...Censorship and its affect on Art Regardless if you like art, music or just simply reading books, I am sure you have your favorites that have made a serious impact on your life, but what about all those works that you never got to see, read or feel? Maybe you never will, if they have fallen victim to the act of censoring. “Censorship is defined as the alteration or removal of works of art from public view” (Frank 92). Along with wars, conflicts, cultural influences, and evolution of societies, censorship has had an enormous effect on art of the past and will greatly alter the trajectory of art in the future for better or worse. The one who controls the ultimate decision whether to eliminate or support expression through art will be of the utmost importance in the growth and development of artistic expression. “The struggle for freedom of expression is as ancient as the history of censorship” (Newth). Everywhere free expression has been achieved, censorship follows, never too far behind. One of the more famous acts of censorship occurred when Socrates, a most influential philosopher of history was sentenced to drink poison for “corrupting” the youth with his ideals that varied from the current political and moral codes of his time. This happened in 399 BC. Gives you an idea of how long censorship has effected expression, and this is by no means the first time censorship took place in history. I personally never put too much thought into censorship and the severity of its faults...
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...restraints or punishment. In this day and time, musicians are held to a totally different standard because some people perceive music as being a form of art and literature while others view music as being immoral and detrimental to the Christian principles that are so prevalent in our society. Music censorship was introduced in 1927, by way of the Radio Act, which prohibited the use of obscene, indecent or profane language on radio airways. In 1934 the Federal Communications Commission was created by Congress and at this point, censorship encompassed not only music but all public mediums for artistic expressions. Censorship has been used as a tool to suppress artistic expressions from entertainment to literature and even though the First Amendment affords us the right to freedom of expression, censorship still has the power to dictate how we express our thoughts, feelings and ideas. The debate over censorship deals mainly with the First Amendment and whether or not it is constitutional for opposing groups or individuals to impose their beliefs upon our fundamental right to exercise freedom of speech. Music censorship has become a mainstream social issue because our right to freedom of expression is infringed upon and rap music has been targeted even more so because of the content of the content their songs. Music censorship is term used to describe the act of editing, altering or preventing the listener from hearing the music as the artist created it. This action directly impacts...
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...24 March 2010 Art censorship and obscenity People in the United States of America are allowed to express themselves in many ways. One of these ways of expressing yourself is through art. Although we have this freedom, it is not completely accepted or viewed as right. What makes the many different forms or art acceptable or unacceptable with censorship? Why should creativity and artistic abilities be censored from other people or artists? “According to Plato, ‘because art has the power to intensify and not just purge emotions, a “dramatic censor” must control the content and form of all artistic expression’” (Hoffman). There are some people who just cannot accept or understand certain pieces of art, which leads them to find them inappropriate and misleading. Just because these people cannot handle certain works of art does not mean that the work should be hidden. Imagine painting a watercolor picture, which is very hard to work with, and working on it for months upon months. You strive to get it finished and once you do you feel very proud of what has been accomplished. Naturally, you would want to put your hard work on display to show it off to whoever you please. But right when you get the chance to do that, the watercolor that you painted for weeks and weeks is taken away from you by Nazi’s and banned from ever being seen. In 1940, this is exactly what happened to German painter, print maker, and watercolorist Emil Nolde. People come to the United States to be free and...
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...March 1, 2012 Freedom of speech is the idea that people can speak freely without being stopped, or censored. The United States First Amendment states that people have the right for absolute freedom of speech, which raises concern for when freedom of speech should be limited. Being able to speak freely is important. It allows us to speak our minds without being punished for our ideas. Freedom of speech in relevance to our time is very crucial. More and more people are beginning to voice their opinions and the construction of free speech is one of great importance. When thinking of free speech many issues and topics come into play. Today it seems that free speech in social networking has become increasingly prevalent. Over four hundred million people across the world are involved in some sort of social network, thus the importance of their voice when dealing with free speech. People want their voice to be heard, especially using things such as Twitter and Facebook. The issue of this however concerns the creators and if they should monitor what is being said on these sites. If social networking sites were to monitor our every action and every word, would we feel as if they abide by the freedom of speech law? What if one day you logged onto Facebook and there was a notification telling you that you were being monitored and could no longer say whatever you wanted whenever you wanted? Most of us would be outraged and angry that we could not express our opinions. No one wants...
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...Censorship is a big deal in modern society. Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. There is many different types of censorship. There is Media Censorship, and there is censorship in books. There is also censorship in school, with filters and limits of what websites you are allowed to be on. In The United States the first amendment states that every American has a right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. In elementary school, censorship is only really common in the school library. Many books can...
