ABC affiliates consider pulling 'Private Ryan'

“What a unique experience for you. If a man that was there said it was real, then it was real. I've read dozens of WWII books. It was something to see that movie for the first time to see if my imagination was even close to reality. It wasn't, nor could it have been. It is such and important movie. I'm glad they are airing it.”

“BM, it's in the 30s here. You go nekkid. I got too much to lose from frostbite. ;^>”

“I cried with him after the movie was over.”

“Just need an...........extremity warmer.”

“After reading all this I need to go ahead and watch it again.”

“That it would NOT be showing the film, in its place will be some lame a$$ed film starring Chuck Norris...someone who has NEVER been in any film of any worth.

Frankly, I feel that ABC layed down and let the FCC PHUCK em up the @ss.

PHCUK the FCC and everyother lameassed governmental agency that gets in the way of living life in this country.

FYI...on HBO tonight is a special called "Last Letters Home". Watch this one and keep the kleenex handy...these are the last letters that were sent and not sent by soldiers that died in Iraq. It will be VERY powerful.”

“I saw Saving Private Ryan once. My grampa told me a number of stories before he died - just before I joined the military - that all came flooding back during that movie. I can't watch it again.”

“If it comes on at 7 I won't get to watch it. Kids are still awake then. I also loved the Band of Brothers series. The History Channel ran it for months back during the summer.”

“Stik, are you going to tape that? I sure would love to see it.

I have Band of Brothers on DVD. I have the house all to myself this Saturday night. Think I will rewatch the whole series!”

“Band Of Brothers Rules!! I was in the 506th (hence the screen name Currahee) while stationed on the DMZ in Korea. I got a fantastic opportunity to see archives and photos not published as well as meet a couple of the men behind the legend during our Regimental Dinner.”

“DAMN! Currahee! I knew I saw that somewhere, but I couldn't place it. I even looked right at the tin the DVD's came in last night.”

“In Junior High School, the students were marched into the auditorium to watch the story of the holocaust, complete with all the gore, shoveling naked dead bodies into trenches. We were never forwarned about the brutality we were about to see, and our parents were not told either.

I don't think the school had a right to show that film without parental consent.”

“We prolly saw the same movie lips. One kid had to run out to barf. I don't know about the consent part - it is history, but I'd expect they'd get permission these days.”

“Not showing it is a good call. Spielburge won't even let his own kids whatch it. It's way too intense and the language is too strong for the public airwaves.”

“Band of Brothers is perhaps the best war documentary I ever saw. When they were trying to knock out the German artillery battery I was thinking it was time to hit the dirt. I have watched Band of Brothers several times and will see it at least one more time. The casting was very close to the people they were portraying. The actors met the guy they were portraying and got their mannerisms down perfectly, I thought. Meticulous attention to detail was the hallmark of the production.

Band of Brothers followed Private Ryan, with the same collaboration between Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks. Private Ryan was the first WW II movie I ever saw where they had the ping of the clip being ejected from the M1. That movie too had me ducking for cover.

These movies are not exactly easy to watch, but I think it is important for us to experience just a touch of what these people went through. There is a big difference between viewing a movie about what real people did, about our heritage, and the gratuitous violence of a Chuck Norris movie. Does anybody notice that in some of these alleged action movies that a simple hand grenade sets off a fireball the size of Cleveland? Where the hell did they get those grenades and how do they throw them far enough to avoid getting killed in the explosion?”

“Band of Brothers is the best series I've ever seen. I'm surprised I don't own it. Actually I'd go as far to say it's better than SPR.”

“Substituting a Chuck Norris movie for SPR is pretty insulting too. If you're gonna make the call not to show it, at least do something respectful.”

“Geo, I thought I remembered hearing the ping in "The Big Red One" as well...That one is coming out in a longer version soon, I read recently.”

“Its been a while since I used a VCR though...I have our new DVR and havent' touched the VCR in like ages. The perks of working for Cable. Just got news that Road Runner High speed internet will be installed in my house next week...yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...good bye dial up.”

“Know what you mean Stik. We have had Tivo for about 1 year now and couldn't imagine life with out.

Just switched over to DSL. Blows dial up away.”

“Sorry I'm late to this discussion.

BowlderSon is 9. We don't let him watch violent movies much - only ones that are way beyond reality, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings. And only after we have pre-screened. He will be allowed to watch movies like SPR when he's 12 or so. Many of his classmates, however, have watched very violent, R-rated movies. I don't really understand that....

From the original article beginning this thread: "[the Parents Television Council] said, "In both films, the content is not meant to shock, nor is it gratuitous." I would argue that the content is indeed meant to shock. I think it is fully intended to horrify people by giving them just a tiny fraction of a sense of what war is like.


