So I Tivo'd this ABC special about secret messages Michaelangelo may have hidden about religion in the Sistine Chapel. Anti-religious messages blatantly on display in a church? Count me in!
Anywho, as I was Tivoing through I see a "Viewer Discretion Advised" warning. I rewind because I can't wait to see what's so controversial. Is there some long lost interview with Michaelangelo where he drops the f' bomb or perhaps Michaelangelo going to church with Reverend Wright? Nope. The warning read as follows:
Viewer Discretion Advised. This program contains Renaissance Art images that depict nudity.
IS THIS A JOKE?!?! I mean seriously. Are we sooooo beholden to the FCC and the lunatics on the Right that we have a warning about this? It's culture people. The depiction of nudity in art is just that...art...culture...whatever you want to call it. Anyone who is so ignorant to complain about nudity in a Michaelangelo painting is an idiot and should have their television taken away from them.
What's next? Ratings at museums?
"I'd love to take my child to the Degas exhibit, but it's rated PG-13 and I'm afraid those tutus on the ballerinas are too revealing."
OR
"That Dali painting is rated NC-17. I will not expose my child to this! Now if you'll excuse me, the family is sitting down to watch CSI."
In a country where John Kerry was too educated to vote for or Barack Obama is too elitist because he can't bowl, do we really need to further go down this road of cultural ignorance to the point of this mild form of censorship?
The irony is, the last segment of the special was about how when Michaelangelo finished the painting, parts of it were so graphic that some (see: Catholic Church) want the nudity covered up. A compromise was reached and years later clothes were painted on them. It wasn't until a restoration centuries later that the clothes were removed and returned to how Michaelangelo intended them. Can you imagine a politician covering up nudity today. Oh wait, John Ashcroft did it.
Why not drop ABC a line and let them know what you think. Only, not that they showed nudity, but that they insulted our intelligence by having that warning. They can be reached at:
http://abc.go.com/contactus.html?id=ABCCOMGlobalFooter&lpos=CONTACT
5 comments:
I'm glad I am not the only person to see this program and to think exactly the same thing.
I wanna say the Religios Right had something to do with this. This bible belt mentality pisses me off. How many 13 year old boys do you see jerking off to these paintings in the museums, none. Why you might ask, because the Victoria Secret mag that comes free in the mail is more compelling then seeing some painted nude fat chicks. If there are people that are into renesance art because of its sexuality they need help and that makes me sick. "Hun, skinimax or this ABC special to get us in the mood tonight?" Give me a break...
It's not just the religious right that has to do with this issue. It is the left over echoes from the Puritans who settled the US in the first place. Freedom to practice religion as long as it was theirs....not a whole lot has changed. Nudity is only sensational because the media and other people react so strongly to it. What about the parenting magazine that got huge amounts of negative response over printing a picture of a baby nursing on the cover. Not even a little nipple showed, yet the image was classified as vulgar and inappropriate o.O However, using sex to sell anything is fine. I don't see images of adults eating being censored, yet if a baby has lunch it's headline news.
You are right on that one. Sex does sell in our society, yet when the topic comes up, it's so controversial. Perfect example, how many people subscribe to internet porn and get their rocks off in the privacy of their own home, yet would jump at the chance to burn down an adult book store just to show others how agains "Adult" they are. If they were confronted with their own personal activities, I wonder what the excuse would be. "I was curious." "I just wanted to see how bad it really was." Where is the truth in all this? The real answer should be, "I am human and have an inate sexual drive that is almost too much for me to handle." The should definately practice what they preach and stay out of others lives and deal with their own issues.
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