Informative Essay: Offensive Language In TV
Offensive Language in Television Offensive language has been the surrounding factor in finding subjects to base many television shows with. Many television shows use offensive language to draw in their viewers and leave them with excitement, through the words they use. The various television shows that will be mentioned in this paper have used offensive language as their main topic. Many of the shows are known for the offensive language they use to spotlight various races and stereotypes on many individuals. The television shows all offend a certain group of people, many of the words used may not seem that they would have an offensive meaning to them, however in the TV shows they disguise the offensive meaning of the word. Information can be found in Television in American Society Reference Library book on American television. (McNeill) MTV has recently produced a reality TV show called “Jersey Shore” this show has reported high ratings to a young viewing audience. The television show is a reality series about a group of individuals who live in a home on the Jersey Shore. The individuals on “Jersey Shore” have created their own language to refer to other individuals in a sort of code word form. This show is particularly watched by a younger group
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of individuals. The show has had a huge success on a younger audience and many of the words used in the show have begun to be used by the viewers. In “Jersey Shore” one of the words they use is “Atomic Bomb” the meaning of this word is completely different than the actual meaning of the word. In this particular show they use this word to refer to unattractive women. The meaning of this word goes hand and hand with the word “grenade” used on “Jersey Shore.” Both of these words are often used when the individuals are in a nightclub scene. They use these words to offend women with out there knowledge of what they are even being referred to as. This word can be found extremely offensive to any female that has been referred to as this. The words used to offend women give an example of Deborah Tannen’s essay “A Marked Woman. (Tannen.) This is a prime example of how the language used between the cast members is a language of their own, which is used to offend women. At the moment when the women are being called these terms they are unaware of the meaning of the word, which can create an even bigger offensive meaning behind the word. The word “landmine” on “Jersey Shore” is also used to refer to skinny unattractive women. These examples all spotlight females and have an offensive meaning behind the appearances of the individuals being targeted in the argument. The television cast has created new meanings for these words, and the new meanings of the words has begun to take over the actual meaning of the word. The new generation of today has begun to evolve these words and is now used in a casual setting for today. In the TV show the cast members even created a new term to refer to themselves as. The terms are “Guido and Guidette” this can be found extremely offensive to any Italian. This term falsely represents what a true Italian-American is. The television show is surrounded by words used to describe Italians. Such as the word “Guerilla or Juice Head” which is often used to describe a male in the TV show. The terms are describing an Italian male who works out a lot and has developed a muscular figure. The female cast members use these terms to describe their men, just as the men use the offensive terms towards the females they are targeting. The show gives a prime example of offensive language that is disguised in ignorance and unintelligence. The members of the show walk around using these terms as if there are no consequences to their actions. The young viewers of the show are being exposed to this ignorance and many are even subjecting themselves to using the language in their own world. This show is found offensive to women, men, and Italians. The way the cast members speak about their heritage is false and some are not even true Italians. There language is the biggest offense in this TV show along with their obnoxious behavior. Comedy Central is a television network known for the most offensive TV shows. Among these shows is “The Chappelle Show” this show is a series of sketches that are based on making fun of people and major events in the time period the show is being filmed. In this show Dave Chappelle is the main character and Chappelle uses a lot of racial slurs. Among those many racial slurs Dave Chappelle uses the words “cracker and honky.” The word “cracker” is used to offend white Americans, and is found very offensive to many. This word is used very often in this TV show. Along with this word is a false representation of what a white person looks and sounds like. This stereotype also brings up another word used in “The Chappelle Show,” “honky” which is another offensive word used towards white Americans. The TV show is focused more on racial offensive terms. The main star of the show is African American, Dave Chappelle, and is even found making racial slurs towards his own race. Along with these slurs comes a false visual representation of what those individuals look like. “The Chappelle Show” like many other shows on Comedy Central is extremely offensive, however many overlook the offensive material used on the show. This happens because many of the shows are for entertainment purposes and TV has become more attractive with the more offensive the show is. Whether or not the viewer enjoys the show, the offensive language leaves a person with curiosity in what the big talk is over the television show. The offensive terms used on the show by men and women can be an example of the web article “The Use of Offensive Language By Men and Women in Prime Time Television Entertainment.”