For example, early MGM television shows cannot contain profanity because that time slot is when children are awake and watching television. But that’s just it; the government hides information and other topics to “protect” common people. However, this “protection” aka censorship is a huge part Of American media; which is often highly debated and causes controversy. Censorship is the regulation or suppression of writing or speech that is unconsidered harmful to the common good or a threat to national security. “(Library Database). Censorship has been present in this nation for a long time. Censorship has been around for a long time, even back in the times of The Enlightenment. Examples of censorship’s presence in history are the 1873 Comatose Lotto things such as the 1 996 Communications Decency Act (American Civil Liberties).
Censorship is all around us in this day and age, in our newspapers, in our magazines, and in our television programs. And who’s to stop the government from censoring our media anyways? Many people fear that there isn’t enough censorship in this country, especially when it comes to the entertainment industry. “And it is clear that the entertainment industry is not going to censor itself. As always, the people who run it will go exactly as far as the law allows them to go. In my opinion, the law currently allows them to go much too far. (Kimball). Then some feel we, as a society are too censorious. “When you can lose your job and be subject to legal penalties because you tell a joke around the office water cooler, you are living in a very censorious society. ” (Kimball). There are and always will be many points to be made for each side of the controversial topic that is censorship, and here are only a few. There are many pros to the topic of censorship one of those being the always needed censorship Fargo 2 of sex and violence.
It’s in our movies, it’s in our books, it’s everywhere. Society’s adolescence doesn’t need to be introduced to sex and violence until they’re mature enough, but that is also for the parent of said child to decide. The entertainment industry can get away with practically anything along the lines Of violence, sex, and Other highly censored topics. For instance, back in the mid sass, it was thought scandalous to depict a married couple in bed together for reasons of censorship and the inappropriate behaviors that could ensue (Kimball).
On the other hand, today’s movies can get away with showing a lot more than a little peck on the cheek at the end of the night or showing two married people in the same bed together. Another good point is made by Kimball about not censoring violence and brutality can corrupt the young mind; there can be no question that brutality brutalizes. It corrupts taste and poisons the imagination. ” (Kimball) and, in many cases, this could e proven to be true. Other than that, there are cons to this topic as well. Freedom of speech is a big dispute when it comes to censorship.
Freedom of speech is always the first comeback when something is being threatened with censorship. “A painting of the classical statue of Venus De Mill was removed from a store because the managers of the shopping mall found its semi-nudity ‘too shocking’. “(American Civil Liberties). Art, from graphic design to self portraits, is a form of expression and everyone should have the right to that. Art is a huge part of his country, and if it’s to be censored, what’s the mint of creating it if it’s not going to hang on a wall or in a museum.
Back to the thought that violence in movies and in other media influences all who watch it; “There is, in fact, virtually no evidence that fictional violence causes otherwise stable people to become violent. And if we suppressed material based on the actions of unstable people, no work of fiction or art would be safe from censorship. ” (American Civil Liberties). In other words, it isn’t the media who influence these distressed people, these people are already distressed, and we can’t just censor the media because of a “unstable” person id something bad.
For instance, a few years ago when that boy went and shot innocent people at Sandy Hook school, news reports a few days later just happen to do a story on video games and their negative influence on young children, and the shooter also happened to take part in that Fargo 3 exact past time many children take part in. Is it a coincidence, or just another thing to blame when people can’t find a logical explanation. An interesting excerpt from “Government Censorship Would Be Harmful” is “Studies on the relationship between media violence and real violence are the subject of inconsiderable debate.
Children have been shown TV programs with violent episodes in a laboratory setting and then tested for “aggressive” behavior. Some of these studies suggest that watching n. ‘ violence may temporarily induce “object aggression” in some children (such as popping balloons or hitting dolls or playing sports more aggressively) but not actual criminal violence against another person. ” (American Civil Liberties). Or in other words, only some children in these studies had a negative outcome of violence, but this violence was never toward another person, only inanimate objects.
