I got this in my inbox this morning...and just changed it a little (hopefully it works!)

I was reading an article by Jon Carroll, who works for the SF Chronicle, yesterday and although he had an interesting, albeit ranting, position, I saw it from a different perspective and I thought I'd share my idea. 

His article, "PBS Commentary" of outrage that the documentarian (or PBS, or the government, or fundamentalist Christians...he blames a bunch of people) blurred the breasts of a dying Chinese woman, who had been suffering from cancer due to an overly polluted river in China.  He says:

"But here's the thing: The woman's breasts had been digitally blurred. Because she was so thin, she didn't really have breasts, but she had nipples, and those were apparently arousing enough to cause the PBS censor to step in. See, it's not prurience that's bad; it's not sexual exploitation that's bad; it's breasts that are bad. Any breasts, even the breasts of an elderly Chinese woman dying of cancer. Your breasts are bad. Speak to them severely.

I don't think that the government had to order this documentary altered. The FCC probably didn't know anything about it before it aired. No, PBS is so terrified that it didn't need a cautionary letter; it went ahead and did it anyway, just in case someone's mother somewhere writes the FCC saying, "My son saw the breasts of a terminally ill Chinese woman, and now he's playing in a heavy-metal band."

My reply:

Hello Mr. Carroll,

In response to your commentary on the Chinese woman's censored breasts:

Although you have taken the position of view of the American audience, if I had seen this on television, I would have figured the documentarian was blurring this woman's breasts as a form of dignified respect for her.  I would be appreciative if this was done for me, if I was in her situation.

Just a thought.

Tamarah Rockwood

To which he asked:

"she was naked from pubic bone to forehead. If respect was required, why
use the shot at all?"

Which seems like the dumbest question floating in the world right now.  So, after banging my head on my desk for a few minutes, I replied:

There are a few reasons why I can imagine they used that shot.  The subject was "The primary effects of river pollution is cancer," and a method of illustrating the urgency of this issue would be to show an example of who is suffering from it.  The woman's frailty and vulnerability is exposed through the deteriorating effects of cancer, and in doing so the documentarian is not only giving the viewer the opportunity to empathize with the woman, but is using her as the figurehead of the issue.  Art has always used mortal vulnerability to identify with the audience's own fears; memento mori.  I think as humans we are naturally curious about life, which reaches into our interests of anthropology (studying our past), art (studying the beauty or profane of life), philosophy (studying what it means to be human).  The documentary is a method of informing people across the globe of similar events happening to people, thus initiating the growth of a branch of understanding beyond cultures, languages and distance.  Most people across the world have some feeling of awkwardness with nudity, and the use of this woman's body was using this method to portray the humility of life to the audience in order for them to feel what she is feeling.

Something else that caught my mind as I was thinking about your article was the desexualization you stamped onto this woman: "She was skeletal; her skin had shrunk away from her ribs, leaving her looking like an anatomical drawing. She was suffering, hardly conscious; ...Because she was so thin, she didn't really have breasts, but she had nipples, and those were apparently arousing enough to cause the PBS censor to step in. .."  I am curious if she were a beautiful woman with gorgeous breasts, if the censorship would still be applicable to you?  Or is it that this woman is so far beyond beauty that she is no longer able to be attractive, and thus it is acceptable to show her breasts?  This is a rather slippery slope, in that censoring a woman is only acceptable if she is no longer a sexual being; but censoring a woman in order to protect her decency and honor is out of the question? 

"Doctors and nurses deal with this reality every day, and they are able to make the distinction. "  And although this is a valid point, that Doctors and nurses do see naked bodies all day and are able to not view them in a sexual manner, my point that the blurred breasts were for the respect of the woman being viewed is for the same reasons why Doctors and nurses give patients robes and blankets to cover up while they are in an office: out of respect for the patients' dignity.  If we were unable to see a naked body without being able to control ourselves, PBS would not have been able to show the woman at all...since we all know what lies beneath the blur.  But we are adults and are able to view these scenes with a grain of salt, but also with a grain of dignity for the woman.


