Posted on: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Airing of 'Private Ryan' not indecent, FCC says

By Genaro C. Armas
Associated Press

ABC's broadcast last Veterans Day of the Oscar-winning war movie "Saving Private Ryan," which contains graphic violence and profanity, did not violate indecency guidelines, regulators ruled yesterday.

KITV and 65 other ABC affiliates, covering nearly one-third of the country, didn't air Steven Spielberg's movie on Nov. 11 due to skittishness over whether the film would be deemed indecent — even though the FCC in 2002 had ruled it was not.

"Saving Private Ryan" contains "numerous expletives and other potentially offensive language generally as part of the soldiers' dialogue," the Federal Communications Commission said.

"In light of the overall context in which this material is presented, the commission determined it was not indecent or profane," the five-member FCC said in a unanimous decision in denying complaints over the movie.

"This film is a critically acclaimed artwork that tells a gritty story — one of bloody battles and supreme heroism," FCC chairman Michael Powell said in a statement. "The horror of war and the enormous personal sacrifice it draws on cannot be painted in airy pastels."

The indecency law bars nonsatellite radio and noncable television stations from airing between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. indecent material such as references to sexual and excretory functions. Those are the hours when children are more likely to be watching television.