Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dead. I stared up at the ceiling, and some time later was jolted awake by my own
snore.
Leaving, I weighed myself again: 91 kilos. I had shed 2.2 pounds of sweat. It
would have been more if tension had mass. Stepping into the cool evening air, I
was thankful my hotel was a level two-block stroll away. Like Gumby, flush and
without momentum, I fell slow-motion onto my down comforter, my head buried in
a big, welcoming pillow. Wonderfully naked under my clothes, I could only think,
“Ahhhh. Baden-Baden.”
Whether in a German spa, a Finnish sauna, a Croatian beach, or a Turkish hammam
(I can't come up with a British example), a fun part of travel can be getting naked with
strangers. Of course, when producing public television, we can't easily show spas, saunas,
or beaches in Europe, where nudity is the norm. Even in an age where you can easily
see anything, anytime on the Internet, television “standards and practices” are rigid about
showing nudity or sex, or even using forbidden sexual words—and penalties for violat-
ors are severe. Any station airing anything potentially offensive (between all the ads for
erectile dysfunction medications) on the public airwaves can be made to pay dearly if
some of its viewers complain.
Because of strict FCC regulations on nudity, we even have to be careful of which art
we film for my television show. Since I feature art that includes naked bodies, my shows
are flagged by the network and, in some conservative markets, programmers play it safe
by airing my shows after 10 p.m., when things are less restrictive. A few years back, pro-
grammers actually got a list of how many seconds of marble penis and canvas breast were
showing in each episode. They couldn't inflict a Titian painting or a Bernini statue on their
viewership in those more conservative communities without taking heat.
As public broadcasting stations lack the resources to survive a major fine, they are
particularly careful in this regard. Many of us who produce broadcast material on a shoes-
tring (like me, and public broadcasting in general) have to ponder: Should we put a digital
fig leaf on
David
's full-frontal nudity? Bleep Bocaccio's bawdy language? Can I film
The
Three Graces
only from the waist up? Will Raphael's randy cupids be labeled “child por-
nography” and Bernini's
Rape of Persephone
as “S&M”? For now, my partners in public
television and I will proceed gingerly—not sure if we can show Venus's breasts. Can we
risk the possibility of a $275,000 fine…and is that per nipple?
You may not want to bring the more casual European approach to sex and the human
body back home with you. And I'm not saying we should all run around naked. But I
suspect that children raised in America, where sex is often considered “dirty,” are more
