  urlLink Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | No sex, please - we're American : "...To European eyes, the tolerance of violent images and bashfulness over sex in the US has long been perplexing... '...Some people obviously think the American public is immature,' Mr Bertolucci told the Los Angeles Times.
'In 1973, Last Tango in Paris opened in America virtually uncut. There was only a formal cut of about two seconds, just so someone could say they'd managed to cut me. 'But now they want to cut more out of this film. So what's going on with America? ' This is a country in which Wal-mart, the biggest retailer, will happily sell guns, but bans racy lads magazines, partially obscures women's titles such as Cosmopolitan and Marie-Claire, and sells CDs with swear words bleeped out.
The politically-charged grandstanding could have much to do with this being an election year. The US president, George Bush, is reaching out to the Republican core, and it was little surprise to see the Republican-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reacting to the Super Bowl incident with such vigour. Michael Powell, the son of the secretary of state, Colin Powell, promised an immediate investigation into the breast-bearing episode. He described it as a 'classless, crass and deplorable stunt' and a 'new low in prime-time television'.
He also reopened an investigation into U2 singer Bono's use of 'fucking' - as in 'this is really, really, fucking brilliant' - at the Golden Globes. At least there was one light moment during the hearings - for those watching closely enough - when one congresswoman described Jackson's performance as 'nasty'. The singer was, after all, warning us of that in 1986...." 
