Cable TV has reached a new low, the PTC argues

Nov 19, 2014 11:09 GMT  ·  By

The Parents Television Council is picking up a fight with FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” series, for the second time. Episode 11 from season 7, “Faith and Despondency,” which aired last week, opened with a montage of no less than 8 separate and very graphic love scenes, and the group is fuming at the mouth because of it.

Cable TV has always been on the raunchy side, but there comes a time when a line must be drawn, the group says in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. Kurt Sutter, the creator of the hit show, is yet to respond in any way.

No shame in showing graphic content

The PTC expected a show about a psychopath who is also a drug and guns dealer and a most heartless killer, and his gang of likely minded biker peers, to not include any explicit images of people having relations. This is the conclusion one inevitably draws in the face of the outrage expressed by PTC President Tim Winter about the opener of the abovementioned episode.

Or, the PTC expected this type of scenes to be featured, but it never imagined that they would include this many people.

Again, this is a show that is no stranger to explicit content and / or nudity, and breaking down barriers, no matter the kind. If you know anything about “SOA,” all you have to think of right now is Tiggy’s reaction in one scene to a dead corpse to know that this isn’t meant to be programming for kids or adults who are looking for a sanitized version of the rough gang life.

Either way, the PTC is angry and is not sparing any punches in unloading on FX, which it compares to HBO and Showtime, which aren’t cable networks but premium ones. Winter even suggests going premium if it wants to continue airing this type of content, because at least this way, people will know what to expect when they pay extra.

“Families should not be forced to underwrite pornography. Cable Choice is a solution whose time has come, and there could hardly be a better example of it than this,” Winter says.

PTC vs. “SOA,” round 2

The trade publication duly notes that, despite Winter’s perhaps-justified feeling of outrage, “Sons of Anarchy” does come with fair warning for all viewers, warning that should serve ahead of episodes as explicit as this one.

“SOA” airs at 10 o’clock at night, “and FX runs a TV-MA advisory warning before the show and after every commercial break,” EW reports. This way, no viewer can say to have been taken by surprise or shocked by the content included.

Last year, the PTC criticized the producers of the show after the controversial school shooting scene on season  6, but Kurt Sutter responded immediately, saying that the entire group was made of “just not very intelligent or intuitive people” because what they were asking for was censorship, “not just on a creative level but on a personal level.”

Previously, Sutter had explained to the press that the scene had not been gratuitous but part of a bigger scheme that would become clearer in the future, which turned out to be the case.

Again, if Sutter responds this time too, expect to hear him saying something epic.

“Sons of Anarchy” is only 2 episodes from wrapping up for good, as of the time of writing.

Sons of Anarchy, season 7 (8 Images)

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