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...Internet Pornography: Freedom of Press or Dangerous Influence? The topic of pornography is controversial many times because of the various definitions which each have different contexts. Is it nudity, sexual intercourse, art, or all of these? Is it magazines, videos, or pictures? For the purposes of this paper, pornography will be defined as any material that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement. With all of the arguments presented in this paper, it seems only a vague definition of this type can be applicable to all views on the subject. Pornography on the Internet has brought about difficulties pertaining to censorship. All of the arguments in this paper can be divided into one of two categories: those whose aim is to allow for an uncensored Internet, and those who wish to completely eliminate pornography from the Internet all together. All arguments for an uncensored Internet all cite the basic rights offree speech and press. While arguments in this paper are international, almost everyone of them cites the First Amendment of the United States. In many of the papers it is implied that the United States sets precedent for the rest of the world as far as laws governing the global world of the Internet. Paul F. Burton, an Information Science professor and researcher, gives many statistics showing that presence of pornography on the Internet is not necessarily a bad thing. He gives one example that shows that "47% of the 11,000" most...
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...have been the target of many critics over the 75 year time span of publication. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees that free speech should not be impeded. Many organizations, including the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, are continuing the legal battle of insuring the right of free speech remains unencumbered. Digital Freedom Fighters: Defending Free Speech in the 21st Century Introduction Comic books have been published for over 75 years with a varied subject matter including superhumans, gods, soldiers, historical events and animals. Originally conceived as a child’s reading fodder, comics have evolved beyond the original audience. A recent study found that over 98% of comic book readers are over the age of 18. (Pantozzi, 2012) No longer an art form exclusively for children, comics have been the target of many censorship attacks. With the advent of 21st century technology, comic books have evolved and the criticisms have evolved with them. Newer challenges to this form of speech can sometimes be overwhelming, but there are many organizations which are focused on protecting these freedoms. These are the digital freedom fighters. They are a safeguard against the rising censorship and regulation of free speech. Banning books and other forms of media is a not a new practice, but digital media has changed the censorship methods. With new censorship, new bypasses have also been developed such as different means of disbution. The legal...
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...court for violating the First Amendment rights of student journalists (Abrams, 1). This court case is known as Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. The court ruled that, despite the Tinker ruling recognition of strong First Amendment protection, student expression in school-sponsored venues may be subject to greater limitations when those venues have not been established as “designated public forums.” In that context, school officials can censor, if they provide a reasonable educational justification for their actions (Bowen, 1)....
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...provides the ability to share information with anyone in the world within seconds. Because of this ability, data that may be under copyright has been shared in a manner that may be deemed illegal. B. In recent history, legislation has been brought forth in congress to try to prevent the sharing of data that has been used without the copyright owner’s consent. Most recently, the legislation known as Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. C. Because of acts such as SOPA and PIPA, there have been protests by large Internet companies, as well as individuals, that believe their passage will limit free speech and infringe on the public’s First Amendment rights. II. Legislation Defined A. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is bill that was introduced as H.R.3261 in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011. It will attempt to prevent the sharing of copyrighted and protected data over the internet from foreign sources. According to (Schatz, 2012) “The Justice Department could seek a court order requiring U.S. Internet providers to block access to foreign pirate websites. Access could be blocked either by making it impossible for users to type a simple web address into an Internet browser to reach the site or by requiring search engines like Google to disable links to the sites.” B. The Protect IP Act (PIPA) is a bill that was introduced in the U.S. Senate as SB.968 in 2011...
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...Is There A Right Way Of Interpretation Of The First Amendment? The interpretation of the First Amendment as well as the entire Constitution has been a controversial issue for debates for decades. The majority of Americans simply interprets the First Amendment the way they see for it to be convenient for a particular situation. Because of its vagueness, the First Amendment leaves a lot of room for various arguments and assumptions. When we look at the textual interpretation of the First Amendment, context plays a vital role. The context tells us not to concentrate on details and to give words an expansive rather than narrow interpretation. Although interpretation of the text can take on many forms and there is no the right one, words do have a limited range of meaning, and no interpretation that goes beyond that range should be permissible, especially when we are dealing with such an important document as the First Amendment. The article “On Racist Speech” by Charles R Lawrence serves as a great example of argumentative interpretation of the First Amendment. Charles Lawrence examines the power of words that can insult, assault and even exclude. He challenges the thought that all speech should be protected and urges his readers to examine their own beliefs and expectations of what their civil rights are. The author also presents a strong critique of the First Amendment that protect us from defamation, invasion of privacy while at the same time leaves the...
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...Art is an important part of every society. It tells of the history of the people, their culture and it depicts at each phase, what the society is going through. In today's fast paced era, people are almost always preoccupied with the chores of today and the concerns of tomorrow and they hardly find time to devote in appreciating various artforms which may have been one of their several childhood interests. Also, people's interests are increasingly changing and aligning with the art attractions of the latest century like metal music over classical or carnatic, plastic decorative furniture over ancient terracota for their homes and so on. Thus, largely lack of government funding can endanger the flourishing of arts and their availability to all people. Government ignoring the arts can lead to a loss of history. An example is Nigeria. All around the country are works of art were exhumed from the ground years ago: the figurines in Esie, the works of Nok, the golden tusks in Benin. The government doesn’t fund the arts and today works of Nigerian arts are found in museums all over the world . They are in the Louvre in Paris, museums in Italy and London but can hardly be found in Nigeria. The few ones left are in such a terrible state; information provided on the work seem bogus and inaccurate. Whereas in other nations like Italy, France, the original works of arts hang in such places as the Louvre and Vatican city and tells the story of the people because Government funds the arts...
