I actually complained to Channel 4 yesterday. That's right, I wrote an official letter (or rather, email) of complaint to a television channel regarding one of their shows. I'm getting old.
Here's my original email:
"Dear Channel 4,
I was absent-mindedly watching The Home Show while making myself a meal this evening at around 8:20, and while my attention wasn't completely focused on the programme, I'm quite sure I heard the "sh**" word spoken quite clearly in a sentence regarding birds in an apartment in France and their waste, although your presenters appear to use less appropriate terms. I fully understand that swearing is permitted on television, but at 8:20? I don't know about the legality of the issue, but legal or not: it's inappropriate for a show which I thought was going to be rather interesting presented by what I thought were mature presenters.
Besides what offence you may cause to those who don't expect their televisions to be full of obscenities before 9pm, please considerthe reflection it has on you. All it displays is that your presenters have a lack of sophisticated vocabulary and are unwilling to find alternatives to swearing."
Here's my original email:
"Dear Channel 4,
I was absent-mindedly watching The Home Show while making myself a meal this evening at around 8:20, and while my attention wasn't completely focused on the programme, I'm quite sure I heard the "sh**" word spoken quite clearly in a sentence regarding birds in an apartment in France and their waste, although your presenters appear to use less appropriate terms. I fully understand that swearing is permitted on television, but at 8:20? I don't know about the legality of the issue, but legal or not: it's inappropriate for a show which I thought was going to be rather interesting presented by what I thought were mature presenters.
Besides what offence you may cause to those who don't expect their televisions to be full of obscenities before 9pm, please considerthe reflection it has on you. All it displays is that your presenters have a lack of sophisticated vocabulary and are unwilling to find alternatives to swearing."
If I'm honest I wasn't expecting a reply, so I suppose Channel 4 can be credited on that front. I received the typical "No, it's legal, we didn't do anything wrong" email, but the main issue regarding the lack of vocabulary held by their presenters wasn't addressed.
Maybe I'm being fanciful and naïve to expect to live my life in a world where everyone's mature enough to take precautions not to offend others. I wasn't too offended myself, I get enough of the obscene language every day, but some people may take offense to being addressed in an immature manner. It's not the swearing itself that concerns me, just the blatant disregard and carelessness of Channel 4 for not considering some of their more easily offended viewers. OK, I don't usually watch The Home Show, in fact, I'd never seen it before in my life before yesterday, but it seems like the type of programme those of an elderly generation may enjoy: architecture, rennovation and history. It's just a pity they have to be so unsavoury about it. What is the youth of today coming to?
I really am getting old.
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Simple Plan - Grow Up (really uncool, but suitable) (mp3, 3.6mb)
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1 replies:
May it have something to do with the fact that they used it as a noun and not as a swear word?
Anyway, good for you for writing the email.
Helen
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