Which was exactly what Michael Chabon said when he addressed the issue of profanity being used on Picard. Its absence in the other shows was not a reflection of profanity disappearing in the future, just the fact the writers had keep the language PG friendly.
Well, there is that exchange between Kirk and Spock in Star Trek 4, but I think people take that far too seriously.
Although, that kind of proves the point about the writers trying to keep the language PG friendly, since Kirk's idea of blending into twentieth century society by use of profanity meant he didn't use anything more serious than "dumbass."
And even Kirk's comment to Spock is simply "if you don't swear every other word." So, I viewed it less as not using profanity and more they don't use profanity as often, especially given that Kirk calls Kruge a "Klingon bastard" one film before.
The beeps are part of the art. Removing them would be "censoring" the art.
Can you say the same for the MASH series with the option to remove the laughtrack on the DVD? I'd like to hear both versions. I'm not concerned about the artistic aspect much, because art is relative and a matter of perspective. I'd like to have the option because I'd watch both versions anyways.
I see them as different. Removing the bleeps is like changing the dialog.
Indeed. The writers of MASH did not want the laugh track and wrote accordingly. Lower Decks were written with the bleeps as part of it.
My interest in hearing the dialog tracks sans bleeps isn't to change the presentation in the manner you describe. It's more like viewing outtakes, seeing deleted scenes, or reading the shooting script to note the differences between it and the final edit. My interest would be to learn about the creation of the art, not replace it or supersede with any sort of fan edit, post-release revision, etc.
