Midlifebear, wonderful post but, umm, I didn't start this thread, Marley is NOT the OP. I watch Family Guy and South Park and believe censorship hasn't gone too far, it went too far long ago. Was there something I said that contradicted this? I don't think this particular incident described is a case of censhorship going too far, it's a distant grandchild. Because of censorship the businss is cautious about the image of naked children, and rightfully so. If someone at the party wanted to, they could EASILY have taken the bakery to court for child pornography, especially in a country where the court systems entertained a woman suing Mcdonald's for selling her coffee that was "too hot." I'm not supporting censorship, I'm just not surprised at its role in the incident described in the OP. Do you think that if that mother were a member of LPSG, that a picture of that cake would've flown well with our Mods?
At the same time, tolerance has come along way, look at Warner Brothers racist cartoons from the 50's(?) you can still see them on youtube altough I'm aware of the can of worms you open when you talk about censorship and the internet in the same context. In the time it's taken me to write this post, I could've watched Family Guy joke about pedophilia, a teenage mother dumping their baby in a dumpster on prom night. Has anybody here ever seen Lil Bush on Comedy Central. It's a 30 minute cartoon featuring caricatures of childhood Bush, Condi, Nader and some other politician in a "little rascals" manner. Bush' character is dangerously incompetent. Censorship hasn't gone too far because the minute the idea of censorship was introduced, free speech dissipated.
Dearest Marleyisalegend:
Well, fuck me runnin' (as long as you give me a head start)! Sorry about accusing you of starting this thread. I scrolled up to what I thought was the beginning and my addled old-man's brain focused on you. I'm out-of-the-loop with regard to Lil "Bush and Family Guy. Haven't seen them. But we do get South Park, but it's in Spanish and not nearly as vulgar -- and by extension, funny. Don't get me wrong. I LIKE vulgar. Especially vulgar 3rd graders.
As for those Warner Bros. Cartoons, Yikes! I believe the majority of the most offensive ones were created during WWII. I fully admit to sitting glued to our black and white TV soaking them all up in the 1950's. But I don't remember when the FCC, or whatever, had them all pulled from syndication. There's a DVD out called
Cartoon Taboos (or Taboo Cartoon's) which has most of them. They also have a collection of porno cartoons that were created by Fleischer Studios, the animators of Betty Boop and Felix the Cat. Yup. Although Warner Bros. should have known better, they didn't. As for Fleischer Studios, they were a famous group of underground pornographers.
As for cable television or subscription channels such as Comedy Central, are women's bare breasts and everyone's bare bottoms pixelated in the USA? I remember being irritated by seeing this commonly done on basic cable when I would visit my family. I'm just too accustomed to accepting stuff that often times is far over to the other extreme (infantile sexism with males making the most tasteless jokes as cameramen zoom in on breasts, and crotches of both sexes). Outside my building (Barçelona) is an illuminated street sign that hits me at eye level every day. It's a public service ad about prenatal care and shows a mother, naked from the waist up, nursing her newborn. It's a beautiful photograph. I doubt this would make it with billboard advertisers in the USA. Here it's a straightforward, sensible ad.
I see ads for "Girls Gone Wild" and "Boys Gone Wild" after 8:00 PM on regular broadcast television. But I find it odd that the young women and men flashing their goods all seem to be 'Mericuhn college students at Mardi Gras or on spring break. Is male full frontal nudity common on subscription cable in the US? I really don't know. Here is all rather a big yawn. If you want to see tits, ass, and dicks you just go to the nude beach in this city. It's common to see grandmothers wrapped in loud beach wear, sitting under umbrellas as they watch a clot of naked grandchildren (mixed sexes up to about 9 years old). After 9 years, adolescents automatically show up in designer two-piece outfits (for girls) and banana hammock trainers (for boys). The eastern coast of Spain has a very open society. I suppose I'm jaded by US standards.
Something that has changed for the worse in the US is being able to swim naked in lakes, ponds, and streams out in the west. In my grandparents, parents, and my generations no one, adult, teen, or child, thought there might be anything wrong by stripping down and swimming at the local watering hole. Of course, men swam with men and women swam with women. We didn't mix the sexes together (until high school late at night). However, now it is illegal (even in Nevada!) and the local sheriff (after he has whacked off watching everyone with his binoculars) shows up and arrests everyone for lewd behavior.
I suppose we can go tit (pun?) for tat regarding censorship in the USA and outside of the USA, but the temerity of those TSA agents regarding old-fashioned naked baby photos as pornography . . . nope. I'm having none of it. My choice of living outside the USA is not for everyone, but it is certainly for me. At least for the time being, Spaniards are intelligent enough to change the channel if something offends them. And that's the way I like it. I prefer to change my own channels than have someone's goofy, self-conscious moral code change the channels for me.
Remember, the cost of freedom is constant vigilance. That's why god invented the remote control. :smile: