Censoring

[The Canady Man]

Ok. This issue has been bugging me for a while now; as you can tell from the title of the thread, the subject is censoring. Now, I realise that some censoring is neccissary, but there is a fine line between between censoring and going too far (like hiding everything from children and teens). I've seen different kinds of it; parential censoring, and censoring content on TV, books, letters, the radio, and music are the ones I've seen the most. But what about when it goes too far? Here are some examples;

-Hiding things from children and teens
-Hiding things from them outside of a religion or belief
-Political Censoring
-Trying to keep a tight leash on (step)sons & (step)daughers, even when they are 18+ (I've seen many examples of this in my town)
-Trying to edit out even minor innuendo
-Radio and news programs that are censored due to bullshit reasons
-Using it as a control-measure
and one more
-Trying to hide people from anything they find objectional in their "perfect ******** worlds".

Then the government/who-ever-the-hell wonders why their people/family resents them. I can understand why people try to hide this stuff from kids that are too easily impressioned by content they see/play/hear, but come on, there is an extent of how long you can do that.

One thing about the controlling your son(s) or daugher(s), whether they be born from your genetics, or if they're only part of your family by name, is that in order to feel that they are all high and mighty, and get off on that feeling, and then try to keep them that way by ruining career, social, and/or educational opportunities, all the while using censoring as an excuse that is almost as see-through as they are. I have, once again, seen many examples of this.

Discuss:

-The extent of healthy censoring
-When it goes too far
-If you've experianced, or know anyone that experianced any of these first-hand
-What if you experianced these to the same degree, or worse?  

[Henneth Annun]

I think that censorship becomes unhealthy when it's unnecessary, becomes synonomous with intolerance, is used to keep people down, is excessive, or any combination of the above.

When parents try to hide reality from their children, hoping to protect them from the "evils of the world", they are actually doing them a diservice. If their kid never learns about the world, it may become to much for them when the time comes for them to face it, and it might be unhealthy to keep it from them in the first place. Or they might learn later on, but from a biased source that could give them all sorts of twisted/inacurate/prejiduced ideas. You can't hide reality from your kids, stepping over the line could harm them in the end.

As citizens of the planet, everyone has a right to know what is going on and nobody should keep that from us. Parents should wait until we are mature enough to handle the information, and governments should tell us the truth no matter what's going on (unless the circumstances are such that it can't be done without arousing extreme panic/misunderstandings/a security threat.)

If things become censored because of someones intolerance *cough*religion*cough* then that's another issue. If they can't be convinced to let their kids/people function in openminded society, then it is again, bad for the people under that influence and bad for others who may become affected by them. Let's say there's tribe A and tribe B. They never tell their people anything about the other tribe and people are punished for trying to find out about the others. If a member of tribe A and B find eachother in the forest, they might do anything to eachother. They could react with unecessary violence and hostility and spread those feelings to the rest of the tribe. They could become undeclared enemies. Those two tribes might never find out that the other one really isn't so bad. That could put their society at a disadvantage, they might be down one potential trading parter for example.

Censorship to control someone is just wrong and nobody deserves to be a victim of it, and it's very sad when it happens. I don't know how to fix this, I'm still working with this at home, along with other types too. sweatdrop I just try to defy that and find out things my self or from other people, and then get a general idea of what the thing is about once I have enough credible sources. (ex: I can learn about goth culture through this guild, from my friends, and from books without anyone ever knowing about it)

When people try to ban the sale of an album or get a TV show canceled becuase they find the cover/episode offensive, I think that's ridiculous. Unless it's something that's saying something like "gay people deserve to die, everyone go out and kill the guy down the street and his husband", then why the heck are you banning it? (Sorry to use you gays as an example, no offense meant!)If it bothers you, you don't have to endorse it! Don't watch it/buy it if it bothers you! It's that simple! You can't spoil things for the rest of us! evil

As far as censoring TV and radio shows for "foul language" I don't have a problem with that. You can tell what words they said most of the time anyway. That kind of stuff is censored so nobody gets sued. That's also a reason why all the racy programming is on late at night. Little kids won't see it because there in bed, so no parent can sue NBC for putting their show on a time where their kid can watch the two people 'get it on' in the hotel room. This way Timmy can watch his cartoons in the morning and mom and dad can watch their adult films late at night when Timmy is asleep. No trauma for Timmy...  

[Rellik San]

I can understanding censoring things from very young children, but by the rime your 16, your old enough to make an informed decision on anything. A prime example of unnecessary censoring is the fact Manhunt 2 is banned in the UK, rather then giving consenting adults the option to play a game aimed at adults, they instead just banned it, removing that choice. Its at that point we start moving into Orwellian style control 'Big Brother knows whats best for you'.  

[Miss Jetpack]

I think that its a parents right to censor or to not censor, and that the government (and public schools, for that matter) censoring ANYTHING is invasive on parents rights.

If a parents doesn't want their child to see something, then don't have them see it. But if the government censors things, they make that desision for the parent and make whatever they censor socially unacceptable.

And they go way too far with this. Like, there are versions of Little Red Ridinghood that are censored from libraries, and so if a parent wants to show a classic book of Little Red Ridinghood to their children they are unable to. Just because something is politically incorrect or something. I mean, the government isn't supposed to parent us. Argh. stressed

And cesoring anything from the general public is just wrong in sooo many ways.  

[Rellik San]

whiplash GIRLCHILDD

And they go way too far with this. Like, there are versions of Little Red Ridinghood that are censored from libraries, and so if a parent wants to show a classic book of Little Red Ridinghood to their children they are unable to. Just because something is politically incorrect or something. I mean, the government isn't supposed to parent us. Argh. stressed

Worst example of this all Roald Dahl books, have been pulled from children's book shelves, books that have been a part of British education, tradition and growing up for many many years. All this on the grounds that they are 'too dark'. You can now only get them on special request. D;  

[The Canady Man]

I apologize for my language in advance. I need it out of my system.

It seems that everything to do with censoring things (like taking books from libraries that are public or school/Television & Game content/other) has to do with someone thinking their opinion is higher than anyone elses, or some "Politically Correct" bullshit. Even foods are having these changes. If I want to call them French Fries, I will call them French Fries, and not that 'Freedom Fries' bullcrap they're pulling on us.

As for censoring things from kids, there is an extent of when it is for their own good and when it's control issues/highs. If you get a rush from controlling people, then go participate in BDSM or something, where your masocism will be put to use in a place where people might enjoy it. If you're telling a child that they can't watch something rated PG13/14+/R/etc., then that is your right, but if they are 18+, they have the rights to say screw you, and watch whatever the hell they want, as they are a legal adult (at least where I live), and they can do what they will.

Now, today, I took part in a talk about Safe Sex/STI's/HIV/Sex Ed, and if I had found out about this earlier, told my parents about it, they most likely would have said that it is a good thing to be there, as I will learn more about the subject, but for some kids/teens they aren't as lucky, as they are told "NO! I forbid you to learn about an important lesson in life" in one form or another. There can be exceptions to this, like someone who is easily impressionable, they might not be ready for this, so their parents would be doing them a favor. But if they never learn about this, they will probably learn it from a biased source, as was already said by XWraith_LordX. You can't control anyone forever. And if you try, there is a possability, that when they do get away from you, they will keep you out of their lives for a long time. They may never forgive you, even if the "forgiviness makes things better" card, which is bullshit, because there are somethings that no matter what, you just can't forgive! I know, I've had these things happen! I lost someone who I thought was a friend to these kinds of situations, and now I wish that I'd laid charges on the b*****d!

Now, back to the subject at hand, Political Censoring is something we all know is true, even if we deny it (Right-wing-ticking-time-bomb-gun-nuts make a daily habit of it). When a citizen brings it up, they are a crack-pot hippy; when someone in the government says something about it, they are either a treasonist, or they get bribed to retract the statement; when someone makes a documentry/video about it, they are called crazy, and labelled as a conspiracy theorist who knows nothing about what is going on. And look at events that have happened lately:

Iraq/Iran - Sure, they have weapons of mass-destruction... ********. They know that's a lie and keep saying it, calling it a war on terror, but guess what? It's taking place over there, killing their own people, making them mass amounts of cash from scandals as people only pay attention to the Middle-East.

9/11 - They knew about the threats, and sat there, with their hands on there dicks, and their heads up their asses, and one of the greatest catastrophies in the history of New York, let alone the U.S. happened. Guess what, Mr. President? YOU ******** UP!

Virginia Tech - Probably less than an hour after it happened, Jack Thompson blames it on video games. They make it sound like the schools did nothing wrong. The kid shot up the school, and ate a bullet. And they say that schools aren't a stressful place to be. Bullshit! They probably all went to Private/Boarding Schools, or they think that people can handle these things today, just like they did back then, which led them to a life of drinking/getting high/getting taken in by the "nice men in white coats". A lot of people today don't repress their emotions. They try to make themselves heard, and when their parents don't listen, they keep it inside, until they snap, and then they pull something like this. Their parents say they don't know why they did it; 1). You did nothing. 2). You treated them like attention-whores. 3). You left a gun in an in-secure cabinette that has either no lock, or one so easy that you just need a pair of plyers or a paper clip to get past it. Add those together and you have an incident waiting to happen. Once again, you ******** up!

I'm not a psychologist, but you don't need to be a shrink to realise these things. From the looks of it, the only thing Bush has is a Degree in Mental Retardation. Why can't he just go eat a banana in the ******** corner, and then go drink and do drugs like before? He probably still does behind the scenes.

Once again, I apologize for my language.
And one more thing; I know I'm not 100% Accurate, but it's quite easy to tell that you're being bullshat on.  

[Henneth Annun]

Quote:

You can't control anyone forever. And if you try, there is a possability, that when they do get away from you, they will keep you out of their lives for a long time. They may never forgive you, even if the "forgiviness makes things better" card, which is bullshit, because there are somethings that no matter what, you just can't forgive!

This is exactly the reason why I've been in therapy since 3rd grade.  

[Simim]

I actually, do not think censorship is needed. At all.

I don't see how little kids being/not being exposed to blood, gore, violence, blasphemy, heresy, sex, drugs, or anything of the sort influences how they grow up.

