“I’m sure you’ve heard about it by now, but just in case you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade or so, here’s a brief recap of the Janet Jackson Superbowl controversy:

During the 38th Superbowl game (Superbowl XXXVIII as it is officially known), there was a half-time show featuring singers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Nothing unusual about that, except for the fact that Jackson had quite a revealing moment when Justin grabbed her breast and exposed her nipple to the nation. The reaction was instantaneous and expected. People were simply outraged that the star had the audacity to do such a thing and demanded apologies and fines.

The FCC, which regulates television in the United States fined CBS (who was broadcasting the Super Bowl that year) a whopping $550,000 for the half second glance of Jackson’s “nipular area.” The Wardrobe Malfunction, as it came to be known also caused a tremendous amount of chatter on talk radio about the direction of the nation and ultimately, the FCC decided to raise the fines significantly for indecent exposure on public television broadcasts,

Photos of the before and after of the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident can be widely found on the Internet by a simply Google search.

I’ve got to say though that I really don’t understand all the fuss. We’re talking about a half second mistake. Or at least, that’s what they say it was. So some people got a tiny glimpse. Yes, it happens. I mean my goodness, has anyone walked around a junior high school in America lately? The way some kids dress there, you’d think that they were about to perform the next halftime show.

Larry Flynt, of Hustler once posed the question: why is it that we have no problem with showing murder in all it’s gratuity, allowing plenty of blood and guts to be shown on television, showing children, even at a young age, people being shot on the front pages of newspapers and in the news, but if we see a breast, we go crazy?

Well, whatever the case may be, whatever people think of the whole Janet Jackson Superbowl incident, the reality is that the Superbowl this year and in years to come will likely be much more tightly controlled and will not be allowed to show off any kind of questionable content. It’s good news for the moral majority, but personally I think it was all blown out of proportion.”