If you've spent any time hanging out with me you probably realize that censorship pisses me off. But recently I've noticed some stuff that is just BEYOND STUPID.

It's bad enough that some countries censor the news or that there are previews that have been "approved for all audiences" that are for, and run during, restricted movies, but watching T.V. recently I heard (or didn't hear) a few really stupid things.

First off... I was watching "Exposure" on sci-fi. The series is a showcase for short films and new talent. There was subtitled spanish film on (I might also mention this was on around 11:40 PM) and they censored both the audio and subtitles.

Why?

To the best of my knowledge the FCC does not prevent the use of the word "shit". The only thing that's keeping it off of the major networks are their standards and practices. But here I was, watching a show that is supposed to be showing new director's work - but still fucks around with their films. Do you think anyone watching a foreign short film would be bothered by that language!?

You'd never get that on "Space" or "Bravo" in Canada. They have cajones, hell - "Teletoon" actually aired "Lupo the Butcher". Mind you - if it's can-con then you can get away with a lot, especially if there were government grants involved, or it's aired on the CBC (see:Kids in the Hall). But I digress...

So I ranted about that for a while but eventually I managed to choke back the bile and get on with my day. Until last night...

AMC was going to show "The Boys From Brazil". Having never seen the movie I said "great - I'll finally see the film". After the introductory sequence with a few anecdotes about the film and a list of the many awards it had won, they ran THE WARNING. It said that the film had been edited for (of all things) CONTENT. I couldn't fucking believe it! Here they were trying to present this as a classic film and they go and change the damn thing. I couldn't watch it.

Why, why? WHY!? Why try to show a film if you're just going to cut out the bits that you don't like? Either get some balls and show the whole film, as it was intended to be and as it became the classic that it is - or don't show it at all!

"...fuckin' I dunno..."

(Check out "Exposure" next week for Tim Burton's "Vincent" - it's a great little film.)