PRIVATE RYAN/PRIVATE PARTS

Millions of television viewers watched “Saving Private Ryan” on Veterans Day. Viewers in 20 cities, including Portland, did not have the opportunity because affiliates there worried that showing the movie would run afoul of the Federal Communications Commission’s prohibitions on airing violence and profane language. While the stations’ refusal to show the Academy Award-winning movie about World War II was partly political posturing, it highlights the need for a clearer definition of what is truly obscene.

The FCC did not fine the two-thirds of ABC stations that aired the movie last week, which makes sense given that it had been shown by the network twice before. That, however, was before the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the heavily watched Super Bowl in February. For briefly showing the singer’s breast, CBS-owned stations were fined a record $500,000.

After this incident, and the outsized outrage it caused, the FCC said it would take a much tougher stance against broadcast indecency. The agency refused to define indecency, saying to do so would amount to censorship. Not doing so, however, has also led to censorship, self-censorship by corporate executives. Neither form is acceptable.

“Until the FCC provides us with some clarity about what the rules are now, we are left to guess. And if wrong, we could be in violation,” said Ken Bauder, general manager of WMTW in Portland. The ABC affiliate in Bangor, WVII, aired the movie.

Of course, it is a leap from Ms. Jackson’s Super Bowl stunt to a war drama that carried a TV-MA rating, indicating that it is unsuitable for viewers under 17. The scenes of battlefield death and course language used by soldiers may be upsetting to some. They probably shouldn’t be watching a movie about war.

Even Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Parents Television Council, agreed. “Context is everything,” he said in a statement supporting the airing of “Saving Private Ryan.” “The content is not meant to shock, nor is it gratuitous,” he said.

On the indecency front, the National Football League is expressing outrage over an opening scene to the last Monday’s broadcast on ABC that featured a star from “Desperate Housewives” (a show about women desperately trying to have sex with anyone but their husbands) clad only in a towel encouraging a player to miss the game for other activities. The FCC will review the numerous complaints it has received and decide whether to open an investigation that could result in a fine.

The question of language is also murky. After censuring (but not fining) singer Bono for using a four-letter word during NBC’s live airing of the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, the FCC made it clear that the utterance was inappropriate for radio and television. The F-word is used dozens of times in “Saving Private Ryan.”

It is understandable that the FCC does not want to write overly prescriptive rules. Vagueness has its pitfalls, too, and clarifying what is acceptable and what is not may help avoid needless cancellations as well as protests of disturbing, but far from obscene, shows.