Culture

FCC: 'Saving Private Ryan' not indecent

The agency also rejects 36 complaints spurred by episodes of "Friends," "The Simpsons" and other shows. Photo: The perfect gift for Michael Powell

Reuters

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Feb. 24, 2005 8:00 a.m. PT

3 min read

A majority of U.S. communications regulators have voted to deny viewer complaints that ABC television stations violated indecency rules when they aired the movie "Saving Private Ryan" last November, an FCC official said Monday.

Three of the five commissioners on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission have voted to deny complaints against 159 ABC affiliates that aired the award-winning film, said the official, who asked not to be named because the vote was not completed.

The movie, which includes profanity and violence, told the story about the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II and ran on Veteran's Day. Sixty-six ABC affiliates refused to show the movie for fear of attracting an indecency fine.

The stage where
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Warnings were aired throughout the broadcast about the content. The ABC network, owned by Walt Disney, had run the movie twice before and did not incur FCC penalties.

The FCC decision will become final once the remaining two commissioners cast their votes.

Separately, the FCC on Monday rejected 36 complaints that television stations violated decency limits by airing episodes of popular shows like "Friends" and "The Simpsons," as well as the movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."

The Parents Television Council had complained about the shows' sexual references, including an episode of "Friends" on the NBC network in which characters discussed a cake in the shape of a penis. Another complaint centered on Fox's "The Simpsons" show, where, in one episode, students carried signs that said: "Don't cut off my pianissimo."

The group also said indecency rules were violated when the main character in the Austin Powers movie had his genitals hidden by furniture and other objects.

The FCC denied the complaints by Parents Television Council, which has been pushing regulators to crack down on broadcasters and lawmakers to raise fines, now $32,500 per incident.

"We find that none of the material referenced in PTC's complaints rises to the level of being patently offensive under our indecency definition," the FCC said in its order. The agency also said the material was not profane.

A representative for the organization said the FCC was only going after extreme cases.

"The FCC is only deeming everything indecent that is way over the top" and not just inappropriate, said Lara Mahaney, a spokeswoman for the PTC. "We know of no community in America where like words like 'd**k' and 'd**khead' would be considered decent or commonfare language."

Those expressions were aired on the programs "Dawson's Creek" on the WB Television Network, owned by Time Warner and "NYPD Blue," on ABC.

Federal regulations limit television and radio stations from airing indecent material, such as sexually explicit discussions or profane language, except during late-night hours when children are less likely to be watching or listening.

The FCC has been tougher in cracking down on incidents since Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Super Bowl football game last year.

NBC is owned by General Electric and Fox is owned by News Corp.