TV Stations Cancel 'Saving Private Ryan' (Because of Janet's Breast Fine)

[Khephra]

TV Stations Cancel 'Saving Private Ryan'

NEW YORK -- Many ABC affiliates around the country have announced that they won't take part in the network's Veterans Day airing of "Saving Private Ryan," saying the acclaimed film's violence and language could draw sanctions from the Federal Communications Commission.

The decisions mark a twist in the conflict over the aggressive stand the FCC has taken against obscenity and profanity since Janet Jackson flashed the world during the last Super Bowl halftime show.

Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning movie aired on ABC with relatively little controversy in 2001 and 2002, but station owners -- including several in large markets -- are unnerved that airing it Thursday could bring federal punishment. The film includes a violent depiction of the D-Day invasion and profanity.

"It would clearly have been our preference to run the movie. We think it's a patriotic, artistic tribute to our fighting forces," Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications, told AP Radio. The company owns WOI-TV in Des Moines, KCAU-TV in Sioux City and KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Neb.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-movie-canceled,0,1663012.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines

[juliagoolia]

1. Smart protest will make people start thinking maybe??? n/t

[Born Free]

19. next it will be spicy food

Unbelievable, did they get their ideas from the movie Demolition Man?

[gatorboy]

2. EH?? I coulda sworn "Ryan" had already run a year ago uncut.

Edit: Doh! Shoulda read the post more!

[IndianaGreen]

3. The only obscenity is Michael Powell, the moral guru in the FCC

who only got his job thanks to his father, the poddle Colin Powell.

I can't believe that Clinton is the one that put Powell in the FCC.

[aquart]

4. Have signed contracts to air the movie?

Are they required to pay, airing or no airing?

[tmooses]

5. War is Obscene

[kysrsoze]

12. These people need to watch again what war is really like

It's like a TV videogame right now.

[saigon68]

6. MICHAEL POWELL IS A FUCKING COWARD

and a tool of the Jesus freaks who do not want our precious minds influenced by the reality of our military shredded and blown to bits. IT WILL TAKE SOME OF THE STEAM OUT OF THE CHRISTIAN CRUSADE TO KILL ALL MUSLIMS </RANT>

If he had a draft to dodge the mother fucker would dodge it.

[dflprincess]

7. These ABC affiliates wouldn't be owned by Sinclair would they?

If the FCC went after anyone for "Private Ryan" wouldn't they go after the network, not the affiliates?

But, the first 20 minutes of the movie are brutal, not the sanitized war scenes Hollywood used to give us. And, the scene where the mother sees the cars coming up her driveway to tell her about her sons is heartrending (I've long thought Bush should be forced to watch those parts of the film over and over.).

Not showing "Private Ryan" sounds more like someone's political views regarding the current war, not fear of the FCC.

[WCGreen]

17. I cried like a baby when the older private Ruan was

at the cemetary and wondering if saving him at the expense of all those others was worth it.

That to me is the most heart wrenching scene in cinematic history....

[coreystone]

20. I think that is the hammer hitting the nail...

I think that the concept of the sacrifice of so many for an "important" Private Ryan is more influential to refusal to air than the violence.

Just Thinking!

:-)

[Voltaire99]

8. "A patriotic, artistic tribute to our fighting forces"

Excuse me while I vomit.

Maybe if there were more breasts on TV, and fewer war films, there'd be less psychosis.

[truthisfreedom]

9. look at the title again... it's not "Shaving Ryan's Privates" you bozos.

it's a friggin' war movie.

[edbermac]

10. They showed Schindlers List uncut too...its birka time in the USA...

[Book Lover]

11. I challenge every Republican who is truly patriotic

to start collecting money to pay the fines. Everybody should insist that this movie be shown on Thursday. I'll even start the website and PayPal account myself. So, Republicans, ya in?

[gauguin57]

13. This is sick. Setting the whole "janet's boob" stuff aside for now ...

... if someone can't tell the difference between the slightly off-color nature of a momentary boob flash (which wouldn't have been anything if the media hadn't replayed it, in closeup, 4 million times) and a graphic portrayal of what soldiers like my dad went through in World War II (he wasn't there on D-Day, but he seriously risked his life on other battlefields) to save Europe from Nazi domination ... well, the media has now officially completely gone around the bend.

