Final Project-- What the...kind of language is in TV shows?

Title: What the...kind of language is in TV shows?

Introduction/Research question: I initially was going to do my content analysis study on how the radio "pushes the envelope." As I was researching, I found "pushing the envelope" on television to be of some interesting findings especially with all the new and different types of entertainment shows on today. Since my prior study involved the gender/race stereotype in commercials, I figured something different from that would me most appropriate for a final project. Something that we didn't talk too much about in class so I thought the language content during a TV show would be something to look at. Thus, my research question is how far doees television "push the envelope" concerning indecent and vulgar language? Is it the worst at a certain time of the day?

Summary of findings: I found that the crude language on TV these days is very common. I thought their would be a significant difference of results during the day, which are called the "safe harbor hours"(before 10pm)--time that children are watching TV the most, than the nightly shows. I found that it really depends on what you're watching that makes either the "safe harbor hours" true or makes it untrue. What I mean by that will be clarified in the following sentences. I watched 3 types of shows: a talk show, a soap opera, and a comedy show. The comedy show was clearly more indecent than the soap opera but not even close to being as profane as the talk show. This would probably be a good time to mention which shows I have done. I watched The Jerry Springer Show, Passions (daytime drama), and F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Now, it is clear that out of the three which one must have the most indecency in its language content. If the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) cared and really believed in the "safe harbor hours" then The Jerry Springer Show would without a doubt not be on daytime television, but it is. That to me was discomforting to know that a kid only 10 years old could potentially be watching that same disgusting show called "I'm sleeping with your mother."

Summary of previous study: I used supporting information from a similar study. The work is done Bradford L. Yates, Ph.D and Anthony L. Fargo, Ph.D. ("Talk dirty to me: Broadcast and cable TV push the envelope on indecency," April 2002, Broadcast Education Association.) by They did case studies as well as a quantitative content analysis on whether TV shows have gotten worse in language content since 1994. According to the studies it has. This is why the FCC has now put ratings on TV shows for whether it is suitable for a child or not. I used their coding on all three shows.

Corpus and Methodology: As I watched all three shows, I coded my analysis study. I first categorized the language into 4 distinct and different parts: offensive language, vulgarities, and profane use and charecteristics. I then broke down each category into parts. This will be most efficient in bullet form:

• Offensive language:

-Verbal (They vocally said something offensively/insulting beyond norms to somebody else)

-Implied (Bleeping out or mouthing off dirty words)

-Gestural (Ex: "giving the finger)

• Vulgarities:

-"Seven dirty words"--These words have been singled out by the FCC to be too indecent for the airwaves. These words are: tits, shit, piss, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and fuck.

-Sexual words (Ex: "boobs" and "balls")

-Excretory words--Direct references to human waste products/processes (Ex: "shit" and "crap")

-"Other" offensive words (Ex: "Hell," "Son of a bitch," "bastard," "damn," "whore," "you suck" etc.)

• Profane Use: (Using the name of God in a bad connotation)

-"Christ"

-"Jesus"

-"God" (Ex: "God, she looks like an ugly cow!")

• Charecteristics:

-Network (NBC, ABC, FOX, WB)

-Type of show (drama, comedy, reality)

-Time period (what time did it play it? daytime/nightime?)

With all these categories I was able to tell significantly what show was the worst and by how much as well as by what extreme. The category "vulgarities" helps with disputing the extreme level of offensive language. The "charecteristics" category showed what networks "pushed the envelope" more as well as whether the show was seen during the day or night.

Findings: Firstly, with "The Jerry Springer Show," it had by far the most offensive language, vulgarity but suprisingly not profane use. It was the only show to have not just once but 42 times of one of the "7 dirty words." You can only imagine which ones they were! Another shocking revelation was that "The Jerry Springer Show" played the earliest of the 3 types of shows at noon. Also, the most common word I heard was different synonyms for the word "slut" like "whore" or a "tramp." One can only imagine how many children are getting exposed to certain subjects one shouldn't at such an easily-influenced age. The next show to air was "Passions." The shocking discovery was that I initially had thought that daytime dramas would have a little more of vulgarity and offensive language but it almost didn't have any! The most significant finding for "Passions" was that it had more "other" offensive words than F.R.I.E.N.D.S did. It had 10 offensive words that were mostly made up of "bastard," "bitch," and the phrase "go to hell." F.R.I.E.N.D.S shockingly had the most and only "profane use." The only word they said was "God" 6 times. Something else interesting was the fact that F.R.I.E.N.D.S had two "Excretory words" while "The Jerry Springer Show" had only one. The worst words heard during this show was "bastard," and "bitch."

Conclusion: Overall, "The Jerry Springer Show" is the epitome of bad/profane TV and shouldn't be aired at noon and most certainly shouldn't even be aired at all. The language of use is disgusting on that show. As far as "Passions" and other soap operas, perhaps I underestimated their conservative level of language compared to other kinds of TV shows out there. Lastly, I never really realized that my favorite show F.R.I.E.N.D.S had any kind of crude language other than a 'slip' here and there, but it was very consistent through the show to have slight unsophisticated humour and not just that but to emphasize the word as well. I suppose I never realized it until here I am, making an effort to hear the use of language. It's funny how when you are just watching a show you'll never notice these little things that directors and producers purposely tell the actors/actresses to do. After doing this content analysis study I've realized how much we really do "push the envelope" on foul-mouthed language. It's a shame how we tell kids not to talk rubbish or else they get the 'soap in the mouth' treatment, yet here are some shows that maybe a family would watch (the exception of the "Springer show" and most likely "Passions") together and they are all full of 'potty-mouths.' So, I guess you can't really say anymore, "where did you hear that word young man?!" because I can tell you where they heard it from, the media.

My Data : -- "The Jerry Springer Show" --"Passions" --"F.R.I.E.N.D.S

OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE VERBAL IMPLIED GESTURAL

IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII

IIIII IIIII IIII II

IIIII IIIII

IIIII IIIII

IIIII IIIII

IIIII

IIIII IIIII II

IIIII III III I

VULGARITIES "7 DIRTY WORDS" SEXUAL WORDS EXCRETORY WORDS "OTHER" OFFENSIVE WORDS

IIIII IIIII III I IIIII IIIII

IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII

IIIII IIIII IIIII III

IIIII IIIII

II

IIIII IIIII

IIII II IIIII III

PROFANE USE "CHRIST" "JESUS" "GOD" "LORD"

IIIII I

CHARECTERISTICS NETWORK TYPE TIME PERIOD

WB Talk show/Reality 12-1 pm

NBC Soap/Drama 1-2 pm

WB Comedy 1-2 pm

SOURCES:

http://beaweb.org/bea2002/papers/yates.pdf