(Sapolsky) Another TV show found on Comedy Central is “South Park” this show is an animated series about a community of people who live in the town of South Park. The characters are created to give audiences amusement and intentionally makes fun of certain aspect of the characters’ lives. This is an excellent example of words created on a TV show that are used only on that TV show. These words only have a meaning on this show and the meanings of most of the words are found to be very offensive. The show always has a relation with what ever is happening in real life, such as a big event. For example a new president, there is a show based on a new president. “South Park” has many examples of offensive language. More information on the show and character descriptions can be found in the eBook Deconstructing South Park: Critical Examinations Of Animated Transgression (Cogan.) Some of the characters’ lives are labeled with one word, which leaves them stereotyped in the TV show. On the show there is only one African American that lives in the entire town they refer to him as “token.” The word token represents him as a prize to the town and this can be very racial. The town discriminates him from every one else and looks at him different because he is the only African American in the town itself. In the show the characters’ name is “token” and he is often seen wearing a shirt with token written on it. This word labels him apart from any other citizen in South Park and the word’s meaning in the show only makes sense in the television show itself. The character “Kenny” is a young boy who lives in a trailer and his family is represented as a poor low class family. He is often referred to as “trailer trash”, this gives a false representation of individuals who live in a trailer. “Kenny” is often made fun of at the school because of the fact that he lives in a trailer. Almost all of the characters have a stereotype in the description of each character. The show is often known for mocking other TV shows and offending certain individuals. One of the episodes of “South Park” spotlights the show “Jersey Shore.” “South Park” uses the word “Muff cabbage” to describe the women on the show “jersey shore.” The meaning of this word is “malodorous lady parts” in the episode they use an animated character that is distorted and distastefully looking to represent the character “Snooki” on “Jersey Shore.” This show also has there own animated representation of how they depict these characters on Jersey Shore. This word can be offensive to any lady or any lady who lives on the Jersey Shore. This is another example of how the offensive meaning of the term is disguised by an entertainment quality the word has in affect to its viewers. The show “South Park” has also spotlighted a strong female role model figure in today’s society.
Katie Couric is a Female news reporter who is known for her famous career achievements in this field. In one episode they have a contest to see who can have the biggest Couric. Couric in the show is a weight on how much feces you can produce in one sitting. This is tremendously offensive to Katie Couric, because they are referring to her as a “pile of crap.” This word only has a meaning like this on the show South Park, if you say this word anywhere else you will think of Katie Couric the famous news reporter. The word is used in more than just one episode of South Park and is continuously used to refer to Katie
Couric. Another majorly offensive term created in the show “South Park” is “Negroplasticy” this term was created on the show to label a procedure that will make you African American and exceptionally tall, with a great ability to play basket ball. This word itself is offensive to any African American and any basketball player. The word stereotypes what a better basketball player looks like. Many of the characters in the show have a desire to get this so to speak procedure done to make them better at basketball. Viewers may not see this offensive at first, but when you think of the whole idea of the procedure you realize the great offensive meaning the word has on many individuals who play basketball. Other characters in this show have terms they are associated with that offend their heritage or their physical characteristics. One of the main characters is often made fun of because of his religious orientation. The character “Kyle” is Jewish and often times he is referred to as “kike” from many of his young friends. This word is very offensive to anyone in the Jewish community. On another episode a young red haired boy is featured and is called a “ginger” due to his appearance. The young boys of South Park even go as far as saying he has no soul only because he has red hair and freckles. This is extremely stereotypical and offensive of red haired individuals. Many of the words used on this show are created only for the shows purpose, however many other words are not created from the show, but are used to falsely represent certain groups of individuals. Many words in television can be found extremely offensive. The TV shows that have been spotlighted in this paper use these words for entertainment purposes only. These TV shows have high ratings and are somewhat popular to certain audiences. Many of the shows have high offensive content, but that is beginning to be overlooked for the purpose of ratings and who is the funniest show. Offensive language is being found more and more in today’s society. Some say it is shows like these that which will keep this language in our society.
