Censor: How Far is Too Far?

[Weapon X]

Should music be censored? If so how far should the censor be?

The first initial thought that comes to mind immediately is NO it shouldn't censored, but have you really thought about it. Here are a few examples, the Christina Agulara (sp?) video Dirty, when I first saw that it was oh god that shouldn't be on TV at this time of the day. (it's basic soft porn) But shouldn't it?!?

How about more foul stuff, like if a band sang about Pedophilia or Bestiality in a promoting it kind of way. Should that be censored or banned, it's an expression like other kinds of music, foul as it might be. I wouldn't want my kids exposed to that and I think I would actually censor it.

[url]http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1403&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20031223%2F121320784.htm&sc=1403[/url]
What about this German Neo-Nazi band, should they really be jailed and convicted for being a criminal organization, for singing about hate and promoting the bombing of Israel? Should they be censored or banned or convicted for this?

Discuss

 

[J.]

Should music be censored? If so how far should the censor be?

Speaking strictly from an American viewpoint, I say music should never be censored. It is a blatant violation of our First Amendment rights (I think that's the one) as Americans.

The first initial thought that comes to mind immediately is NO it shouldn't censored, but have you really thought about it. Here are a few examples, the Christina Agulara (sp?) video Dirty, when I first saw that it was oh god that shouldn't be on TV at this time of the day. (it's basic soft porn) But shouldn't it?!?

Censoring this video would be wrong. But the producers on the TV channel should play suggestive videos in certain time slots so children cannot watch them. I also put a lot of the responsibility on the parents. Why the fuck are parents allowing their kids to watch/listen to this crap?

How about more foul stuff, like if a band sang about Pedophilia or Bestiality in a promoting it kind of way. Should that be censored or banned, it's an expression like other kinds of music, foul as it might be. I wouldn't want my kids exposed to that and I think I would actually censor it.

Again, responsibility falls on the parents. And as disgusting as we may find it, it should not be banned or censored.

What about this German Neo-Nazi band, should they really be jailed and convicted for being a criminal organization, for singing about hate and promoting the bombing of Israel? Should they be censored or banned or convicted for this?

THat's ridiculous. However, they knew they were breaking the law. But they distributed their stuff outside of Germany, so I don't see why the German govt has grounds to convict them.

 

[NAD]

My gut reaction is of course NO!!!

But then again, there's a lot of things out there that should not be put on display.

It definitely comes down to the responsibility of the parent, but I don't think it's right to have people fucking on primetime network TV either. And yes, I've seen that. Not explicit, but it was pretty obvious what was happening. I wouldn't want my 5 year old watching that kind of shit, he'll have to wait until he's 8 to watch porn. :Smokedev:

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

The goverment shouldn't ban music. The responsibility should fall on the parents. Most of the time I see this cd's with parental advisory and I think ''what idiot would put this label on this cd?''. Most of the people are WAY too uptight to make a good judgement about music and its lyrics.

 

[lizard]

if you live in Germany, you know they have pretty strict laws regarding hate speech or display of nazi type stuff. this is an example of a band trying to stir the pot and get press.

 

[Shakermaker]

Is Christina Aguilera even considered music? I wouldn't allow my child to watch MTV anway, he or she would only be exposed to quality music... Mark my words, there are less painful ways to get eye cancer than watching MTV.
Generally, art should never be censored. If certain laws are broken by the artist deliberately however, there's no point in calling his product "art" anymore. That also goes for that Neo-Nazi band - the germans are quite strict about the use of certain symbols or expressions (that's all in their constitution) and usually they do not hesitate to punish quite strictly when it comes to that. Which is a good thing, because the the right wing movement is growing, especially in east-germany, and - would anyone call the music that bands like Landser release ART? I don't think so. Their primitive riffs are just a "stage" for their propaganda. bleh.
However, it's definitely NOT OK that the germans censor CDs by Cannibal Corpse (just an example) or action movies or computer games (the germans often ony have green blood in shooter games, or bodies that fade after a few seconds ). They don't have a legal basis for that but they do it anyway...

 

[J.]

Anyone hear about the lawsuit brought about by a Haitian group against Rock Star Games because of the phrase "Kill the Haitians!" in GTA: Vice City? They want the phrase taken out because they find it offensive. If I were Rock Star, I'd give 'em the middle finger, followed by "Fuck the Haitians".

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Anyone hear about the lawsuit brought about by a Haitian group against Rock Star Games because of the phrase "Kill the Haitians!" in GTA: Vice City? They want the phrase taken out because they find it offensive. If I were Rock Star, I'd give 'em the middle finger, followed by "Fuck the Haitians".

 

[J.]

Well, here's one lawsuit against Rock Star Games:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102731,00.html

Anyone else think the parents of the two boys should be held somewhat responsible? Instead, the families of the victims are going after Rock Star. Why? Well my guess is because Rock Star has money. And since when does money=getting over a family member's death? How do you put a price on human life? Absurd.

Here is the Haitian lawsuit one:

http://www.nbc6.net/entertainment/2706043/detail.html

Apparently, a Cuban group is also in on it.

