See that picture to the right? That's Mickey Rourke accepting his Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama for The Wrestler... with his hand down his pants. But that's just the beginning of the fun we heard and saw during his acceptance speech, which I'm sure made the steam come out of the ears of NBC's standards and practices folks.Suffice to say, Rourke made the most interesting speech of the night. And by "interesting," I'm not even talking about his striped hair or the beard that makes his boxing-worn face look even weirder. No, all he had to do was open his mouth. He said the word "balls" twice, and then said something else that sounded like it was beeped.
Finally, he affectionately called his Wrestler director, Darren Aronofsky, a "tough son of a bitch," prompting Aronofsky to kiddingly flip Rourke the finger... on camera.
Not sure if Aronofsky has ever seen an awards show before, because he didn't seem to have any inkling he might be on camera. Maybe he thought that feed on the big screens next to the stage was just for the ballroom. But there it was, Aronofsky's finger, un-blurred, prominently featured on camera on network TV.
There must have been some sort of delay on the broadcast, but it probably couldn't have caught up to everything that was going on during that speech. So, did NBC just say to themselves, "screw it, the FCC isn't going to touch us anymore now that Bush is gone," or did you really think they were pooping in their pants during the speech?
I'm guessing it's the former, because the speech is on NBC.com exactly as it aired. It's below. Now the Academy has to give Rourke a nomination; I want to see what he says if he wins an Oscar.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-12-2009 @ 8:52AM
JimB0ss said...
That's MICKEY ROURKE, ya moron!
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1-12-2009 @ 9:13AM
Bart Smith said...
You must have been watching the West Coast feed. On the East Coast, we got to see the Aronofsky middle finger unblurred.
1-12-2009 @ 9:56AM
Joel Keller said...
Sorry, my mistake. Just wanted to get the post out there. No need to call me a moron.
1-12-2009 @ 9:59AM
Joel Keller said...
Bart, not sure what you're talking about. I described the speech as it aired in the East. Almost nothing was censored.
1-12-2009 @ 10:30AM
Bart Smith said...
Ah, somehow I read your "un-blurred" as "blurred." I blame Monday mornings.
1-12-2009 @ 9:29AM
Bill said...
Over on SVU we have weekly graphic discourse on rape/torture/murder........so ya lets all make a big deal about a human finger being pointed upwards.
Reply
1-12-2009 @ 9:31AM
Jimmy said...
It's glaring mistakes like this that often make it hard to take TV Squad seriously.
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1-12-2009 @ 9:58AM
Joel Keller said...
... and yet you keep reading and commenting. It's an honest mistake chalked up to a desire to get the post out quickly, as most blogs like to do. Do you the say the same things to the New York Times when they make mistakes?
1-12-2009 @ 11:49AM
Thom said...
I guess you don't take yourself or the rest of the world seriously, as mistakes are an integral part of the human experience.
I know I don't take you seriously since you rely on such pitiful snark. Surely that is a sign of mediocre intelligence at best, and I'm sure many other posters here would be glad to give you the middle finger, you non-tough son of a bitch.
1-12-2009 @ 1:08PM
Jimmy said...
Joel: Yes, I do point out mistakes when I see them in other publications. Since I work as a writer and editor, I appreciate the importance of editorial integrity.
Thom: We can argue over whether my comment qualifies as "pitiful snark," but at least one thing is certain: I am not the only one who pointed out the mistake.
1-12-2009 @ 5:36PM
Tracey said...
"Do you the say the same things to the New York Times when they make mistakes?"
TVSquad is no New York Times and you sir aren't a NYT writer.
1-12-2009 @ 5:38PM
Joel Keller said...
Nope, you're right; I'm not a NYT writer... at least not since 2007: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/travel/escapes/27trip_ready.html
1-12-2009 @ 5:51PM
Tracey said...
Didn't click your link, you sure think highly of yourself huh?
1-12-2009 @ 5:57PM
Joel Keller said...
Nope, just wanted to show you that the people here aren't raw rookies, including myself. And even veteran writers make mistakes.
1-12-2009 @ 9:01PM
ac said...
Every major newspaper in the country has a corrections page. So a blog making a mistake is the least of people's worries. As long as it is corrected after being pointed out there should be no loss of "seriousness." Spell check only goes so far and the human eye isn't perfect either, even one belonging to an editor.
1-12-2009 @ 12:06PM
StillBash said...
Don't mind the haters Joel, this is not really a story where accuracy is necessary.
For my part it should be about the fact that this is a story at all. Stuff like this is... well I don't know. I think it's really laughable that there are censors in the US for profanity but not gore. I myself don't think a child's psyche is endangered by the f-word.
Oh and I don't think that god directly talks to George W. either.
Next stop: hands getting chopped of for stealing.
Reply
1-12-2009 @ 12:15PM
Butters said...
I watched the West Coast feed with my wife and they majorly censored Rourkes speech. At one point the screen went blank for 5 seconds, this was at exactly the time when Rourke swore and Aronofsky gave the middle finger a workout. We assumed that it was some sort of censorship but didn't know for sure until I read this post. I also noted that NBC censored a couple of other winners as well although they only cut the sound when they swore, the picture remained.
Also to the idiots who criticized Joel for a mistake, you should all really get lives. Everybody makes mistakes but he corrected it as soon as it was pointed out to him. Now if he refused to admit his mistake, or correct it, then I would be right their with you with my concerns. Nobody likes idiots hanging over their shoulders and waiting for every opportunity to criticize them for every little mistake but I guess JimBOss and Jimmy are just two sad little people with too much time on their hands. Also seems strange that their names are similar. Hmmm.
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1-12-2009 @ 1:14PM
Jimmy said...
For the record, I am not JimBOss. I have posted here for several years and have more than 1,100 comments -- most positive, but a few negative -- credited as "Jimmy."
1-12-2009 @ 12:55PM
The Televixen said...
I was watching the East Coast Feed as well, and not only saw Mickey Rourke's full speech, I also witnessed producer Christian Colson (who accepted the Top award for Slumdog Millionaire) drop the F-bomb when they started playing music over his acceptance speech.
Reply
1-12-2009 @ 1:27PM
smashthesymbols said...
That speech was one of the highlights of the night for me, if only because you know it was making a lot of people very uncomfortable.
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