SYTYCD Upskirt Scandal: News Flash or Non-Flash?
So last night on So You Think You Can Dance, an aspiring contestant reacted to some good news by rolling on the floor in her short skirt, exposing her bare crotch to primetime America and inviting the wrath of the FCC. Unless she didn't. After the video and stills were posted online, SYTYCD producer Nigel Lythgoe made the seeming statement of admission to TMZ, "The show was always designed to expose talent, but not in this way." But then Fox and Lythgoe released statements saying that the dancer was "wearing flesh-toned dance gear."
This incited a hubbub and further dissection of the video online (here's your new Zapruder film courtesy of Gawker), and—oh, dear God, I am a grown man with a college degree and I am writing about this for a living. OK, let me issue my own statements on the subject for now:
1. If we have to debate and analyze the footage frame by frame, and yet still can't determine for certain whether any bare nether bits were flashed, does it matter what the contestant was wearing? Whether the girl was wearing a leotard or nothing, in practice we saw the same thing, a momentary undeterminable blur—which only shows how ridiculous this kind of "controversy" is. Is there some sort of platonic model of obscenity, such that seeing bare skin (yet thinking you may not have seen it) is somehow automatically dirtier than not seeing bare skin (and yet believing that you did see it)?
2. Pursuant to #1, if there's enough doubt that the entire Internet can look at the video and be unable to determine if we're getting flashed a woman's uncovered genitalia, do you think, Fox, that you might just decide to skip showing an upskirt shot on primetime TV anyway?
Shorter version: can we all just be rational, not freak out and, oh yeah, exercise some judgment? I know, we won't. But a guy can dream.
-
1
Hilarious! I watched SYTYCD and did a double-take on that "did she? didn't she?" moment. And then promptly forgot about it. It seems in this era in which we live, absolutely nothing we do or say is above scrutiny of the minutia. Who cares, people!
-
2
I've seen a different, less fuzzy version of this clip (posted on Perez Hilton's blog, God help me), and it seemed pretty darned determinable.
For what it's worth, I was watching for work-related reasons: I want to know what new, ridiculous thing will have the PTC/FCC (really one entity at this point) making us afraid to air a jazz documentary for fear of "offending" a self-appointed indecency watchdog.
-
3
"Pursuant to #1"
I like that you are talkin' all fancy like to try to class up the post with the title "Crotch Flash"
-
4
What's most ridiculous about this is the fact that the young woman in question is featured in one of the several montages they have of dancers leaping and spinning; I believe it was before we see the alleged "crotch flash".
She happens to leap, and her brown shorts are very, very clear indeed. Unless one wants to believe she removed them for her performance (?????), the matter's settled.
-
5
[...] 4 Comments • Trackback (0) • Related Topics: fcc, flash, indecency, nudity, so you think you can dance, sytycd [...]
-
6
Pic's or it didn't happen.
-
7
Since I live overseas and don't get the show, I missed it. And would have missed it still had I not run across this TIME story.
Sometimes my friends and family back in the States ask how I can possibly continuing abroad so many years (24 and counting) when I grew up on a small ranch in Texas.
I just point to idiocies such as this controversy and shake my head in silence. 'Nuff said.
-
8
Oops. Fingers got in too big a hurry. "continue living abroad," I meant. Sorry. (Bad fingers! Bad fingers!)
-
9
[...] SYTYCD Upskirt Scandal: News Flash or Non-Flash? So last night on So You Think You Can Dance, an aspiring contestant reacted to some good news by rolling on the floor [...] [...]
-
10
A lot of fuss about not very much - I had a good look and couldn't see anything ! And I'm a professional ! http://thedigitalcamerasite.blogspot.com
-
11
[...] here to see the original: (Possible) Crotch Flash on So You Think You Can Dance Starts … By admin | category: upskirt | tags: america, bare-crotch, card-as-evidence, dance, fcc, [...]
- poniewozik Ironically, golfers generally try to avoid bunkers. http://bit.ly/719bfC - 58 minutes ago
- poniewozik Blog post: Lauer gets nothing from the Salahis. But gets it before anyone else! http://bit.ly/4u4mXv - 1 hour ago
- poniewozik Salahis appear on Today show, deny WH crashing and reveal... that they'll reveal something, someday. - 1 hour ago
Most Popular »
- Jay Leno a Failure; Also, Jay Leno a Success
- Piling On Desirée Rogers--Is The Social Secretary To Blame For Two Ticketless Boobs At The White House?
- Looking for Reasons to Care About Tiger Woods
- Health Bill: What Would It Cost Me?
- The League of Ambivalent Columnists
- Is Walking Away from Your Mortgage the Smartest Thing You Can Do?
- State Dinner, Uh, Fashion
- Stephen King's Shining Sequel: Paging Dr. Danny
- Netbooks Are Really Dumb, Or Maybe You Already Knew That
- Cheney: 'No Aspirations' for Further Office
- Want to Boost Your Memory? Try Sleeping on It
- Dubai's Woes a Blow to Ambitious Ruler Sheik Mohammed
- The End of the 2000s: Goodbye to a Decade from Hell
- Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
- Tiger Woods' Car Accident Bad Publicity for Florida Home
- The Women of Islam
- Amanda Knox Murder Trial: Verdict by Friday?
- The Muppets Perform 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
- Dubai Debt: Global Economic Recovery Still in Danger
- What's Wrong with Notre Dame Football?
Quotes of the Day »
RSS