Helen of Troy is said to have had a face that launched a thousand ships. At the 2004 Super Bowl, our annual American re-enactment of the Trojan War, Janet Jackson had a breast (the right one) that launched a thousand million outraged mutterings - and a ridiculous Federal Communications Commission fine of $550,000 imposed on CBS.
The infamous incident in which Ms. Jackson teamed with Justin Timberlake to introduce her breast briefly to prime-time viewers during the halftime show gave the language a new expression - wardrobe malfunction - even though no wardrobes have malfunctioned quite so shockingly since.
To say that the FCC overreacted is to state the obvious, but then again the whole culture went nuts. As I wrote last year in my column in recalling the incident:
"It was not even a very big breast, but concerned citizens reeled before it, yelling, 'The breast is coming, the breast is coming.' Meanwhile, Godzilla sat around the Old Monsters Retirement Home on the outskirts of Tokyo, regretting that he didn't have some breasts to spread more terror back in the day."
On Monday, in a fit of sanity, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia threw out the fine, ruling that the FCC was wrong to hold CBS responsible for Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, who it said were "independent contractors hired for the limited purposes of the halftime show."
The court also noted that the breast was free of its moorings for "nine-sixteenths of one second" - which common sense suggests is hardly enough time to titillate the audience.
This precise thinking just goes to show how exciting a legal career can be. I believe it will inspire young people everywhere to shout: "Law school or bust!"
OK, sorry.
Posted
Jul 22 2008, 07:20 AM
by
Reg Henry