http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOBryz4sbm8
Seriously, how great is that? Just nonchalantly saying "Aww, fuck it" on national TV as a crowd having the time of their admittedly pathetic lives roars? Unfortunately, some disagree that this was a great moment in the history of television and actually argue the other way. It should be noted that most people don't seem too terribly offended, but apparently the amount was enough (or perceived to be enough) that ESPN forced Lee Corso to apologize.
Hopefully, it won't go further than this. I kind of don't think it will, but I'm scared enough that I felt compelled to write this. But I have a very simple question for those who were offended by Lee Corso's exclamation: Why?
What is offensive about a man saying "Fuck it", even if it was premeditated? Even if you think it's unnecessary, what about it is bad? It would be one thing if Lee had said "God damn it" (taking the Lord's name in vain) or if he'd told Chris Fowler to go fuck himself (saying something derogatory and mean towards somebody), but he did neither of these things. Now, I'm presuming most people who are offended are offended by the word fuck. This word was created by people at least a millennium after the arrival of Jesus. Nobody was ever damned in the Old Testament because they said the word fuck, because the word fuck didn't exist. Jesus never asked his followers not to say the word, because it didn't exist.
An easy parallel would be several other notable gaffes in which the word fuck was used, such as the legendary "Bill O'Reilly Flips Out" or the time Ernie Arnastos said "Keep fucking that chicken." But while these amuse me, I can at least rationalize why they'd be deemed offensive. With Bill O'Reilly, he is clearly being threatening and uncomfortable towards a defenseless, unseen man. With Arnastos (who claims that the line was an accident), there's at least a sexual connotation and I guess you could argue it encourages bestiality or something. It doesn't make sense, but it makes more sense than condemning Lee Corso. But honestly, what does "Fuck it" mean? Essentially it means "Whatever", which isn't typically considered offensive. It's just a phrase.
In fact, I'm pretty sure the only reason 95% of people who use the phrase use the phrase is to get a rise out of the people who are offended. Because people get on their moral high horses about the use of the word fuck, it has a special elevated place in the American vernacular. It's trolling on a somewhat minor and very easy to use level. People don't use the phrase "fuck it" in spite of the fact that it offends people--they use the phrase because it offends people. Or at least because it grabs the attention of people.
From a legal perspective, Lee Corso did nothing wrong. The FCC has zero jurisdiction over ESPN, since ESPN is not a broadcast TV network, and even if Corso had said this on network television, I'm pretty sure the FCC has more important things to worry about. Like whether or not Janet Jackson exposes her breast to me when I was fifteen. Still no investigations into showing the ultra-violent D-Day scenes in Saving Private Ryan on network TV.
Basically, what I'm saying is if you want to complain about Lee Corso saying the F word on television, it's your right to do so. Just be forewarned that most of us don't really fucking care.
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