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It’s Okay To NOT Be Offended.

It’s Okay To NOT Be Offended.
Carly Jacobs

I came across an interesting topic of conversation this week. I was at a launch for an eco-friendly women’s product and the guest list consisted of mainly educated women with a social and environmental agenda. The topic turned to Seth Macfarlane’s We Saw Your Boobs song at the Oscars. I immediately jumped in and said ‘Oh my god! That was hilarious! I was literally LOL-ing!

Only to be met with stunned silence and a circle of horrified faces. Apparently as a woman I was supposed to be offended by the song because it was belittling these actresses and reducing the worth of their art down to the fact that we’d seen their boobs. I was also supposed to be outraged that women were targeted and not men. I kind of nodded and smiled and quickly changed the subject.

Then I got a little bit angry. Then I got a lot bit angry. 

I don’t have to be offended by that song. As both a woman and an actress, I thought the song was really funny. If I had of been IN the song, I would have laughed my arse off.

Here’s why…

1. It’s a factual song. He’s not making anything up. He’s literally listing actresses that have been in films where we saw their boobs. I was watching it and laughing and thinking ‘I DID see Anne Hathaway’s boobs in Brokeback Mountain! And Charlize Theron’s in Monster. And Kate Winslet’s in… everything!‘.

2. He didn’t say anything hurtful. He wasn’t rating the boobs. He was simply saying we’d seen them. Which we have.

3. There was nothing unsavoury about it. He’s wasn’t singing about dirty, filthy whore boobs. Just regular boobs.

4. I think it’s exciting when you get to see a famous woman’s boobs in a film. I’m not sitting there screaming ‘TITS!!!!’ at the screen but if I can see a boob, I’m probably enjoying it. If I can see a penis, I’m definitely enjoying it. Famous junk is strangely enthralling.

I can respect that the song might not have been everyone’s cup of tea but personally, I’m really struggling to find the offense in it and that’s fine. Because damn it, I don’t HAVE to be offended by it. And you know what? You CAN be offended by it. That’s fine too.

Out of curiousity though… who found Seth Macfarlane’s We Saw Your Boobs song offensive?

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this!

33 Comments

  1. Sarah 11 years ago

    Not me. I liked the song and agree with all your points. It seems like so many people struggle with just hearing that someone else disagrees with them. It’s more fun that way because if we all agreed life would be way less interesting.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I know I was like… oh… that was offensive? Um… why?

  2. Sarah Carson 11 years ago

    I think the people that were offended were so because, in the case of Monster, when we saw Charlize Theron’s boobs, it was during a rape scene in a highly disturbing movie. If you’re watching a movie like that and your response to boobs is excitement, I don’t think you’re really paying attention. So to me, it trivialised a highly traumatic event. You can see Charlize’s reaction during the performance and she’s clearly unimpressed.

    • Kate 11 years ago

      Hi Sarah… Actually Charlize was in on it! All the reactions were fake and pre recorded (they weren’t even wearing the same dresses), Charlize is a friend of Seth’s and from all the interviews I’ve seen she has a pretty wicked sense of humour.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I don’t get ‘excited’ at rape scene boobs (that’s not what I said), just nudity in general including penises. Not because I’m dirty or a perve but because I don’t see many naked people and it’s interesting when I do get to see it. You know? Like seeing baby ducklings or four people riding a quad bike or something else kind of interesting and cool. If I see an actor’s hidden tattoo or scar I have the same reaction. It’s like ‘Oh that’s something I didn’t know/haven’t seen before!’. Believe me I’m not sitting there watching rape scenes and going ‘Oh cool! Tits!’. Which is the exact behaviour this song is parodying. 🙂

  3. Natasha 11 years ago

    What I don’t understand is the over-reaction to Seth McFarlane’s Oscar hosting in general! Yes there were some poor taste jokes. But for a man whose body of work includes Family Guy and Ted, what were people expecting? The man crosses the line of good taste for a job, it was never going to be high-brow comedy.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      Exactly the same as when Ricky Gervais did it. I’m actually surprised that Seth Macfarlane agreed and that the Oscars asked him. He’s not even clean enough for his work to be on commercial TV in the states. Which is one of the reasons that I like him.

