Pixelization makes TV 'nudity' a blurry issue

[Davin]

The editing technique implies actors are unclothed even if they aren't. It bothers the Parents Television Council and underscores a larger debate on standards.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,4365657.story

[nimrod]

Wow, how far will this go? They want to ban pixelation because it implies nudity, this is just insane.

[nudeyooper]

I am certainly not against nudity on television when the story warrants it. However, I do not believe the story warrants it as much as the writers include it. I've been watching TV for 60 years and remember some great programming that did not have an emphasis on nudity or sex as a recreational sport. Reruns of them are still being shown around the world today.

Then, when the story does warrant nudity, I believe that it should be real. How many couples in real life get out of bed after a sexual encounter he wearing boxers and she wrapped in the sheet?

[sunnysmile_fl]

Pixelation only denotes that the producer or director is 'covering up' for some unexplainable reason or that for some unexplainable reason what the producer or director still thinks there is something 'wrong' in allowing a charachter subject be nude or semi-nude in a natural and nonsexual situation when in-truth there isn't.

Whilst certainly there is the FCC to fear, still it is the producer or director of the production who appears to be making a statement that 'hey this is in my production but I'm not quite so sure that my audience will be comfortable with everything in my production so I edited myself.' Contrarily a great producer or director should always be 100% confident that what he/she is including in a production is all good and with nothing to hide.

Pixelation merely raises a red flag and calls attention to the issue.

[Caipora]

There's an old story here in Brazil of how years ago, censors banned a soap opera shop of a man in boxer shorts. The episode was re-shot to not show the underwear. That of course was worse, because the impression conveyed was that he was nude.

Earlier this year, new censorship guidelines were issued, determining what is appropriate to different age groups and thus allowed at various hours of the day, and if warnings are or are not required. Non-sexual nudity, "as in a documentary of an Indian tribe" is now acceptable for all ages, and can be shown at any hour. One children's TV series nearly twenty years ago had Indian legends acted out by two boys, who wore nothing.

The sky doesn't seem to have fallen.

- Caipora

[Agde]

There's gotta be a tech solution -- like maybe a way to set your tv to pixelate according to your preference... Or maybe viewer eye-glasses that would pixelate selected body-parts... that concerned people could also use at the beach... Since it is all in the eyes of the beholder, the beholders should be responsible for pixelation, not notoriously unreliable entertainment producers... Pixelation apps and eyewear sounds to me like a good Kickstarter project for the Parents Television Council to fund...

Of course the "larger debate", as Melissa Rosenberg points out in the article, really should be on why "there's more uproar over perceived nudity than realistic-seeming violence. 'In any procedural, medical or cop drama, you'll see rapes and mutilations and blood, and that's OK,' she said, 'but God forbid you show the side of a boob, which is most definitely not OK.'" Imagine trying to pixelate all the violence... The only tech solution for the pervasive blood and gore is the OFF button on your remote...

[Bob S.]

According to the article, it seems as if the pixelizations are done not for censorship, but for comedy. This is not anything that the PTC should care about, other than the fact it is a thumb in their eye, as well as to the FCC. The point is that censoring innocent things makes them seem worse, and parodying this is just the joke of the times.

Bob S.

[ranul]

they should ban pixelizations and just show things as they are . If there are nudity then it should be shown with out drawing attention to the nudity .

[sunnysmile_fl]

And for Pete's sake, somehow Society needs to get rid of the stereotypical and false co-relation of nudity with sex. I believe non-sexual, incidental and casual nudity included in storylines of many popular TV shows would be the way to go. The more permiation of casual and non-sexual nudity in scenes of a show, the quicker and more effectively the old false stigma that nudity has to equate to sex will be erased and Society can get on to a much healthier mindset on nudity.

[Kouak]

I agree with the process. I have seen it played out with the gay issue. Even though society is not 100% onboard, they are much more OK with it. Nudity, slowly but surely, is being accepted. I just hope it will be sooner, than later.