Works Cited
Cogan, Brian. Deconstructing South Park: Critical Examinations
Of Animated Transgression. United States: Lexington Books,
2012. EBook.
Sapolsky, Barry S., and Barbara K. Kaye. “The Use of Offensive
Language By Men and Women in Prime Time Television Entertainment.” Atlantic Journal of Communications 13.4 (2005): 292-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Tannen, Deborah. “Marked Woman.” Language and Prejudice. Ed.
Tamara M. Valentine. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004. 129-
35. Print
McNeill, Allison. Television in American Society Reference
Library. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007. Print.
of individuals. The show has had a huge success on a younger audience and many of the words used in the show have begun to be used by the viewers. In “Jersey Shore” one of the words they use is “Atomic Bomb” the meaning of this word is completely different than the actual meaning of the word. In this particular show they use this word to refer to unattractive women. The meaning of this word goes hand and hand with the word “grenade” used on “Jersey Shore.” Both of these words are often used when the individuals are in a nightclub scene. They use these words to offend women with out there knowledge of what they are even being referred to as. This word can be found extremely offensive to any female that has been referred to as this. The words used to offend women give an example of Deborah Tannen’s essay “A Marked Woman. (Tannen.) This is a prime example of how the language used between the cast members is a language of their own, which is used to offend women. At the moment when the women are being called these terms they are unaware of the meaning of the word, which can create an even bigger offensive meaning behind the word. The word “landmine” on “Jersey Shore” is also used to refer to skinny unattractive women. These examples all spotlight females and have an offensive meaning behind the appearances of the individuals being targeted in the argument. The television cast has created new meanings for these words, and the new meanings of the words has begun to take over the actual meaning of the word. The new generation of today has begun to evolve these words and is now used in a casual setting for today. In the TV show the cast members even created a new term to refer to themselves as. The terms are “Guido and Guidette” this can be found extremely offensive to any Italian. This term falsely represents what a true Italian-American is. The television show is surrounded by words used to describe Italians. Such as the word “Guerilla or Juice Head” which is often used to describe a male in the TV show. The terms are describing an Italian male who works out a lot and has developed a muscular figure. The female cast members use these terms to describe their men, just as the men use the offensive terms towards the females they are targeting. The show gives a prime example of offensive language that is disguised in ignorance and unintelligence. The members of the show walk around using these terms as if there are no consequences to their actions. The young viewers of the show are being exposed to this ignorance and many are even subjecting themselves to using the language in their own world. This show is found offensive to women, men, and Italians. The way the cast members speak about their heritage is false and some are not even true Italians. There language is the biggest offense in this TV show along with their obnoxious behavior. Comedy Central is a television network known for the most offensive TV shows. Among these shows is “The Chappelle Show” this show is a series of sketches that are based on making fun of people and major events in the time period the show is being filmed. In this show Dave Chappelle is the main character and Chappelle uses a lot of racial slurs. Among those many racial slurs Dave Chappelle uses the words “cracker and honky.” The word “cracker” is used to offend white Americans, and is found very offensive to many. This word is used very often in this TV show. Along with this word is a false representation of what a white person looks and sounds like. This stereotype also brings up another word used in “The Chappelle Show,” “honky” which is another offensive word used towards white Americans. The TV show is focused more on racial offensive terms. The main star of the show is African American, Dave Chappelle, and is even found making racial slurs towards his own race. Along with these slurs comes a false visual representation of what those individuals look like. “The Chappelle Show” like many other shows on Comedy Central is extremely offensive, however many overlook the offensive material used on the show. This happens because many of the shows are for entertainment purposes and TV has become more attractive with the more offensive the show is. Whether or not the viewer enjoys the show, the offensive language leaves a person with curiosity in what the big talk is over the television show. The offensive terms used on the show by men and women can be an example of the web article “The Use of Offensive Language By Men and Women in Prime Time Television Entertainment.”