The Hypocrisy Bowl

PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY VIKTOR KOEN

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The government's investigating a one-second flash as though it were the Iran-contra scandal does seem a bit preposterous. Whatever is turned up, the crimes were committed long before, and by many hands. The NFL, for instance, has not exactly been dainty in courting those vaunted 18-to-34-year-old men; before the indecent exposure, it was parading the bodacious Coors Light twins like game trophies. If the league has expressed any reservations about the sponsors' objectifying messages, it has been hard to hear them. (Asked about the beer-ad and cheerleader culture, NFL'S Browne demurred, "Let's stay on the halftime.")

And if the NFL knew what it was getting and wanted from MTV, the music network's corporate sib CBS has even less reason to be shocked, shocked. MTV's defense is that it was betrayed by an attention-seeking artist looking to jump-start her career. But MTV is a prime mover in a celebrity culture in which young female singers and actresses, however accomplished, increasingly have to go near-naked on the V.M.A.s, in videos, on the covers of Maxim, Stuff and FHM if they want to keep their CDs moving, their ratings up and their movies packed. Now MTV says it got played? It helped invent the game.

Meanwhile, some of MTV's culture-warrior critics are eager to leverage public outrage to push their own agendas. "This is going to change things finally," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, a conservative Ohio advocacy group. The Parents Television Council called on the FCC to fine NBC affiliates if they ran the uncut ER episode. "American families," said council president Brent Bozell, "are disgusted by this unnecessary nudity on broadcast television." They are? ER ran an episode last October that included an elderly woman's breasts and reran it the week before the Super Bowl without a public outcry. Back in 1977, ABC aired bare breasts in the classic mini-series Roots. The Jackson stunt was juvenile, but so is the all-boobies-are-dirty equivalence. (Not to mention the silly anatomical parsing it leads to: Are nipples seen through an Oscars gown O.K.? Nipples covered by metal? Bottom of breast? Side?)

The message from the TV industry's critics resonates with parents who feel attacked by pop culture's sexuality and are concerned about raising kids with appropriate values. But one such value is accepting personal responsibility. To have seen the ambush-by-mammary, you had to have sat through the entire, supposedly not-fit-for-families halftime show. Argues TV producer David Salzman: "It's like being a pacifist and complaining when you watch a World Wrestling Entertainment event." That didn't stop a Knoxville, Tenn., lawyer from filing a class action on behalf of Super Bowl viewers, claiming "outrage" and "serious injury." From lunging to avoid Jackson's nipple?

We spent too much time last week talking about the what of the "malfunction" and relatively little about the how. Even at MTV's risque V.M.A. shows, the naughty acts usually involve women artists taking off their own clothesthat is, controlling their sexuality. Jackson's flashing was not, despite press descriptions, a "striptease." It was Timberlake ripping off her cup and exposing a breast to hang out like a chuck roast as she cowered in real or feigned shame. It wasn't erotic; it was violent. It wasn't adult; it was preadolescent. It wasn't sexual; it was a choreographed sexual assault. Two microns of red lace over Jackson's areola wouldn't have made that any better.

That's the thing about obscenity: you can't find it on an anatomical chart. It's about context and tone, a subtle and very subjective judgment. Arguably, Jackson's lightning flash was no more offensive than several ads that ran during the Super Bowl and focused on humiliation, especially sexual humiliation, especially of women. In spots for Bud Light, a woman on a date was farted on by a horse; another was hit on by a horny monkey.

Is this kind of TV crudity going to wane after the Jackson incident? Absolutely. Just as surely as Columbine ended screen violence, the Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? scandal finished reality TV and the Sept. 11 attacks killed irony. Betting against the transgressiveness of pop culture is like shorting the market: you may be right for a period, but over time you will lose. Even if the FCC does leash the big networks meaningfully a long shot viewers remain free to go to cable. "It's acceptable for Tiger Woods to curse on ESPN," notes NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker, "but not on NBC at the same golf tournament." If the viewers go, the ratings pressures will return. And with them? Bring on the bursting corsets!