Popular culture frequently has been accused of being too explicit, showing too much violence, pushing the
boundaries of acceptable language, and displaying excessive nudity.
A watershed moment in American television history is the infamous half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2004 in which Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing. During the performance, a brief wardrobe malfunction occurred when Timberlake accidentally moved the fabric covering Jackson’s breast.
While Jackson’s nipple was not exposed, most viewers believed it had been. This led to a crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the governmental body in charge of indecency on the public airwaves. The incident has been described as both an important moment for maintaining decency on the airwaves and so trivial as not to deserve comment.
Consider how audiences have perceived indecent or violent behavior within popular culture. Have popular
culture representations of violence or indecency pushed boundaries? Or have they reinforced societal ideas of what is appropriate?
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