Can't say that (in America)!

Copyright Save the Internet

As I sat down to devour a few slices of bread covered in Nutella spread in front of the TV, I saw that the Daily Show with Jon Stewart is about to come on. I am a fan of the show and used to watch it in America on Comedy Central. Since I arrived in Ireland, it was difficult to catch the show since I didn't know which channel carried the show. Also it aired a day after the original making some of the headlines not as exciting.

Well I haven't seen the show in over three months. I switched over to the show which is broadcast as the "Global Edition". Now, what was the first thing I noticed? Even before the show started, the lovely lady voice announced that there is some strong language in the following show. I was thinking there would be words like "damn", "pissed off", and similar not-so-vulgar-but-might-be-offensive words and that the swear words would be bleeped out, like in the regular version of the show I used to watch in America.

But nooooo, not in Ireland. Strong language meant there would be proper cuss words in the show, such as "fuck", "pussy", "shit", etc. I have to tell you, I was so relieved to hear the words without the bleeping. God damn, that felt good! For 16 fucking years I had to put up with ignorant American censorship of TV, radio and movies. I have watched quite a few documentaries about the roots of censorship in America and the influence of private organization and minority groups on the government policy with respect to restricting free speech in the media. The Americans don't even realize how sheltered they are from everything because of the censorship in the media. It is difficult for most Americans to develop as "normal" humans by being prevented from hearing, seeing, and reading about the "controversial" aspects of life. They are "protected" by the special interest groups from the horrors of normal life through the use of censorship.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The lack of censorship improved the overall message of the show and allowed Jon Stewart to fully express himself in order to make his points come across stronger than they otherwise would if he was bleeped out. Uh, I really fucking hated watching movies and shows on USA, TNT, TBS, ABC, NBC, whatever, because they were always modified to remove sex scenes or bad language and shortened to give more time to the commercials. I remember watching movies where complete scenes were taken out that the viewer who hasn't seen the original movie would not even have the pleasure of experiencing because of censorship. There are scenes that simply need to be seen in order to fully experience the show.

I'm so glad once more that I am not in America any more. Those Jerry Falwell-like groups cannot reach me here. Fuck them and fuck their attempt to silence people's expression.