The State of TV
I sometimes watch TV and I think things are better than when I was a kid. Sometimes, I think they are worse. In an odd way, we want our TV to be more “realistic”, yet we want things on the shows to be perfect. They wear this perfect makeup with perfect lighting with perfect clothes. Yet, we watch “reality tv” that isn’t near reality. We know, for instance, that a bullet makes a big gaping wound which bleeds and is messy. But, bullets knock people back 20 feet through the air. We watch “Bionic Woman” type shows where she can get legs, arms, etcetera. But, somehow her kidneys and spine stand up to 300 foot jumps. She runs 60 miles an hour and her eyes don’t water or get dirt in them. Heck, I ride a motorcycle with a windshield and wear glasses over glasses and I **still** get dirt in my eye sometimes. So, we at the same time want realism — and don’t want realism.
What prompted this line of thought was “Smallville” last night. I don’t normally watch it, but I’ve seen parts of a couple. My brother was watching it while I was working on a laptop computer. In one scene, Chloe, was strapped to a table about to be cut open when Clark rushes to save her. In the old days, the villain would have started to cut through her clothes, because, well, we all know that you can’t show a woman’s underthings on tv. But, in this new age of more “sophisticated viewers”, her blouse is open and her nice white bra is showing. I wonder if it is Victoria’s Secret brand placement? Anyway…. the villain is fighting Clark and Chloe is pushing away the Kryptonite liquids so they can’t hurt him. As it ends, she is standing in her open blouse when she quickly grabs it to hold it closed and they very quickly cut away… as if the edit required it. The edit was so fast, that it looked like they needed to cut it there. At that split second, I noticed a dark spot which looked like a “nipple slip” or a tattoo in the near proximity of the nipple. Of course, in the old days, that wouldn’t have been even remotely allowed. But, in the days of sophisticated viewers, we know that a woman in a struggle for her life often has trouble keeping her bra straight when a villain is trying to cut her open. I mean, it messes up her hair doesn’t…. uhm… wait… not a good example. I mean, how can she keep things in there and fight at the same time? Things move, right? So, it’s ok, isn’t it?. It’s more realistic. So, shouldn’t we show it that way?
And singers have “wardrobe” malfunctions; so why not heroines? And if a butt can be shown on tv in “NYPD Blue”, then why not a nipple in Smallville? Afterall, it was only for a second. It’s not like she was stripping. They don’t allow that on…. uhm… wait… not a good example. They don’t have sex scene…. uhm… nevermind.
Besides, other actresses have had “nipple slips” on TV before. But, one has to wonder how many nipple slips there were on tv in the 50’s and 60’s. Just a thought, you know?
So… now one wonders if they didn’t want to re-shoot the scene because of cost or because of publicity. Hmmmm??
But…. there is another aspect to this “nipple slip” and skimpy clothing topic that spills over into my real life; including just the other night. But, that’s a topic for another post. If I choose to go there later.
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