My main gripe with censorship comes in the form of music. If there's a song on the radio that has curse words in it, they should be allowed to be said because that's the way the artist intended for it to be heard. It really all comes down to art, in my opinion. Music, movies, novels, and actual pieces of art should not be bound by restrictions because some people may not adhere to the message they are relaying. Art would not have evolved in past centuries if artists weren't allowed to reveal their experimental art with the general public.
It's an insult to creative minds across America when their ideas are 'bleeped-out' or banned. It's a direct message to our citizens that the government is still in control of more of our speech than is necessary. It's a message that creativity may produce something good, but it isn't accepted by the so-called 'majority' of America.
The FCC is responsible for the censorship of radio and television, and also helps regulate communications. The Communications Act of 1934 created the FCC, and there haven't been any major overhauls in the system since then (minus the development of computers). If anyones the culprit of wrongful censorship, it's the FCC.
Most of the reasoning behind censorship is that certain words, ideas, and images offend people in our society. While this may be more of a conservative view than I normally have, I feel if you don't want to hear a certain song on the radio or watch a specific show on television because it offends you, simply don't watch it or listen. The decision to turn to a radio station or purchase a cable package is that of the individual. Don't bring the rest of us down for believing in freedom of speech a little more than you do. I want to be exposed to all kinds of different things. I think violent video games, curse words, and images of sex and violence in the media is perfectly acceptable. The youth of today is exposed to all of these things in school and every day life, don't blame the media for your child's aggressive behavior or overuse of the f word, blame yourself for raising him to not know the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
This isn't a matter of liberalism vs. conservatism, it's a matter of living free lives and being able to expose ourselves to things we want. Whenever I hear about a book being banned from a school library or a word bleeped out on the radio it makes me sick, because I feel that someone in a position of authority is telling me that I can't. A perfect example of this is the show South Park. In an episode that aired in April, there was originally an image of Muhammad, the Muslim prophet. Comedy Central censored the image before airing it due to a website called RevolutionMuslim made a threat against the shows creators showing the image. Now I know that's not an example of government censorship, but that's totally ridiculous! It literally blows my mind that a show cannot show an image of Muhammad without the producers fearing for their lives. Call me crazy.
True, but to a point. I agree in principle. But I think a lot of it is the question of what we would want minors exposed to in general also. I do agree that most teens and pre teens are likely exposed to far more than most parents realize in cussing, and what they see, and violence, and so on. But you would want to leave your 5 year old alone with the tv if there was x rated shows on general television. Or say watching the family channel and a x rated commercial come on to your 3 yr old. Or have a 5 yr old listening to the Howard stern show( which I like) But I believe the policy is outdated. Because with todays technology you could air anything on general television and have a parental filter on tv or radio with broadcast tv also. In a lot of ways I don't really think it's going to matter in the future anyways, as tv and radio will go extinct, due to private high bandwidth mediums with no restrictions. Like even though your kid can't hear cuss words, a smart 6 yr old could probably manage to download x rated stuff off the internet. Though at some point they may start passing laws about cable and internet censorship.....
ReplyDeleteIt is a slippery slope, censorship is in place to protect young minds from being "tarnished". Personally I think if you remove the taboo, it becomes a non-issue and therefore loses popularity. In "Gone with the Wind" they famously (or is it infamously?)said "damn" and were fined for it. Damn is not not really a big deal anymore probably due to the fact that it is now acceptable to hear it in a movie or adult TV shows along with a couple more swear words. Some restrictions will continue to become non-issues while others arise. It's all in the ebb and flow of our society.
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