  4. Kate 11 years ago

    I thought it was hilarious… I still hum it occasionally, especially when the hubby wonders past with his shirt off 😉 It’s not like these women are out there curing cancer, they are actresses, they have a fun fluffy job, and it seems like none of the actresses themselves minded at all (as per the above comment), it’s just a bunch of people getting offended on their behalf.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I thought that too. I have several fellow female actor friends who’ve been nude in plays (three of my closest friends actually) and I often tease them about having seen their norks. Perhaps that’s why I found it so funny!

  5. Omega 11 years ago

    To me it just seemed like a cheap shot. There is so much to celebrate about these women and the magic of movies in general.. why take the low road?
    An actress obviously has to do some thinking before she shows her boobs (or more) on film, and in more than one of the scenes he was referencing they were scenes that depicted rape or domestic violence – the “boob showing” was part of a well considered decision on the part of the actress, it served to make that particular scene more dramatic and impactful, An actress chooses to do something that is quite difficult and instead of being applauded for her commitment to artistic integrity and her willingness to “give it all” for a particular role, instead, we get “HUUUR DUUUURRR WE SAW YOUR BOOBS HAHAHAHHA”. Nasty, a cheap shot. and diminishing and disrespectful to the women mentioned. I didn’t think it was funny at all.
    See also – Seth’s joke sexualising a NINE YEAR OLD GIRL. See also “No one can understand Latino women but if they’re beautiful no one cares” Honestly watching the Oscars I was just totally appalled and the fact that there hasn’t been more stink about the whole shameful thing.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I think that’s just the type of behaviour the song was parodying though. I’m not defending anything else he said, or even really defending this song, I’m just saying that when I saw it, I laughed and didn’t think it was offensive at all and then I was told I should find it offensive… which is bollocks. I can think whatever I like about it. As can you! Thanks for sharing lady. x

  6. MRosalee 11 years ago

    I am deeply offended by the song for two reasons:

    1. Charlize in Monster is one of FOUR instances he mentioned where the boobs in question were exposed during a sexual assault. Just because Charliza was in on it does not excuse this.

    2. Nothing exists in a vacuum. This song is problematic BECAUSE it came from Seth McFarlane – you know there are hardly benign intentions when you look at the other hugely offensive things said that night, and his larger body of work. Should I be surprised he did this? No. Do I still get to be angry? Yes.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I don’t always agree with everything Seth Macfarlane says – I’ll admit I winced when he made the Rihanna and Chris Brown joke. It’s interesting that a lot of people are offended by him including sexual assualt breast baring scenes, I didn’t even twig that some of them were assualt scenes until I read the backlash the next day.

  7. Rach 11 years ago

    Since when did Anyone expect Seth MacFarlane to take the high road, Ever? Nothing is sacred. I thought the song was funny. There are plenty of movies that depict violence, prostitution, and abuse that Don’t have frontal nudity of any kind. The ladies in question were paid hundreds of thousands or Millions of dollars for their work. If they’re pissed I’m sure they’ll let us know.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I agree! I though this song was actually one of the tamer jokes of the night.

  8. Meg.M 11 years ago

    I agree. I thought the song was hilarious and have found myself humming the melody to myself at work this week. I think people are upset by it because we can’t seem to poke fun at anything anymore without someone being offended. Maybe next year they’ll have a female host and she can sing a song about seeing penises on the big screen and then we’ll be even.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      He actually has an amazing singing voice. 🙂

  9. hBomb 11 years ago

    It was funny! Take it as it was, a light hearted song, no need to overthink it.