"Violent games don't make violent people,'' said Dave Kohn, 22, of Hollywood. "Ignorance is what causes people to do violent things.''

Right on, Dave.

 

[Shakermaker]

"This is America. This is not who we are. This is not what we promote," said U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Pembroke Pines on Monday. Deutsch, who is running for the Senate, sent a letter to the stores urging them to stop sales.

Holy crap

How fucking stupid can you get?

 

[J.]

and these are the people that are suppose to speak for the people. Scary, huh? Sounds like good ol' Pete wants those Haitian and Cuban votes.

 

[Hell Mike]

I think that neither music nor anything else should be censored as long as it isn't thrown into people's faces; If one doesn't like seeing Cristina Aguilera wearing nearly nothing, watch gay porn or something instead. That goes for children as well, if I had kids I'd let them watch/listen to pretty much whatever they wanted as long as it wasn't directly harmful. Nothing wrong with a female wanting to be thin and have big boobs if you ask me.

 

[Weapon X]

I am against censoring on the most part; but I'm all for having control what my children see. Provocative video's should be played later at night, so young kids aren't exposed to it at too young of an age. Parents should be at the forefront of determining what is exposed to their own children.

The parents as well as the children should educate themselves as to what they are exposing themselves too. They should understand what that media is trying to say and represent.

 

[JayKeeley]

Interesting discussion. Of course, being a gore/horror movie enthusiast, I'm against censorship but I wonder how some people might be a little more disgruntled than others by seeing nudity on daytime tv based on where they live?

The reason being, if you go to different countries, they have all sorts of different television shows. Look at the Italian and Spanish daytime tv shows - almost every woman has her tits hanging out looking like a stripper, and those are just the newscasters!

In the UK, the biggest selling newspaper, "The Sun", has a topless woman on page 3. So famous that it's become, there is an element of prestige for these girls to become the next Page 3 girl. Some page 3 girls have gone on to make it big in mainstream showbusiness. Anyone remember Samantha Fox? Anyway, the point is, this is not considered porn in any way. Children of any age are free to buy "The Sun" from their local store.

There are just less hang ups about viewing naked women outside of the US. Not being a clinical psychologist, however, I have no idea whether this is a good thing or bad thing.

I like the idea of a "watershed". Anything on TV after 9pm should not be suitable for young children, allowing adults to see whatever they like without censorship (bleeping over curse words or blurring out mammaries). Anything before 9pm is family fun and entertainment for all.

 

[Demonspell]

I am against censorship in all its forms, but extreme examples like neo-nazism pose a difficult issue, namely freedom of speech crossing the line into actions of willful defiance of their's country law. And the GTA lawsuit is fucking retarded.

 

[Weapon X]

So many great points made in this thread.

I've got one question that bugs the hell outta me. When I watch a movie on TV during the Prime Time hours; when they censor Mother Fucker they always bleep the Mother. M@!*ER FUCKER Since when was mother a bad word?!

 

[JayKeeley]

As of late, I've noticed that non-cable movies have been censored by simply 'silencing' the swear or curse word. That way, you don't get the shitty overdub by Bob the Cleaner, or you don't get a stupid Cannibal Corpse promo type 'beep'. It works out ok and doesn't ruin the movie as much.

 

[NAD]

I love Bob the Cleaner overdubs. "SHUT UP YOU F--jerkface!-I HATE YOU!!!"

I'm surprised so many are saying that art should not go against the state's laws or wishes. What about revolutionary art? I certainly consider many forms of writing as art, and the beauty of many US documents were partially due to their direct opposition to the powers that be (ie: Emancipation Proclamation, Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, etc.).

 

[Ayeka]

if you live in Germany, you know they have pretty strict laws regarding hate speech or display of nazi type stuff. this is an example of a band trying to stir the pot and get press.

Or, god forbid, expressing their beliefs?

Let's face it, how often do you hear about left-wing bands getting censored?

 

[Shakermaker]

Or, god forbid, expressing their beliefs?

Let's face it, how often do you hear about left-wing bands getting censored?

I wouldn't call "kill all my pals/jews/homosexuals/muppets etc" a valid belief. You see, bands like Landser aren't exactly being subtle. They deliberately break a specific german law that forbids you to lie about the national socialistic terror between 1933 and 1945. And I'm in favor of this law because it makes sense! Nobody in Germany is forbidden to simply talk, write or dispute about that time, it's just that the expression of "beliefs" like "no jews were killed by the nazis" or "yes, the nazis killed a lot of jews and we're damn proud of that" is forbidden, and that's a good thing if you ask me. Now, it's logical that a band whose lyrics consist mainly of such moronic comments is more likely to be banned than a band that sings about che guevara or shouts things like "SMASH TEH STATE!!!!!111" or "TEH POLICS ARE TEH FACSISTS!!!!!!111111" in their songs. One side is about as moronic as the other (and both are dangerous) but only one can be effectively persecuted IN GERMANY! However, there are also left wing bands that are being censored in germany. I think the song "deutschland muss sterben" (germany must die) by the band "slime" is forbidden...