This is bullshit. This is an extremely important film. It shows what war is -- and reminds us it should be used only when it is absolutely necessary (not based on a LIE about WMDs and 9/11).

After my dad died, I found photos in his "war box" of him and his fellow soldiers sitting around in some bombed-out village in Europe -- it looked just like some of the sets of "Ryan." I wish he'd lived long enough to see the film!

Sorry to rain on the veterans' parade on their day ... but maybe they can see now what kind of climate they've created by keeping that ASSHOLE Bush in power and tearing down a true war hero, John Kerry.

[Erika]

14. Or Maybe the Bush twins will volunteer for Iraqi service?.

[__Inanna__]

33. thanks, gauguin57

this is precisely why it was not shown...
your words

It shows what war is -- and reminds us it should be used only when it is absolutely necessary

[EndElectoral]

15. Maybe they can edit out the dead people that happen in war?

[katamaran]

16. My affiliate is not showing it.....

I work for an ABC affiliate that has been ordered by the parent company not to play SPR. We truthfully can't afford the possible FCC fines each time "F***" is said on air (something like $27,500 per occurrence, potentially $1 million per station total). Spielberg refuses to cut the film or allow for bleeping. I know that there's a company with stations in the Midwest that is refusing to play it, along with several stations owned by Hearst-Argyle, and all Belo stations. ABC was asked to move it to 10PM, and then 9PM, but they won't budge.

With the Janet thing, CBS could pay the fines they got out the change under Dan Rather's couch cushions. The affiliates, especially the small independent mom & pop stations were the ones who were hurting.

Someone asked my communications professor why Schindler's List was aired uncut with no repercussions from the FCC. His response was simple and elegant:

"Do YOU want to be the asshole who complains about a Holocaust movie?"

[Bridget Burke]

21. So, there are assholes in Vermont who would complain....

About a WWII film? The Greatest Generation & all?

I guess no state is all that pure & progressive. It appears that my local (Houston) ABC affiliate will show the movie tonight.

[Dukkha]

18. They can give all the soldiers walkie talkies

and replace the Germans with Ewoks.

Seriously this is BULLSHIT. they should just air it and dare the FCC to fine them. The bad publicity would be horrendous. The FCC is the most Un-American anti 1st Amendment group today.

[MadHound]

22. People, people, didn't those stations get the memo long ago

Uncut, unadulterated violence is just fine, especially when it has a patriotic tinge to it. A naked titty could warp young minds forever. Get it straight guys.

[Erika]

32. Naked Tits are Bad. War is good.

I've thought of the many National Geographic Specials I've watched where African women suckled their children as do many in the U.S. But now that's bad. Breasts are obscene according to the acts of Bush administration officials. But death is good even if it's innocents in Iraq? These people are truly F U C K E D up.

[Guaranteed]

23. ROFL that's exactly what I said when I saw the ad!

I said, that is one of THE most violent movies I've ever seen, and they get pissed over Jackson's tit?

Have you guys SEEN the beginning of the movie? Some of the sickest shit ever.

[Enraged_Ape]

24. Can't have our "beautiful minds" poisoned by images of war's ugliness

The first half hour of this movie is a cold slap of reality in the face of any armchair GI. They are refusing to show it not because of indecency (it was shown on TV in its entirety just a couple of years ago), but because it would maybe, just maybe, wake up some people about the price we're paying in Iraq. Can't have that.

Our dead and maimed soldiers, and their grieving families, need to be kept far off-camera. There are plenty of "Fear Factor"-type shows, with Playboy centerfolds eating cockroaches, to satisfy the masses' craving for disgust.

[teryang]

25. I wanted to see Hanks save the day with "thicky bombs"

:)

[snippy]

26. This is what happens when people vote republican.

Businesses are afraid of being punished by a vindictive and paternalistic federal government.

[Democracy Died 2004]

27. Just another attempt to steralize war. eom

[pinerow]

28. Ya gotta be kidding me...sheesh

nt

[Endangered Specie]

29. They dont want you to see what war is REALLY like...

better for our youth and uneducated masses to think of war as a clean quick business, kinda like in action movies.

[Erika]

31. How Sad War Was An Option

against a third world country who posed no threat to us. They don't like us an occupying force. But, Golly, our dead kids and our tax dollars should mean something to them.

[Dangerman]

30. So, we aired "Platoon" on Spike TV...

And why is there no controversy to tick off the FCC.