Over the most recent break I found myself caught in a Spike TV induced coma. Something about the endless and mindless violence seemed to blend so well with the holiday spirit. It took a real jolt to wake me up to the reality of what I was watching on the tube.

One lazy afternoon, I found myself flipping through the channels when my eyes caught the movie “Kill Bill” in its opening scene. The protagonist, played by Uma Thurman, had just woken up from a coma after being shot in the head and nearly dying. Distraught and frightened, Thurman begins to question a hospital worker to find the whereabouts of her past employer and would-be killer, Bill. I put it lightly by saying “question” as Thurman’s interrogation method consists of slamming the worker’s head repeatedly in the door and yelling at him. Supposedly this can be quite effective.

Those who have seen the movie should know the scene I’m talking about. Thurman suddenly remembers the hospital worker, Buck, from an incident during her time in a coma. Cue Buck’s infamous line “My name is Buck, and I’m here to f---.”

What really surprised me was that Spike TV chose to censor the last word in Buck’s quote, much like I have here.

Let’s analyze the situation though. Here is a scene completely unedited where a man is getting his skull crushed against a door, leading to his eventual death, in a movie that seems to epitomize over-the-top violence. However, the moment an f-bomb is dropped, we have to run to the censor department and slap on a couple of ‘beeps.’

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this situation? Since when was it more acceptable to watch a guy get brutally killed than to hear him curse a few times?

What I found even more hilarious was the next scene. Buck, being the womanizing creep that he is, has an interesting name for his car. Again, I put it lightly. I won’t delve too deep into the name Buck gave his car for the sake of the select people who may take offense to it, but Buck likes to advertise it blatantly, having it painted boldly on the back of the vehicle as well as having a huge key chain with the car’s name. If you are really curious, Wikipedia exists for a reason.

What got me this time was that the movie was actually edited to change the car’s name. The car was painted differently and even the key chain was altered. Buck’s truck had gotten its name changed to the aptly less offensive “Party Wagon.” The fact that there was effort put into this alteration astounded me. They didn’t have to just beep out a word, they had to digitally alter the image on the screen.

The fact that they had to go so far to change these scenes shows how vital it was for them to carry out the changes. It’s something I really don’t understand. It’s something that is embedded in our culture. We’re so nervous about not offending people with the occasional swear word, and yet we allow violence to carry on freely.

To pick from the endless wisdom of “South Park,” “horrific deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don’t say any naughty words.”

Staff: - 01/16/07