When The Walking Dead dropped its Season 7 premiere on fans in October, fans were subjected to one of the most horrifying sequences in not only the history of the AMC drama, but of TV in general. And in the weeks that followed, the show continued forth down its dark and lightly censored past, winning over some fans (like myself) while losing other audience members. Several of those less-than-happy viewers brought their grievances to the FCC, and we've pulled together a handful of the wildest and most intense complaints that were available.
I'm going against my better instincts here by starting off with my favorite of the bunch, and it won't take long to understand why I'm particularly fond of it. (Note that all complaints are presented almost exactly as they were sent to the FCC, with mild exceptions like capitalizing and italicizing The Walking Dead.)
The Walking Dead season 7 premiere has left my daughter and I psychologically traumatized! We are not the overly protective parents although we do monitor what our 12 year old watches, as should all parents. This show she watches only with us because it contains gore. But last night's premiere went far beyond what I ever thought was legal to show on TV. I did have our 12 year old turn away after a favorite character's head was bashed in and his eye protruding from his skull was shown, but it was too late and she was hysterically crying. As much as I tried to be strong, I myself couldn't stop crying.The intensity of a beloved character babbling nonsense due to the severe head trauma and with his eye out of his head, and still the camera on him while he's sadistically tortured was by far the most traumatizing thing I have ever seen in my 44 years of living. I could not even sleep and I know I will not get that gruesome display of torture out of my mind ever. To say we will never watch that show again goes without saying. But the creators or the network should be heavily fined and reprimanded at the very least. I find it unconscionable that they did not know that such gruesome gore and pschological [sic] torture is unfit for TV but aired it anyway. Someone must stop this from ever happening again.
I think it's safe to say that this completely shaken viewer probably wasn't watching the midseason finale, and that if he or she had been, another whopper of a complaint would have been sent about the particularly vicious moment that happened therein. I do not wish to make fun of this person's traumatized 12-year-old daughter, since Glenn's death was indeed super gross, especially for a kid. But I do want to congratulate this parent for making it 44 years in life without going through anything more traumatizing than this fictional TV scene (that absolutely and definitely cannot happen again).
And now, a complaint that threatens to be more obscene than the scene in question.
Last night, during the Season 7 premier of The Walking Dead, the show depicted over-the-top grotesque violence, heads getting smashed in with a barbed wire baseball bat. These scenes included the head getting hit with the bat, the mangled faces with eyeballs popping out, the brain matter and blood oozing out and the gratuitous and obscene violence-porn of pulverizing the heads into nothing. It should not be the FCCs purview to ignore these senseless acts of obscene violence just because they happen to be on a cable channel. This is not healthy television viewing and could of been handled artistically in manner much less likely to cause public harm.
Wowzers, guys. Minus all the typos, I think this viewer could have a future in the genre. So many adjectives and hard-edged phrasings. I almost want to write to the FCC to complain about that complaint, which was acquired by The Daily Dot, since the TV watchdogs are always harder on language than onscreen violence.
Let's step away from the mega-violence The Walking Dead is known for to focus on another offending element: the language. Personally, I'm always surprised that more conversations aren't fully bleeped-out, as I know I'd be cursing pretty hardcore in the dreadfulness of the post-apocalypse. But it was Negan's introduction that brought a new wave of foul, comic-specific phrasings that not all viewers' ears are desensitized to. This person has a lot to say about one particular exchange between Negan and Rick.
The Walking Dead, season 7 episode 4, 'service' , on AMC. during a conversation between Negan and Carl, Negan uses G--Damn. And then near the end of the episode,during a conversation between Negan and Rick, Negan says, 'I just slide my D--k down your throat and you thanked me for it.' My question is, is this type language legal? I realize it's an adult type show, but I also know millions of kids also watch the show. In previous seasons, the language seems to have ramped up. Not real sure why they would do this. It's probably the most popular show in history, and still would be without the hard language. I also understand this isn't the world i grew up in where all four letter words were 'no no's.' Please let me know if this is fully legal, and that this is the way it is now. Thank you for what you do.
It's one thing for someone to just not want to hear the show's spicier dialogue, but it's another to assume that it's completely illegal for Negan to tell Rick anything about dicks being slid places. "Book 'em, Danno." The genuine wholesome inquisitiveness behind this entry is hard to rail on, and it even ends with a "thank you." I'm guessing a Canadian living in the States wrote it.
From sexually charged words to religious icons, we go!
tonights episode of The Walking Dead that aired on AMC cable station at 9:00 pm eastern time has continued to use the Lord's name in vain I have seen this in the latest episodes. Can this be bleeped out? It was used by Carol in last weeks episode and continues to be used more and more. Other words have been substituted out what about this one. I am a big fan of the Shoe but lets leave God's name out of it.
I like the mutual exclusiveness of these two complaints; one is all about the stereotypical curse words, while the other is honed in on just the sacrilegious utterings, as when survivors say "Jesus!" or similar exclamations. But it is extremely hard to take any of this seriously when one sentence begins with "I am a big fan of the Shoe." I roared louder than Shiva after reading that.
Our next entry takes us back to someone angered by The Walking Dead's violence, but the big difference here is that the viewer's target swiftly shifts from the AMC show to the FCC itself.
I've been a fan of this show since the beginning and while I have always thought they pushed the limits in terms of gore and violence, the majority or it was towards zombies, a fictional creature and representing essentially undead monsters. However, what took place last Sunday and allowed to be aired on TV by the FCC was deplorable. It was bad enough to show a person's head being bashed with a baseball bat, but to show that same head being smashed again and again until it is essentially pulverized mush is entirely way to excessive for TV. The FCC should be ashamed of yourselves for this level of violence and gore to be shown on TV. I would like to hope that the FCC is looking into this and planning to take action, but given the constant downward spiral of our society and the constant lowering of standards, I sincerely doubt it.
Perhaps this person has never been told not to bite the hand that feeds. In this case, that advice would be "Don't crap all over the government entity you're attempting to solicit a positive reaction from." There may have been a two-tiered goal in mind when penning this rant. Nobody gets out unscathed.
Our last complaint is kind of a perfect bookend to the first one, largely (but not solely) because of how surprisingly outrageous it gets.
On Sunday night I got a text message from an unidentified phone number saying 'Glenn, and Abraham got killed by Neegan on The Walking Dead! Hope I was able to ruin the surprise for you!' Once I asked this person to identify themselves, they responded back with "Damn... Maybe next time.You can block this number but I'll send it off another. Prolly be better if ya changed your number...Still lookin forward to hanging out with ya! Have a great night, hope to see ya round the pour house soon!" I used TrueCaller to identify the name associated with phone number asI don't know a person by that name. I alerted whoever was threatening me that 'Any further messages will be considered harassment. Criminal harassment.' I feel as if my personal safety is being threatened when someone tells me 'see ya around' and doesn't identify themselves. Someone is trying to intimidate me. Please help.
First, I'm not making light of someone being harassed over the phone, because that's a terrible situation for several reasons. But I am super-gluing my head to my desk over the fact that, instead of going to the actual police or some authority entity that can actually do something about the perceived threat, this person took umbrage with and sought assistance from the FCC. What did he or she think was going to result from this request?
The Walking Dead will return to AMC for the rest of Season 7, which will likely bring in another round of stellar complaints, on Sunday, February 12, 2017. To see what else is coming to the small screen in the near future, head to our midseason premiere schedule.
