Cluster-F
Times change, and obviously, taste levels change.
Take the case of the word "fuck", which for many years has been approached with trepidation by press and media. In many instances, we observe the F-word bleeped out in local television, helping preserve the sensibilities of delicate viewers.
However, that F-bomb is left alone in adult-restricted movies while playing in cinemas, the theory being that cinema management would have screened the audience first, and the audience would, at least presumably, be mature enough to handle a swear word now and then. When the movie is later on adapted for local television, the bleep strategy is then employed, leaving many teenagers mildly pissed and wondering how stupid the censors must think they are.
Well, if we're going to follow the lead of the western world, that's going to change soon. The censor responsible for ruling on delicate matters such as acceptable language in Canadian television, the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council, has just ruled that this particular word, much reviled for its obscenity, is no longer taboo. Hence, fuck may now be used for television and radio broadcasts (see, I didn't even put it in quotation marks this time).
Our semi-self-regulating body, the Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas, or the KBP, has adopted its rules dictating that obscene, vulgar, or indecent language is prohibited on-air. Plus, add to that the edict that the "justification or promotion of pre-marital or extra-marital sex must never be condoned or justified". (In other words, people can f*ck, but only with their respective husbands and wives, and never with their boyfriends, girlfriends, or gayfriends). "Explicit or graphic description of sexual organs…and acts generally considered indecent or offensive" are also not allowed.
Would all these be thrown out the window given that Canadian television will soon sprout shows spouting the cuss word all over the place?
(My issue against the KBP, actually, is how on earth they could have Filipinized "broadcaster" by replacing the "c" with a "k", and yet retaining the "broad" part without dropping the "a". When did we start spelling words with an "o" by following it with an "a"? "Broadcaster" should have ended up as "brodkaster". Duh. That's almost the same as me Filipinizing "fuck" and ending up with "fack"! But I digress).
That might lead to a re-examination of what our censors did a few years ago when a news station aired what was supposedly a 200-year-old tradition in Laguna, where women trot out family heirlooms to display to the public. i-Witness, the semi-documentary news show of GMA-7, was trying to feature a bridal tradition where ancient crones send off brides to be married. Unfortunately, the heirlooms were actually wooden phalluses, and some sort of public display of phalluses and a little bit of horseplay with said objects then occurs, to the hilarity of all concerned. Well, the MTRCB (the TV classification board) was not amused, and they penalized the show.
According to a member of the MTRCB at that time, Manuel Cases, the traditional object was essentially a dildo, and they weren't going to promote dildos on national television. Even if phallic traditions continue to happen in remote parts of the country, those venerable traditions still didn't need to be shared with the rest of the nation. "What is important is what is accepted by society now. We have to wait what only what is acceptable to the public now," said Cases.
Well, society is on the brink of accepting the F-word. Do we follow suit? And if so, are we then going to be ready to expose the rest of the country to little-known cultural rites that, presumably, should be preserved for posterity, in celebration of our heritage?
I can see our conservative censors throwing their hands in the air and exclaiming: "WTF"!
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