We Elle Woods and Chery Horowitz continue our journey into the judicial abyss of Pop Culture with the second Pop Culture Supreme Court Case.

Pop Culture Supreme Court Case 2:
In the current media environment, are radio personalities being held to a different and tougher standard than their peers in print and on television?

Opinion
If by standards, we’re talking about public approval standards, my answer is no, radio, television and print are not held to higher standards. When standards are breeched, there are consequences regardless of the method of communication. Unless you are Ann Coulter, in that case you are pretty much allowed to say anything you want without fear of repercussions because clearly you are the devil and nobody wants to mess with you.

Don Imus- Radio Race Ruckus

“My goal is to goad people into saying something that ruins their life.” –Don Imus

The more visibility you have the more likely you are to suffer repercussions for your behavior. There is no way to slide under the wire or request a do-over unless by do-over you mean rehab. In today’s media, public opinion spreads like wildfire via blogs and viral video. In minutes what may have been a few hundred FCC complaints can turn into hundreds of thousands. Consumer watchdog groups and advertisers are in tune with today’s media and can act more quickly when public opinion shifts. As the third most popular morning radio program with a daily audience of over 350k listeners, clearly Imus had the visibility and his remarks were heard ‘round the web. If he were someone with little visibility or he had an editor reviewing his comments before publication, he may have been prevented from making his comments publicly. But probably not, he is after all, Imus. Even if Imus had an editor or censored his comments they could have been leaked and he may have faced the same scrutiny and eventual firing as in the Isaiah Washington case

Isaiah Washington: Television Talent Taunting Talent
While Isaiah Washington’s homophobic remarks were not spoken on air, the news of his onset comments regarding TR Knight’s sexuality was posted on hundreds of websites eliciting thousands of reactions. More people have an opportunity to hear what celebrities have to say as all of the media groups lead with the same story and set it on repeat. Sadly there is a segment of the population that reveres celebrity status and sees celebrities as idols and role models. Celebrities are more visible than ever and along with that visibility comes great responsibility. Kind of like Spiderman.

Extra, extra: Pen Thinks Before Wielding Sword
The nature of publishing allows for a kind of immediate hindsight. Magazines, newspapers and journals have editors who review content before sending it off to print. It is planned as opposed to live television and radio, which are essentially immediate. While the print medium is accountable to watch dog groups, their subscribers and their advertisers, there is no FCC for print. Magazines and newspapers aren‘t celebrities. Sure writers are famous but they aren’t out front in the public consciousness as much as someone involved in television or radio. If an opinionated reader sends in an offensive editorial and it is printed, that reader doesn’t make headline news and unless his boss gets wind of his remarks and in turn fears for his other employees’ safety or he spews his hatred on fellow employees, it’s unlikely he will be fired.

Are You Meaner Than a Fifth Grader?
All this talk of consequences is giving me a flashback got me thinking, what we are dealing with here are full grown bullies on the grown up playground of life. How far off are we from the real playgrounds filled with schoolyard bullies when someone is punished by being fired for their remarks? What would the consequences for the same behavior exhibited by the above-mentioned celebrities if in fact they were in the 5th grade. So wearing our most responsible looking ensemble, went to the source consequence distribution: we interviewed a real life grade school principal. Here is what we learned:

Me: What are the consequences when a child uses language like Don Imus or Isaiah Washington used, towards another child?

The Principal: That kind of behavior is UNACCEPTABLE!! We would at least talk to the kids about why
they said that and try to get at why they are being racist or whatever, because that stuff is
racist. From there, depending on the age, we would call the parents and work on some consequences. If it were a 5th grader, the consequences would be serious, possibly suspension.

Me: How about when a kid makes an offensive joke? What are the consequences?

The Principal: This is serious stuff – it is a manner of bullying and we don’t allow students to treat each other that way. We try to maintain a culture where kids don’t want to hurt each other and we try to educate them about how it makes a person feel etc.

Mr. Willis to the Principal’s Office

“I hate to think we live in a time when you can get fired from your job because of what you say. [Isaiah Washington] didn’t punch anyone. I think we’ll think differently with hindsight.”

- Bruce Willis to Time magazine

So in response to the quote above, yes, Mr. Willis, you can get fired from a job for what you say but only if you didn’t learn the lessons of human decency while on the playground.

In conclusion: no, radio, television and print aren’t held to different standards – however, the visibility of the speaker may make it appear that way. In this age of wall-to-wall news, off-the-cuff remarks are going to get a lot of exposure, and the nature of print doesn’t lend itself to off-the-cuff remarks. Thus, it’s natural that radio and TV would be seen as having the highest scrutiny.