Tamarah Rockwood

Just saw this at the bottom of a web page...I'm sure if I lived in Europe I'd wonder about David Beckham too.  But I have never liked soccer (or football, for you guys):

(and for those of us who don't know what on earth Euribor is:
Euribor (Euro Interbank Offered Rate) is a daily reference rate based on the averaged interest rates at which banks offer to lend unsecured funds to other banks in the euro wholesale money market (or interbank market).

Top Searches on Reuters.com

1. Saddam Hussein

2. Oil

3. Euribor

4. Brazil

5. China

  6. Iran

  7. Somalia

  8. Bird Flu

  9. Iraq

10. David Beckham

We went up north to visit my Mom and sister yesterday, and there was this gigantic accident on the freeway.  They actually closed down the freeway on the other side.  Here is the article from The Reporter...it was just devestating to see people get killed because of stupid drunk drivers swerving all over the place:

Three die on I-80

Careening car causes collision of six vehicles

By Melissa Murphy/Staff Writer

Article Launched: 01/21/2007 07:39:10 AM PST

Vacaville firefighters spray water on a burned-out vehicle involved in a multiple crash that resulted in three fatalities on I-80 Saturday morning. (Ryan Chalk/The Reporter)

Three people were killed and two others critically injured in an accident involving six vehicles Saturday morning shortly after 11:30 on Interstate 80 at Pena Adobe Road in Vacaville.

The driver of a Toyota Corolla, accompanied by two passengers, was headed east on I-80 at 65 to 70 mph, according to Marvin Williford of the California Highway Patrol, when the driver lost control of the vehicle which then jumped the median into westbound traffic.

The Corolla collided head-on with a Ford Expedition which erupted in flames. After being thrown backward, the Corolla struck a BMW that was in an adjacent lane. The driver of the Expedition was killed, as were the Corolla driver and a backseat passenger. A Toyota Highlander to the rear of the

Rescue workers work to assess injuries and stabilize patients at the accident scene. (Ryan Chalk/The Reporter)

Expedition attempted to avoid the crash in the lanes ahead, but instead struck the rear of the Expedition as it came to a stop.

The Corolla and the BMW skidded in front of a Dodge pickup truck and a 38-foot motor home that were traveling westbound in the number three and four lanes. Both drivers attempted to avoid the wreckage ahead, but the pickup truck skidded sideways and slid into the path of the motor home.

The driver of the Corolla and one passenger as well as the driver of the Expedition were pronounced dead at the scene. A third person in the Corolla and the driver of the BMW sustained major injuries and were flown to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek by CALSTAR and REACH.

The driver and passenger in the Highlander received minor injuries as did the driver of the Dodge pickup. The two people in the motor home were not injured.

Williford said the investigation is ongoing, and it appears that all the people involved were wearing seat belts. Currently it

All lanes of westbound I-80 traffic were shut down for several hours Saturday due to a multiple fatality accident. According to the CHP, a grey Toyota Corolla traveling eastbound lost control, jumped the guardrail and collided with a Ford Expedition and setting it on fire. The impact sent the Toyota sliding across westbound traffic, resulting in collisions with four other vehicles. (Ryan Chalk/The Reporter)

appears that alcohol and or drugs may have played a factor in the accident, he said.

The I-80 westbound lanes were shut down for several hours, backing up traffic on I-80 beyond Vacaville to the east. Traffic in the eastbound lanes was backed up as far west as Red Top Road. Traffic came to a standstill on the south end of Interstate 505.

By early evening, all ramps connecting with I-80 were open.

The fiery crash was just one day after four others died in a highway crash in Santa Rosa.

In the incident, a car traveling 70 mph plowed into stalled traffic on Highway 101 in Santa Rosa on Friday night, killing three adults and a toddler, according to the CHP.

Melissa Murphy can be reached at dixon@thereporter.com.