By TJ Ray

Columnist

 

During the years I was on the County Planning Commission, at a very heated public  hearing about some public issue, I punctuated some retort I was making with the word  “hell.” 

No one screamed or left the courtroom, but the next week I was asked to attend the Board of Supervisors’ monthly meeting. To put it mildly, I was told bluntly that such language was not to be used in public forums. 

More and more recently public television speaks of “f-bombs” and other arcane terms.  Almost any four-letter word may crop up on almost any TV broadcast. Beyond the euphemism, some folks just speak the offensive word itself. I caught it very recently in a  YouTube rerun of an actual public trial. 

Looking for signs of the rapid degeneration and trashing of our society, turn on your television set. As various kinds of media suppliers appeared, so has what is shown and heard on your tube. The old days of CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS are long past us. If there is still an FCC, it is not noticeable. 

That folks may legally subscribe to channels that continually pour out adult material is a fact. On those channels are actions and scenes that parents during my childhood would have protested loudly. The FCC would have gotten many irate calls. Nudity and explicit sex are there for the subscriber. 

Of late, shows on “major” channels air shows that don’t quite go all the way but come very, very close. Should we conclude that their offerings have been vetted by the  Federal Communication Commission and found acceptable for the American public? If that is the case, then the FCC is simply endorsing the slide into slime that has beset us. 

Earlier you saw a mention of hearing things on the tube that are upsetting. Yes, even if the picture is turned off, the language blasting from the speakers is startling. For a lot of years I taught the history of the English language. 

Over time I learned about four-letter words that were once used by everyone but became taboo during some periods of time.

For instance, the Victorian Era. While some words became absolute no-no’s in Queen Victoria’s time in upper-class society, they continued to be spoken by most classes of society. The elite folks would come to consider that anyone who spoke certain words was low class and vulgar. 

Since World War II, the public utterance of most “dirty” words has increased many times over. They certainly were not heard in a movie theater or on early black-and-white screens. Beginning in the 70’s, some of these words infrequently slipped out, the speaker usually being fined by the FCC. When subscription television arrived, folks could sign up for channels with no holds barred concerning language. 

Now the bar seems to be down on all channels. Recently a credit card company,  Capital One, ran a commercial which ended with the on-screen person saying “You’re  damn right.” That was an attention getter. Within a week of that airing, the Dodge Ram folks ran a commercial for their trucks. In it a voice says “Well, hell yes.” 

Perhaps a lot  of folks were upset by these two ads. Perhaps many people protested to the government or to the stations that aired them or to the two companies that paid to run them. Whatever the case, neither has been seen since. 

If your ear is jarred by words on TV that you think are inappropriate and offensive, do something about it. In my case, it starts with some words to the sponsor. Then there is a simple way to tell the FCC what you think. Turn on your computer and enter this code: www.fcc.gov/complaints. That will open a form which aids you in telling Uncle  Sam what you think. 

Sadly, that screen we stare at is becoming a mirror of what we are. Comedians and singers use language the good Queen would have royally frowned at. Lenny Bruce and  George Carlin made their fortune with their shock vocabulary. Now it is in commercials,  blaring out “Happy Holiday” in lieu of “Merry Christmas” at the same time four-letter words abound. What’s next? Probably newscasts. And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a sad, #*$%#@>?& country!