easy to say, "get over it" or "what's the big deal". Yet, I would guess that there are a lot of Irish people who, while not shocked, would be disgusted and would like a return to less revealing television programming.
I was out on Friday night and a couple friends of mine and I were discussing what is shown on t.v. Both of them would describe themselves as liberals, yet they both felt that programs such as Sex and the City and Friends were too much for children. Sex and the City, which is only on a paid subscription channel in the US, is on regular t.v. sometimes as early as 9pm. That show is not appropriate for people under 17, yet any parent will tell you that children younger than that are up watching t.v. well past 9pm and even past 10pm.
Our public airwaves should be treated as public property. Nothing should be depicted on the public airwaves that is not allowed in a public park. Private distributions, whether through movie theaters or cable channels, are a different matter. But, the public airwaves should uphold a higher standard than they currently are.