It is up to the PARENT, not to cover their kid's eyes, but to EDUCATE them about what they see. Parents should explain to their kids whether the things they see are good or bad.

I've been watching R-rated movies since I can remember... so around 2 or 3. I'd already seen Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Jason, Child's Play, Carrie, Silence of the Lambs, and, to top it off, a soft-core porno, by that time.

And am I out killing people, or raping people? No. Do I have some sort of mental dysfunction that makes me a sociopath or sexually inadequate? No.
Exposing children to whatever they see just helps them learn more.

The FUNNIEST thing about this is that when I finally started to enter the "Real world," even a little bit, like going to school, the actions of other people didn't surprise me in the least... because I had seen worse. It didn't shock me that people were capable of doing the things they do. I don't think of myself as a bad person, nor would I ever do most of these "bad things", but it doesn't surprise me that others do so.

 

[mechanical kitsy]

I just see that everything that isn't christian, prude, pg-baby, etc is edited out. i hate it. i try to always get the un-censored version of movies, which if i watch on tv they're about 80% censored. unless they're on HBO or whatever.
i watched a couple R rated films when i was little, but i didn't understand Carrie at the time, and a lot of them just scared the ******** s**t out of me. i've seen scenes in movies that people thought i shouldn't, including action sequences, romantic scenes, and murder/torture scenes.
i'm pretty ********, but im not disturbed because of the media i've seen. i'm ******** because a lot was hidden from me. sure, i saw a lot of that stuff but up until i was nearly 11 i didnt know that the men (her boyfriends she had over 2 or 3 years, i think there were 3 or 4) that slept in my mom's room at night were having sex with her. and i didnt know that was how a baby was made. i thought this giant bird carried the baby because that's what i was told. i didn't know that my clothes were the reason people made fun of me, i didnt know there was no santa or easter bunny, i didnt know anyone except old people died, i didnt know a lot. i was pretty naive all because of censoring.  

[xStephanx]

A few points -

Political censoring is inevitable, to the point it doesn't bother me, I just accept it as a given. Why would they tell us something if it was so bad it would lead to rebellion? Better we believe what they want us to believe, if you know what I mean. The authorities control the media, legally or not. I can deal with this.

However, it sucks.

On the other hand, I don't mind some censorship. Take the law in France banning hidden cameras, I think that's cool. It protects people dignity if they didn't want to be in your show or whatever. I haven't got a problem with that kind of censorship.

Censorship of material for reasons of 'decency' suck.  

[Spooky Wasabi Princess]

I think censorship in any form is bad. Either have it all or don't have anything.
Censorship doesn't help anything. One of the great things about any kind of media is that I can choose to not watch, read or listen to whatever I don't want. I don't need a board of old religious types making that decision for me.  

[Rellik San]

spooky_sez

I think censorship in any form is bad. Either have it all or don't have anything.
Censorship doesn't help anything. One of the great things about any kind of media is that I can choose to not watch, read or listen to whatever I don't want. I don't need a board of old religious types making that decision for me.

I agree mass market and government controlled censoring is bad, but surely the the ratings system is a valuable tool to help parents appraise what may be suitable for their children.  

[Spooky Wasabi Princess]

Rellik San

spooky_sez

I think censorship in any form is bad. Either have it all or don't have anything.
Censorship doesn't help anything. One of the great things about any kind of media is that I can choose to not watch, read or listen to whatever I don't want. I don't need a board of old religious types making that decision for me.

I agree mass market and government controlled censoring is bad, but surely the the ratings system is a valuable tool to help parents appraise what may be suitable for their children.

Ratings are fine, but cutting things out or banning them all together is not.  

[Rellik San]

spooky_sez

Rellik San

spooky_sez

I think censorship in any form is bad. Either have it all or don't have anything.
Censorship doesn't help anything. One of the great things about any kind of media is that I can choose to not watch, read or listen to whatever I don't want. I don't need a board of old religious types making that decision for me.

I agree mass market and government controlled censoring is bad, but surely the the ratings system is a valuable tool to help parents appraise what may be suitable for their children.

Ratings are fine, but cutting things out or banning them all together is not.

Sadly it seems the censors and the rating bodies are integrated.  

[Henneth Annun]

Rellik San

spooky_sez

Rellik San

spooky_sez

I think censorship in any form is bad. Either have it all or don't have anything.
Censorship doesn't help anything. One of the great things about any kind of media is that I can choose to not watch, read or listen to whatever I don't want. I don't need a board of old religious types making that decision for me.

I agree mass market and government controlled censoring is bad, but surely the the ratings system is a valuable tool to help parents appraise what may be suitable for their children.

Ratings are fine, but cutting things out or banning them all together is not.

Sadly it seems the censors and the rating bodies are integrated.

You shouldn't force someone to tone down a movie. That's why they have the rating system. It can say, "hey, there's adult content in this." You can't tell someone to take it out. You were warned. You can't say "this is to graphic!" and cut it out. There's a rating for a bloody reason....if it's rated R, hey, everyone was told about it. It isn't meant for your 6 year old, so don't complain that it's to graphic for him.