Those who watched the most recent episode of \The Simpsons"" Sunday night may have noticed that it began with a warning that the episode dealt with the issue of gay marriage. Those who didn't see it themselves may have trouble believing it, but take it from me. The station that regularly brings you reality shows which plumb the depths of human imperfection is afraid that you might be offended by a cartoon comedy.
Apparently the wisecracks of a four-fingered, yellow-skinned cartoon family about an issue of serious public debate are so beyond the pale they require parental warning. Though ""The Simpsons"" is well-known for its insouciant satire, it hardly qualifies as indecent. Sadly, despite Fox's well-known right-wing leanings, the warning might have been necessary to help them ward off fines from the Federal Communications Commission.
An organized group of conservative activists known as the Parents Television Council have engaged in a very successful campaign to control media decisions through a strategy of submitting indecency complaints to a compliant FCC. In 2002, the FCC received only 14,000 complaints of indecency. Not too bad for a nation of millions. But then the PTC got involved. In 2003 the number of complaints shot up to 240,000. A reporter for Mediaweek.com found that 99.8 percent of these complaints came from the PTC. The story is the same for 2004, when 99.9 percent of complaints about shows other than the Superbowl came from the PTC. This suggests that, for most folks, the only indecent thing worth complaining about all year was Janet's exposed nipple. Unfortunately for most folks, the PTC is dedicated to controlling the public airwaves irrespective of public opinion.
Regrettably, the Bush administration has been all too willing to let these stone-age naysayers have a heckler's veto over our culture. The same FCC which refused to step in when Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of the local Fox affiliate, tried to use their extensive media holdings to disguise anti-Kerry programming as news, loses all concern for free speech when it comes to pushing the conservative cultural agenda. People mention sex on TV these days. They use words that an earlier age might have found vulgar, and they do so with some regularity. Violence is quite common. It occasionally seems that the networks' wardrobe departments don't own women's clothes that aren't tight, tiny and revealing. But the dominance of sex and violence on television doesn't happen by accident. It happens because it brings big ratings. It happens because it's what we as a nation want.
The PTC wants to decide what we should be able to watch, and their indecency complaints are starting to force the networks' hands. When even such innocuous programs as the Olympics are subject to complaint and investigation for alleged indecency, networks can hardly help but self-censor. The public complaint process is meant to register actual violation of community standards. It's a plain abuse to use it to control public discourse.
It's understandable that Fox might be a little gun-shy after being fined a record setting $1.18 million for ""Married by America,"" a reality show in which viewers decide which of the participants should tie the knot. Although the FCC received 90 complaints about this show, most of them were duplicates. Only 23 different people complained. All but four of the complaints were identical. To top it off, only one person claimed to have actually seen the program. The rest were, apparently, merely offended by the idea.
Now, I have to agree that the idea is pretty offensive; much of reality TV is. (As an aside, arguments that same-sex marriage lacks opposite-sex marriage's special sanctity ring hollow in a country where people compete to marry complete strangers-be they millionaires, midgets or just uncommonly attractive-on national television. Not to mention a divorce rate that hovers around fifty percent.) But though you or I might dislike the idea of ""Married by America,"" we don't get to tell the 5 million households that watched the program what to do. Though the program featured whipped-cream-covered strippers and digitally obscured nudity, it certainly didn't merit a fine in excess of a million dollars.
No doubt the PTC is also concerned with the issue of gay marriage. Surely some of them oppose marriage equality and would complain about any program that dealt with the issue. That's certainly their prerogative. What's not appropriate is for the FCC to go along with it, thereby abusing federal indecency law and prompting networks to self-censor in avoidance of big fines. This is especially true when dealing with important issues of the day.
It's good that Fox only warned the audience of ""The Simpsons'"" content, rather than refusing to air the show. But any encroachment on the freedom of speech is unacceptable, be it against inane reality shows, deft satire or serious news coverage. Big indecency fines plainly serve to chill debate and stifle popular culture. A small group of conservative activists shouldn't be allowed to hand them out by means of endless duplicate complaints to federal regulators. Most importantly, the federal regulators themselves shouldn't choose to play along.
Josh Gildea is a third-year law student. His column runs every Wednesday in The Daily Cardinal.