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...THE COST OF ARTISTIC FREEDOM: CENSORSHIP vs. LIBERALISM IN HOLLYWOOD, 1940 – 1960 Destiny Adams History 734 – Seminar in American History Dr. Wintz – Texas Southern University Spring 2009 Table of Contents Part One 1.1 – Introduction – p. 3 1.2 – Social and Political Climate pp. 3-11 1.3 – Production Code Resolutions pp.11-15 Part Two 2.1- Production Codes – I, II, III and IV pp.16 2.2 – Production Codes V, VI, VII and VIII pp.17-18 2.3 - Production Codes IX, X, XI and XII pp.18 Part Three 3.1- Hollywood and Film making – 1940-1949 pp.18-21 3.2- Movies – Awarded, Nominated, Not Nominated pp.21 Part Four 4.1- Hollywood and Film making – 1950-1959 pp.22-26 4.2- Movies – Awarded, Nominated, Not Nominated pp.26 Part Five 5.1- Synopsis of Film making in the 1960’s – New Era pp. 27-28 5.2- Conclusion pp.28-29 The Red Scare of 1917-1920, was the primary influence for the emergence of censorship through McCarthyism and Anti- Socialist sentiments in filmmaking during 1940-1960. McCarthyism and three international wars enhanced Anti – Communist resentments within the United States. A brief emergence of Socialist organizations in America heightened the fervor of conservative versus liberal views within cinematography. Motion Movie producers and Distributors, in Hollywood, California were heavily encouraged to influence film directors, screenwriters and actors by incorporating strict codes within their artistic expression...
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...Setting the current legal standard to determine obscene material and laying the guidelines for distribution and regulation of such material has constantly raised questions in legal areas. Establishing how to define when a text is protected under the law poses a persistent struggle in legal definitions; to understand this issue, it is necessary to review the evolution of sexual explicit content throughout history, should a single jury, in a constantly changing society, determine the value of a work? In ancient times, sexual explicit content in drama, poetry, art and sculpture were not regulated by the state, as sex was a natural part of life, art graphically depicted intercourse, anal intercourse, prostitution and same-sex sex. Sumerian literature openly portrayed human love to be intimately connected to sexual pleasure (Black, Cunningham, Robson and Zolyom 188-190). Greek artists depicted explicit scenes of intercourse, anal intercourse, masturbation and fellatio on vases and terracotta and Greek drama was often demonstrative, Greece and Rome punished blasphemous and heretical expression, but not obscenity. Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides all dealt with...
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...instructors) What Limits to Freedom? Freedom of Expression and the Brooklyn Museum’s “Sensation” Exhibit by Melissa Davis all text centered Prof. K.D. Smith Humanities 205 16 May 2009 85 03f-BGtW-AmEd 85-106.indd 85 19/01/10 4:08 PM 86 | sample essay Davis 1 Melissa Davis Professor Smith Humanities 205 16 May 2009 name and page number in top right corner What Limits to Freedom? Freedom of Expression and the Brooklyn Museum’s “Sensation” Exhibit For over a century public galleries in Western democracies have been forums not only for displaying works by “old Masters” but also for presenting art that is new, as well as ideas that are sometimes radical and controversial. In the United States that tradition has been under wide attack in the past generation. Various political and first line of all religious leaders have criticized exhibits of works of art that they claim paragraphs indented offend against notions of public decency, and have crusaded against providing public funding for the creation or display of such works. The largest such controversy of the past generation was sparked by the display of a painting entitled “The Holy Virgin Mary,” by the British text left justified and ragged right artist Chris Ofili at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999. Though the image appears inoffensive at a distance, the artist has affixed to the painting cutouts of body parts from magazines, and has incorporated clumps of elephant dung into the piece, both below the main body of...
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...culture needs to have unrestricted freedom to speak in relation to whichever and all that alarms us in array to constantly develop our culture. Individual free speech inconsistency would be words that create a constructive, and not pessimistic, picture in mutually long-terms and short-terms. Dictionary.com classifies Freedom of Speech as, “the right of people to express their opinions publicly without governmental interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitement to violence or rebellion, etc.” Freedom of speech is also known as free speech or freedom of expression. Freedom of speech is also known as freedom of expression because a person’s beliefs and thoughts can also be expressed in other ways other than speech. These ways could be art, writings, songs, and other forms of expression. If speaking freely and expressing ourselves freely is supposed to be without any consequence, then why are there constant law suits and consequences for people who do. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression should be exactly what they mean. Although most people believe that they can speak about anything without there being consequences, this is very untrue. One of those spoken things that have consequences is speaking about the president in such a negative way that it sends red flags about your intentions. Because of the high terrorist alerts, people have to limit what they say about bombs, 9/11, and anything they may say out of anger about our government or country. In the documentary...
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