Wounded Knee said: "Right Geo, the problem is that after the Janet Jackson boob, no one is going to take the chance." I agree with the sentiment of this statement, but it was only a handful of states that won't show SPR, wasn't it? It seems like most affiliates are more reasonable.”

“I believe the Birmingham affiliate is showing it. The article mentioned Alabama, but didn't say which city.”

“You know, not for nothing, but I've had it up to just about here with this whole FCC thing since the Super Bowl. It's important to understand that this sort of thing can happen (even though it shouldn't), especially in a live broadcast.

Maybe once upon a time we had to regulate what kind of content was being delivered over the tv, because we had no way of controlling what we (or our kids, or whoever) were looking at. But nowadays, it's a different story. Just about every TV, satellite receiver, cable box, (or choose your favorite tuning device) comes with some sort of V-chip technology, often presented as a parental control system that can be used to determine what type of programming is appropriate or not for a given viewer.

Now, granted, programming like the super bowl will probably not be rated as Mature, but we also have to keep in mind that things do go wrong from time to time, such as the last super bowl, and as I've said before, in a live broadcast, there is little opportunity to correct them.

This type of censorship will eventually drive broadcast TV out of business...

My $0.02 -- end of pointless rant.”

“they didn't show it here. they had some basketball show instead.”

“This stupid show I watch sometimes called "The View" on daytime tv went to a 10 second delay after the boob incident.”

“BM and WK I was to the Holocaust Museum. As you said, very powerful.

I was just to the National Prisoner of War Museum at Andersonville National Historic site in Georgia with gojo a month ago. That, too, was very powerful on the horrors.”

““This stupid show I watch sometimes called "The View" on daytime tv went to a 10 second delay after the boob incident.”

I'd like to see these dumb bltches go to a 60 minute delay. LOL!

Remember the old, old days when we used to watch Springer together Lipstick? LOL!”

“Hey PS. You honestly believe the boob incident wasn't intentional?”

“I for one can't believe Lizs hasn't started a "ABC Affiliates consider pulling Ryan's privates" thread...”

“I had forgotten this furor and tuned across my ABC station last night. It was not the image that stopped me, it was the F word on network TV. Whoa! Got my attention.

I did watch parts of it, but Private Ryan is not the sort of movie I'd watch twice. It was intense.

As for the issue at hand, censorship, the use of microphones at sporting events has reached a point where you can hear individual players, coaches, managers, officials saying things during the game. The F word has gotten through more than a couple of times. School kids walking down the street can cuss up a blue streak that, even with my Army training, I cannot compete. They do it even when there are mothers walking down the street with little ones.

The images are everywhere. The words are everywhere. It is just in certain areas - like newspapers and broadcast media - that the public demands moderation. I do understand the reasoning behind it, and monitor what we say in our paper religiously to the point of editing out innuendo.

But I sometimes wonder why it is okay for people to use language in their own home, around their kids, and have their kids use it in school and on the streets, but expect that censoring media is going to protect their kids.

And for the people who do live the creed they preach and seriously protect their kids, the simple fact is that society is changing and the kids are going to be exposed to it regardless.

I mean, when grade school kids can compete with a veteran for salty language, things are pretty far along.

I'm not arguing for or against anything, just throwing out an observation to stimulate discussion. I'd like to hear some ideas.”

“I know when I was a kid it was "Phuck this!" and "Phuck that!". Just a dirty little trash mouth around the guys. The more I was around them the more I cussed. Let me tell ya, after a weekend camp out with the guys and ya come home and say things excidently like, "Can you pass me the phucking salt?", it doesn't go over well with Mom and Dad. LOL!

to make a long post even longer, I guess it's a matter of how much kids are exposed to this stuff. Just because they get it from other places doesn't mean it should be in the living room. this is like bonehead parents who buy their young teens beer as long as they drink it at home.”

“I have know two people who were on the beach on D-Day. They talk little about it. "Saving Private Ryan" helps me understand why.”

“wear padded armor, so we can't be exposed to the world reality. I say, expose everything to everyone and then move on...LOL...joking!!!

really though. I think that ABC made an poor choice, Parents can just change the channel. Easy. I'd have liked to watch SPR, but couldn't. The HBO special was great...couldn't help but shed tears. Very moving and NO commercial interruptions.”

“I just don't see this as a decency argument. Could it be that the FCC is doing this because the Bush Admin. doesn't want the public to be reminded of the awful reality of war while we are going through the same thing in Iraq? W wants people to see Iraq as a John Wayne movie.

SPR shocked me to the core. Afterwards I thought about my mild mannered uncle who had gone through hell in WWII in Metz. He never talked much about the reality.

Without a draft, how else will young people get the message?”

“Has anyone suggessted that "Pulling my Private Ryan" might enter American slang?”