Quick, somebody alert the FCC.
Hidden in Madonna's 1986 "Papa Don't Preach" video is a split-second shot of her left nipple. And while the sight of Madonna's bare breast isn't terribly notable (her boobs may as well have their own IMDB entry), the fact that this nipple flash has been broadcast thousands of times on MTV and other G-rated media outlets is pretty remarkable.
The actual nipple appears only in two frames of video, and is barely evident to the naked eye. But if you look carefully -- or if you slow the video down -- it's definately there:
If you're questioning whether this was actually aired on TV (I was initially a doubter, too) here's a somewhat more dingy version of the clip from a 1995 airing on MTV:
I found this way back then when it first aired. I guess I was kind of a Madonna fanatic and so I recorded the video on a VCR. I thought I saw a little nipple peak and did the stop motion thing and...sure enough, there was my favorite hotty's nipple!!!! Too cool. Hey, this was before she was showing everything.
Posted by: jim | August 23, 2006 at 09:06 PM
Even as pornography has thankfully become more mainstream, the government has become ever more prudish about what it allows family audiences to see. Look at all the nudity in the PG rated "Logan's Run." Could that possibly get a PG rating today? I don't think so.
Posted by: Justin | August 24, 2006 at 10:15 PM
The government has nothing to do with movie ratings - the MPAA isn't a government organization. Which is even worse, in a way: it means that it's not only the government that's getting worse.
Posted by: Vladimir | August 25, 2006 at 02:23 PM
I am an editor at MTV and if you look closely you'll find nipples in almost all music videos...I recently noticd this trend as I did cut downs for shows that use vids in the background...Thye most noticeable one I saw was in Ricky Martin's debut single Livin La Vida etc...When the girl purs wax on his chest with a candle her nipple is exposed just like madonna's little "mishap"..Its like a one framer kind of thing but seems to have some sort of psychcologiical effect taht people may or may not ne aware of...subliminal?
Posted by: Jared | September 03, 2006 at 04:13 PM