I gotta say... wtf TBS?

I am sitting here watching A Time to Kill… a John Grisham book turned movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson on TBS.  Amazing book and a great movie I must admit, but I am in a state of confusion in regards to their movie censoring criteria.

Seems that the word ‘fuck’ is not ok.  Nor is the word ‘shit’.  However, ‘bitch’, ‘whore’, ‘dick’ and ‘slut’ all get the green light.  On the banned list is any quantity of blood other than a clothing stain along with sigh nudity.  

So after having seen the HBO version of this movie and having an idea of what and what not to expect, I almost injured myself when I whipped my head around at the sound of the word ‘nigger’ coming out of my TV.

I don’t know why I was so surprised to hear the word.  It is a racially charged movie from the beginning til the end.  I guess I don’t understand how the word ‘nigger’ could be allowed on basic cable considering the negative rep it has for being condescending to blacks. 

Wasn’t Michael Richards chastised for using this word in his night club verbal assault on a heckler?  If anyone on the street were to go up to a black person and call them a ‘nigger’ would the reaction be positive or negative?  I guess that all depends on if the person saying it is white, black, purple or brown, and if the person it is said to takes offense to the word. 

I think the word is needed for the movie to get its point across.  It is used in a blatantly negative way in the movie, but it is needed to draw the lines of racism the plot relies on with the KKK and other character establishment.

I just can not decide whether or not TBS should have passed over the movie completely because of the reliance on the word ‘nigger’.  Should it have been edited out?

Discuss.