  10. Rachel Pierce 11 years ago

    I didn’t mind that bit, but there were other jokes I thought to be anywhere from distasteful to highly irritating. For some reason the one that’s sticking out to me and not getting much attention (that I’ve seen) was where he implied that in order to loose weight the actresses contracted the flu last week. I’m not sure it was launched at anyone specifically, perhaps why there hasn’t been as much outcry, but that was the one that had me yelling at the screen.

    Somewhat related: I nearly died of laughter when they introduced Christopher Plummer. I am a huge fan of the Sound of Music and I just couldn’t quite contain myself.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I agree, I was gasping at quite a few things he said but certainly not the boob song. That’s why I wrote this piece because I was like… am I bad person? 🙂

  11. Devon 11 years ago

    It was funny, one of the funnier moments if you ask me! My husband and I were both laughing. I think people tend to take things to seriously and over think things!

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I keep singing it to myself. It’s rather catchy.

  12. Nicole 11 years ago

    I totally agree with you about famous junk (or any really). I grew up in a very open household so it wasn’t unusual to get into a discussion about vaginas around the dinner table. Whenever the topic of genitalia comes up (and strangely often…) I am always the one getting into it. However, I can see the other side of the argument and I think this article says it really well -http://www.sparksummit.com/2013/02/27/sexism-is-not-actually-edgy/
    “For an added level of horribleness, the nudity in four of the film performances mentioned—Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball, Jodie Foster in The Accused, Charlize Theron in Monster, and Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry–happened during a rape scene.”
    It’s Seth MacFarlane; I was expecting *much* worse than what he delivered. And he wasn’t implying rape as something to be laughed at; he was literally saying that we saw boobs. Which a huge portion of the population has. And Kate Winslet has a great pair which I will happily watch.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      I’m not sure that I understand why there’s the separation of the rape scene boobs and the non-rape scene boobs. It seems a bit strange to me. (I’m not belittling rape or the actresses portraying these scenes AT ALL but this seems like clutching at straws to me.) But hey, maybe that’s me NOT being offended again when I should be. 🙂

  13. Nessbow 11 years ago

    I wouldn’t say that I was offended by it, but it did make me feel a little bit…uneasy. Mostly because I’m not a big fan of Seth McFarlane and I find him a bit creepy. I personally don’t think he’s as funny as he thinks he is.

    But, you know what, I see why it’s funny. And just because I didn’t laugh at it doesn’t mean I don’t get why other people did. And it doesn’t give me the right to judge those people who did appreciate the joke.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      It was very tame for him… As a fan I actually thought he did quite well to neutralise his sense of humour for the Oscars.

  14. Martina Hart 11 years ago

    I must have read too much into it. I thought it was really clever. I thought he was deliberately doing a parody because of the inane lawmakers in the United States who are trying to legislate so that baring female nipples would be considered indecent exposure. It is very topical at the moment and was coming up for a vote around the time of the oscars and I thought he was making a very clever point. OR that he was pointing out that a lot of women get nominated for best actress for “brave” roles and that many of those roles involve a degree of nudity. And that this IS a double standard in Hollywood. Perhaps I am giving the man too much credit but I’m with you Carly. Not offended. And I am very impressed with his singing voice

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      That’s what I thought too. He’s actually insanely clever and I think a lot of people don’t really get what he’s trying to do. Which is fine! We all have different senses of humour. Some people like The Big Bang Theory… and I personally find it offensive.(joke)

  15. Maudie279 11 years ago

    I expected to feel annoyed when I watched this and found myself cracking up. And let’s face it, cracking up is so much more fun than feeling annoyed.
    I vote “We saw your scrotum” at next year’s Oscars.

    • Author
      Smaggle 11 years ago

      That would be hilarious!

  16. Anonymous 11 years ago

    I thought it was fabulous. There is nothing more fun than having a collective laugh at ourselves, which was exactly what that song was all about. And the word boobs is just funny all on it’s own, I don’t care what they say. x

  17. Al Al 11 years ago

    You women put energy into the most useless things! Women have destroyed society

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