(Sapolsky) Another TV show found on Comedy Central is “South Park” this show is an animated series about a community of people who live in the town of South Park. The characters are created to give audiences amusement and intentionally makes fun of certain aspect of the characters’ lives. This is an excellent example of words created on a TV show that are used only on that TV show. These words only have a meaning on this show and the meanings of most of the words are found to be very offensive. The show always has a relation with what ever is happening in real life, such as a big event. For example a new president, there is a show based on a new president. “South Park” has many examples of offensive language. More information on the show and character descriptions can be found in the eBook Deconstructing South Park: Critical Examinations Of Animated Transgression (Cogan.) Some of the characters’ lives are labeled with one word, which leaves them stereotyped in the TV show. On the show there is only one African American that lives in the entire town they refer to him as “token.” The word token represents him as a prize to the town and this can be very racial. The town discriminates him from every one else and looks at him different because he is the only African American in the town itself. In the show the characters’ name is “token” and he is often seen wearing a shirt with token written on it. This word labels him apart from any other citizen in South Park and the word’s meaning in the show only makes sense in the television show itself. The character “Kenny” is a young boy who lives in a trailer and his family is represented as a poor low class family. He is often referred to as “trailer trash”, this gives a false representation of individuals who live in a trailer. “Kenny” is often made fun of at the school because of the fact that he lives in a trailer. Almost all of the characters have a stereotype in the description of each character. The show is often known for mocking other TV shows and offending certain individuals. One of the episodes of “South Park” spotlights the show “Jersey Shore.” “South Park” uses the word “Muff cabbage” to describe the women on the show “jersey shore.” The meaning of this word is “malodorous lady parts” in the episode they use an animated character that is distorted and distastefully looking to represent the character “Snooki” on “Jersey Shore.” This show also has there own animated representation of how they depict these characters on Jersey Shore. This word can be offensive to any lady or any lady who lives on the Jersey Shore. This is another example of how the offensive meaning of the term is disguised by an entertainment quality the word has in affect to its viewers. The show “South Park” has also spotlighted a strong female role model figure in today’s society.
Katie Couric is a Female news reporter who is known for her famous career achievements in this field. In one episode they have a contest to see who can have the biggest Couric. Couric in the show is a weight on how much feces you can produce in one sitting. This is tremendously offensive to Katie Couric, because they are referring to her as a “pile of crap.” This word only has a meaning like this on the show South Park, if you say this word anywhere else you will think of Katie Couric the famous news reporter. The word is used in more than just one episode of South Park and is continuously used to refer to Katie
Couric. Another majorly offensive term created in the show “South Park” is “Negroplasticy” this term was created on the show to label a procedure that will make you African American and exceptionally tall, with a great ability to play basket ball. This word itself is offensive to any African American and any basketball player. The word stereotypes what a better basketball player looks like. Many of the characters in the show have a desire to get this so to speak procedure done to make them better at basketball. Viewers may not see this offensive at first, but when you think of the whole idea of the procedure you realize the great offensive meaning the word has on many individuals who play basketball. Other characters in this show have terms they are associated with that offend their heritage or their physical characteristics. One of the main characters is often made fun of because of his religious orientation. The character “Kyle” is Jewish and often times he is referred to as “kike” from many of his young friends. This word is very offensive to anyone in the Jewish community. On another episode a young red haired boy is featured and is called a “ginger” due to his appearance. The young boys of South Park even go as far as saying he has no soul only because he has red hair and freckles. This is extremely stereotypical and offensive of red haired individuals. Many of the words used on this show are created only for the shows purpose, however many other words are not created from the show, but are used to falsely represent certain groups of individuals. Many words in television can be found extremely offensive. The TV shows that have been spotlighted in this paper use these words for entertainment purposes only. These TV shows have high ratings and are somewhat popular to certain audiences. Many of the shows have high offensive content, but that is beginning to be overlooked for the purpose of ratings and who is the funniest show. Offensive language is being found more and more in today’s society. Some say it is shows like these that which will keep this language in our society.
Works Cited
Cogan, Brian. Deconstructing South Park: Critical Examinations
Of Animated Transgression. United States: Lexington Books,
2012. EBook.
Sapolsky, Barry S., and Barbara K. Kaye. “The Use of Offensive
Language By Men and Women in Prime Time Television Entertainment.” Atlantic Journal of Communications 13.4 (2005): 292-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Tannen, Deborah. “Marked Woman.” Language and Prejudice. Ed.
Tamara M. Valentine. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004. 129-
35. Print
McNeill, Allison. Television in American Society Reference
Library. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007. Print.