Art or smut?

Hey again

Another day, another blog.

Today's topic will cover the issue of censorship in the media and the reasons why things are censored and why people think they should not be.

So what is censorship?

Censorship is the act of silencing someone who puts forth across certain views which the establishment deems "unacceptable" in mainstream society. It happens in most areas of life particularly in things such as politics and the media and this blog will look at censorship in the world of arts and popular culture.

Pretty much since the beginning of the 20th century all forms of popular entertainment have had their artists whose work has been considered offensive to some and as a result pressure groups have tried to ban it.

Mucians such as Alice cooper,ggAllen, gwar , Marilyn Manson, iron maiden , black sabbath,slip knot the sex pistols and cannibal corpse have all throughout the years been targets of censorship from pressure groups such as tipper gores parents music resource centre for their supposedly offensive lyrics and artwork.

In cinema their was the video nasty craze in the 1980's spearheaded by Mary White House with films such as "cannibal holocaust" which repotefly featured real life animal killing condemned for doing so.

In literature works such as "Ulysses" by James Joyce and J.d salingers "the catcher in the rye"supposedly had themes that were subversive and could have a negative affect.

The medium of stand comedy has a history of controversial performers since Lenny Bruce in the 1960's with his material dealing with religion and sexuality followed down the years by the likes of Sam Kinison, George carlin, Andrew dice clay , Bill hicks , Jerry sadowvitz and frankie Boyle.

In recent times the world of video games has proven to be a particular source of controversy with the hugely successful and platinum selling "grand theft auto" series.

Other things that have generated extreme controversy are things like Stewart lee's "Jerry springer-the opera" which was seen as blasphemous by Christian pressure groups.

So the question is: what makes something offensive and where do you draw the line between something that is making a genuine statement and something that is being needlessly offensive for the sake of it?


Personally, I think that freedom of speech is a crucial right for artists and for the most part I feel that artists should not be banned because s certain group of individuals do not agree with what they are saying.

However, I do feel that sometimes certain performers can say some things that certain groups may find upsetting. If a comedian tells jokes that appear to overly racist,sexist, homophobic or demeaning of vulnerable people,although I don't think they should be banned and they're entitled to their free speech, I think people can still debate on the merits of what they are saying and whether or not it is unnaceptable.

There are many other issues of censorship to be discussed and I would like to hear people's opinions in the comments below.

Thanks

Nathan