Mainstream TV nudity vs babeshow nudity

I saw a little bit of this on the repeat.
For starters, this was a docu about naturists, not Gynaecology 101, so the likelihood of seeing anything more than pubes was low. Pretty much all the write-ups I saw beforehand also stated that one of the issues they were facing was attracting newer younger inhabitants, so logic would tell you it was not going to be a babefest.
The village also seemed to be run by a small committee of men, and the docu seemed to concentrate on discussions with those men about the future for the village, hence more men than women.

Overall, from the bit I saw, I thought it was actually a very fair presentation of the village, with no holding back on the nakedness from either sex, no craftily placed obstacles hiding the goods, no pixellations etc
Was it voyeuristic? Well of course it was, that's kind of why it was made in the first place. The same problems are faced by just about every small village in the country, the younger generation are leaving to live in the towns and cities where there is a nightlife, and jobs etc. What made this village worth a docu was the added spice of it being naturist, a bit of ooh err missus always gets a few extra ratings.

It's kind of unfair to blame the docu for not living up to your own unrealistic expectations.

Rare Exports is on channel 104 now, and is a twisted Santa Clause tale. Tons of penises on display in a shower scene, just for the sake of showing it

Interested to see that ITV3 are showing the Frankie Howerd film Up Pompeii on Tuesday at 06:00 - a full 30 minutes after the babe channel girls have to wrap up for the day.

Now it could be that the nudity will be removed from the film, but I've set it to record just out of interest.

^^ Well, they did remove the nudity, so I can't claim any inconsistency in this case, to be fair.

This thread is about mainstream TV being treated more leniently than babeshows when the rules and surveys say otherwise, but at this time of year it is interesting to pause for a minute and reflect on the restrictions ordinary TV is working under.

At various times through 2014 well respected TV and film personalities have complained about the current system. I cant claim to have documented every comment but here are a few.

Ronnie Corbett said he did not think The Two Ronnies could be made in the current climate. I am not sure exactly what he was referring to. The smutty inuendos delivered with sweet innocence perhaps. The occasional leggy dancer or glimpse of cleavage that was not strictly called for by the script. The near vocalisation of swearwords (weather at Lissindown, Dr Spooner referring to a womans cunning stunt).

Danny Baker said TV used to be about entertainment, now it is about lawyers. He gave an example of a light hearted item on a local news show where residents of a London borough whose symbol is a gryphon were filmed pointing and giving directions. They had been asked the way to somewhere but in the broadcast article it looked as if they were asked if they had seen they gryphon and where. Apparently this breaks rules about misrepresentation.

I dont care if Ofcom say they got it wrong, if that is what broadcasters of the calibre and experience think then there is something seriously wrong.

Older readers may recall a news story from the 80s when a head teacher in a particularly notorious left wing London borough announced that henceforth a popular nursery rhyme would be Baa Baa Green Sheep so as not to be offensive. Eventually serious council leadership announced that the ban had nothing to do with them and there was no boroughwide ban on the, ahem, more traditional wording. Nevertheless, they had created a climate where experienced professionals below them thought it was.

Censorship becomes particularly dangerous when it spills over to self censorship. A vast amount of material that would be permissible, and borderline material, simply ceases to be created, effectively lowering the bar well below the threshold. Its as if the effect of a 30 mile an hour speed limit were that most drivers reduced their speed to 25 to be on the safe side. The authorities then take much more notice of content that is borderline, on the boundary, or slightly over, when beforehand under "normal" conditions it would not merit a second glance, and enforcement would focus on serious breaches, people doing 50 in a 30 zone.

Remember Benny Hill? I doubt that could be broadcast even after 9 these days. OK, it was male orientated and must have been uncomfortable viewing for women, but that is not the point (or covered by Ofcom rules).

OK, what about Kenny Everett and Hot Gossip? Plenty there for the wife/gran to drool over with oiled up male dancers in skimpy shorts, so gender imbalance does not arise as an argument. The dancers knew full well they were putting on an erotic performance (unlike Hills Angels) and the audience knew what to expect (unlike the Benny Hill Show which claimed to be family entertainment). The icing on the cake was that Kenny could not be accused of being a dirty old man either. The public might not have known he was gay but I bet the IBA and press did.

Assorted comedy shows threw in random hot sketches, mainly to spice things up. Technically they could have been cut or filmed differently, making them unsuitable under current rules.

Up Pompeii - which I think ran for several seasons - did not feature nudity or toplessness. But there were plenty of good looking young women in short togas showing plenty of leg and cleavage. And before you ask, no, that was not even remotely historically accurate, ordinary Romans kept their women well wrapped up. The film on the other hand had plenty of bare flesh, male and female, and may have been made with half an eye on TV broadcast after the 2 year theatrical release period. It was made by the BBC or with BBC blessing. As a film the BBC could claim it was not responsible for the nude scenes and it would be a breach of artistic integrity to edit them out, an argument it would find difficult for an in house TV production subject to prefilming script control.

Those shows were not isolated incidents or short lived maverick flashes in the pan, they were long running well established popular shows with large audiences.

And could not be made today.

Ronnie Barker was a master of the double entendre. He said he got 44 into one sketch....pure genius. Wonder if we could get Mrs Slocombe's Pussy sketches redone for 2015?

(02-01-2015 03:18 )eccles Wrote:  Up Pompeii - which I think ran for several seasons - did not feature nudity or toplessness.

My post was, of course, referring to the film spin-off, which did include toplessness.

As for self-censorship, GOLD and Dave are the worst offenders. Watch any episode of OFaH or Porridge, and notice how the nipples on the topless calenders / magazines in the background have been airbrushed out

(02-01-2015 18:58 )JuanKerr Wrote:  

(02-01-2015 03:18 )eccles Wrote:  Up Pompeii - which I think ran for several seasons - did not feature nudity or toplessness.

My post was, of course, referring to the film spin-off, which did include toplessness.

As for self-censorship, GOLD and Dave are the worst offenders. Watch any episode of OFaH or Porridge, and notice how the nipples on the topless calenders / magazines in the background have been airbrushed out

True ,,same with "Holiday On The Buses" has a women running and her top falls down revealing bouncing boobs but ITV3 showed the film but removed the bouncing boobs.

Someone somewhere decided that things shouldn't and then couldn't be shown, or said, or done. Lawyers and the press got the power to change something that was perfectly legal, to something that was nasty and to be frowned upon. And no one challenged them. And now in this world of endorsements everyone is shit scared of upsetting anyone. whoever it may be that hold their particular purse strings. Resulting In all the fight being knocked out of all of us, and much more censorship than there as ever been before.

(04-01-2015 20:57 )RESPONSIBLE ADULT Wrote:  Someone somewhere decided that things shouldn't and then couldn't be shown, or said, or done. Lawyers and the press got the power to change something that was perfectly legal, to something that was nasty and to be frowned upon. And no one challenged them. And now in this world of endorsements everyone is shit scared of upsetting anyone. whoever it may be that hold their particular purse strings. Resulting In all the fight being knocked out of all of us, and much more censorship than there as ever been before.

George Orwell was a master of prediction then (1984 novel/film)?,better than Nostradamus?

We are becoming Big Brother..Even 18 dvd's have cuts why can we not decide to watch the original film we are bloody adults? Do not expect to get angry about a film and decide to play conkers cause you can't do that either unless you in riot gear.