On a lighter note: Fun with the FCC

Layercake.net was invited to preside as a Justice on the newly formed Pop Culture Supreme Court and once we came to terms with the fact that we are clearly the Cher Horowitz /Elle Woods of the Court, we gladly accepted!

The Pop Culture Supreme Court consists of 9 pop culture bloggers taking on the tough issues. No, not world hunger or global poverty, those issues are real world issues: this my dear readers is Pop Culture. Please visit the Pop Culture Supreme Court site to review the final decision and the individual Justices’ opinions.

Pop Culture Supreme Court of the World Wide Web

Ruling #1

Hollywood Film Remake Moratorium vs. Free Reign Film Remake
Justice: Heidi J. Nyburg

The task at hand is to determine whether a moratorium shall exist where Hollywood Remakes would be either disallowed or limited by some length of time between the original and the remake. If time limits were determined, who shall preside over the implementation and enforcement of said limits. Before such decisions can be made, our case and ruling is hereby presented for the Court’s review.

Emotions in Motion
Just like musical covers, film remakes evoke strong emotions in those who fell in love with the original presentation of the artwork. Even video game remakes illicit rousing discussion, as exhibited in Kataku’s Great Debate of 2007: Remaking the popular video game Speedball 2. So one might presume that a pop culture judge for instance, who experienced their own coming of age during the John Hughes heyday of the 1980s, might have certain emotions attached to those films that would render him or her incapable of coming to an unbiased ruling. However we are here to set those emotions aside and weigh the arguments to a final decision.

The Good the Bad and the Unnecessary
Like all movies, remakes come in varying degrees of quality. Cinematical writer Bob Sassone has compiled a very convincing list of seven remakes that he deems better than their original counterparts. This analysis makes a strong case in support of the remake: you might end up with something better. However, most remakes are mediocre or worse than awful, they’re completely unwatchable. Fortunately, taste in films is individual and varied and thus we are not here to debate the quality of a remake but rather its ability to exist in the first place, bad or good.

Anything You Can Do I can Do in Color
Another argument for direct remakes is the advancements cinematic technology. CGI and Color are impactful and compelling draws for the younger movie-going generations. See illustration labeled Exhibit C (for color and CGI). These young movie fans are surrounded by color and effects and have been since birth. For these fans it is a difficult challenge to be forced to imagine the color and realistic effects into a film. It distracts them from checking email and texting while watching a movie. Therefore they cannot enjoy the experience as much as they would when the color and explosions have been pre-placed in the film. Hollywood Studios and their wallets production teams know this and have taken a strong stance vowing to remake any film that doesn’t meet today’s technological standards.

Exhibit C

Great American Profiteering (GAP)
Remakes are good for the economy. Just like shopping! Imagine if you will, the tens of thousands of tween girls cruising MySpace, deprived of any prior knowledge of film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn. We’re talking about a generation of girls left without an Audrey Hepburn Myspace page layout. It is simply an American tragedy. Left to their own devices they might be forced to use Julia Roberts for their MySpace page layouts, who’s not even dead and was never even filmed in black and white. Unless you were to include that pathetic Frankenstein movie which you really shouldn’t. Totally not cool.

The remake of Sabrina in 1994, starring Juliet Binoche and Greg Kinnear inspired millions of future MILFs to seek out the original film starring Audrey Hepburn. Years later after having spent their own tween years sketching Audrey Hepburn on their Pee Chee folders and wearing pencil thin black leggings, these “cool moms” passed this knowledge onto their daughters. And thus the MySpace Audrey Hepburn page layout revolution. So, like totally cool.

Now take all of those MILFs and tweens and recall the GAP ad featuring Audrey Hepburn dancing to Back in Black [exhibit G].

Exhibit G

One could argue that had there not been a Sabrina remake in color, that campaign would have failed even more miserably. In 2002, Harry Knowles of Ain’t it Cool News reported that Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart were negotiating the purchase rights to Breakfast at Tiffany’s and planning to take on the lead roles themselves in what would surely have been hotly debated remake. Nothing has come of that rumor but imagine the impact would have had on sales at the Gap. OMG.

Final Judgment Day
Having taken into consideration the previous analysis and the economic impact of Hollywood Remakes, we have come to our decision in support of the Hollywood Remake. Remember, you don’t have to watch the remake, and it may draw new fans to the original. That being said, regardless of our final ruling here today, we would like to communicate this message to the studios in Hollywood: please keep your grimy money-hungry paws away from the John Hughes films, and Pretty Woman and When Harry Met Sally.