Put that **** away

What’s the consensus on profanity? What are the standards for expletives on television?

I ask because the closed-captioning department’s policy is to not censor; type what you hear, bleep out what you hear bleeped out. And this weekend’s edition of Video on Trial included people saying: “He’s gonna talk shit about you,” and “Ooh, shit’s gonna go down,” and then, “I beat the living (Bleep) out of the mascot.”

I watched the lips. They bleeped out the same word they’d let through twice before, I’d put money on it.

Why? Why did it move from acceptable to unacceptable? Is it because it was used in a violent context, not that that makes even a lick of sense? Or is three the magic number? Wave a circle round him thrice; what I tell you three times is true. The impressionable kiddies can hear people say the word “shit” twice, but if they hear it for a third time, it’ll push them over the edge.

It’s a gateway swear, that must be it. Keep ‘em away from that shit, or they’ll be mainlining motherfucker within days.