censorship, and the message we're sending...

watched the tbs version of The Wedding Singer the other night. it was interesting, in that same way that all tbs movies are interesting, once you get past all the edits, alterations and cuts.
sometimes, our notions of decency and propriety scare the hell out of me. it was worthwhile, in the censor's opinion, not only to screen out the "obvious" words, fuck, bullshit, etc, but also to change ass to butt on several occasions and change asshole to the much more benign jerk. sure. fine. it's all been done before, it's nothing new.
however, for a contextual view, let's consider some of the other dialogue in the movie...
like adam sandler's song about linda, which ends with:
somebody kill me please,
i'm on my knees,
pretty pretty please,
kill me,
i want to die,
put a bullet in my head.

and also contains the bit:
and when i think of you, linda
i hope you (censored) choke.

interesting, we can't say fucking, but we can certainly wish someone chokes just because we hate them. nice.

and of course, it's equally entertaining to have a conversation in a bar, where, while in the process of getting completely drunk, an old man can't tell sandler that women will rip your heart out of your ass, because ass is dirty, but CAN tell him, just a few seconds later, "you need a prostitute".

fascinating.

don't get me wrong... i love the movie. and naturally, the television gurus are working under the same assumption we are, that the movie is aimed for an audience that will be able to discern and appreciate the scenes as they were intended, for the purposes of humor, which is why it's okay that one of the central themes is blatant infidelity... because it's funny, right... but doesn't this all beg the question, isn't that the same audience that has heard all their offending words before, and would understand that with equal adult appreciation? is the message okay as long as we clean up the way it's delivered so as not to offend delicate sensibilities?

all i know is how little sense the whole thing makes.

kinda like lumps, the new black eyed peas song. worst thing ever. not really related to sensorship at all, short of the fact that i wish they'd just have left the whole thing blank, or perhaps replaced it with a different, actually good, song.

unfortunately, people like it.

sigh.