A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

Theosebes reader, relative and commenter Mitch alerts us to a couple of different views on the F/X series "Nip/Tuck" about plastic surgeons who make lots of money doing breast implants. First, the view of Brent Bozell, conservative media watchdog:

The show's creator, Ryan Murphy, has declared that it is his goal in life to remove every barrier to depiction of explicit sex on over-the-air TV. He was quoted earlier this year saying, "It's tough to get that sexual point of view across on television. Hopefully I have made it possible for somebody on broadcast television to do a rear-entry scene in three years. Maybe that will be my legacy."

"Nip/Tuck" arrived on the cable scene last year with a sickening bang. Critics might call it a melodrama. But it's never mellow. It's a hyper-drama. It revolves around graphic sex, a surfeit of nudity and screaming-orgasm acting. It features routine obscene language, with no bleeps. In addition to beatings, killing and torture, it favors gut-churning, graphic operation scenes that make the most graphic "CSI" look like a calm episode of "Mr. Wizard."

The good folks at AP, however, has a slightly different view of the show:

But, in its second season, this FX series continues to do much more, using cosmetic surgery as a gateway to the soul.

With sly agility it puts its characters under the knife to expose hidden truths about love, sex, beauty, aging, heartache, manhood and the vagaries of male friendship.

It remains TV's most fearless series — and not just because of those all-too-graphic, music-accompanied surgery scenes. In the hands of creator Ryan Murphy, "Nip/Tuck" remains outrageous yet assured as it bridges the gap between outward appearances and private verities, continuing to startle its audience in the process.

When a breast implant passes for spirituality in our society we're in a heap of trouble.

[Thanks again to Mitch for the links and the headline, too!]