...Censorship in America Welcome to America. The land of the free and the home of those all too willing to use that right to its fullest extent. The first nation truly founded on the right to speak one’s mind without consequence, America is now the most prosperous nation in the world, largely due to that very fact. We as Americans are blessed to live in a nation that is thriving both politically and socially, both as innovator and steady power, both as a community and as a collection of individuals. The marks of American society have spread far beyond the nation’s borders, with everything from the Big Mac to Steven Spielberg movies to democracy itself making it’s impact felt on this modern world. The name America has become synonymous with freedom, and through this freedom, great wealth, power, and success. And yet history has shown, through the example of democracies like Athens and Rome, that even the greatest of civilizations eventually swerve off course. After reading Patrick Garry’s “An American Paradox: Censorship in a Nation of Free Speech”, Marjorie Heins’ “Not In Front Of The Children”, and various statements from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), I have come to believe that the unstoppable juggernaut that is America may too be in danger of losing its way. The principles of freedom and human rights that this country was founded and subsequently prospered on are often quickly abandoned in the effort to protect the general public from anything deemed even slightly...
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...Assertion to be confirmed: The movie censorship system in America is flawed and needs to be fixed. Encomium: For the past ninety-two years the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) have heavily censored and given harsh ratings to films that contain sexual content/nudity and homosexuality as opposed to films that contain graphic violence. Exposition of the Situation: Ever since the MPAA was formed, its sole purpose has been to view films submitted by studios or directors and give an appropriate rating to the submitted films. These ratings are given to films so parents can know the content of the movies and which ones are appropriate for their children. However, this organization has also used the power they have in Hollywood to their...
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...As Americans, we pride ourselves on having the ability to say what we want when we want to. This was a right given to us by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The act of censorship creates a barrier between media and freedom of speech. Due to the topic of censorship, many Americans have different opinions on if censorship is a violation of their rights as a citizen of the United States or if it is to preserve the wellbeing of the country. Before the internet became as powerful as it is today, the government reviewed every article, news report, and television show before being released for public viewing to prevent indecencies from occurring in the media. Consequently, as the media continues to flourish, it creates difficulties in the...
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...class and how it has a variety of impacts on both America and Mexico. NAFTA removes the trade barriers between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. I will be looking specifically at the impacts that the removal of these barriers has had socially and economically, especially on American manufacturing and agriculture. 2. Government Censorship: Censorship is speech or other public communication that may be harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient. It is usually done by governments and private organizations or individuals who engage in self-censorship. My paper will show what, how, and why the government has so many different types of censorship in our society to regulate the citizens. 3. Capital Punishment: Capital punishment is a legal process where a person is put to death, as a state punishment for a crime. Capital Punishment has an extremly long history and a bunch of reasons why this was considered to be a legal process. My paper will discuss how this punishment is enforced? Why it should be enforced, and how it should be up to a government? 1. The topic of NAFTA that we brought up in class and how it has a variety of impacts on both America and Mexico. NAFTA removes the trade barriers between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. I will be looking specifically at the impacts that the removal of these barriers has had socially and economically, especially on American manufacturing and agriculture. 2. Government Censorship: Censorship is speech or other public communication that may...
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...Kent Tsao RTVF 271 The censorship in American Film The earliest motion picture was initially exposed by a Californian Eadweard Muybridge around the year of 1875 with the bet of whether or not all four hooves of a horse are off the ground during racing, which the idea was further developed by a well known inventor Thomas Alva Edison and one of his employees William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, who was an electrical engineer and photographer. After a series of experiments on the mechanics and the film medium itself, Edison’s company, not only invented the devices that fundamentally change the world like telephone and electric and etc., but also introduced the first ever motion picture apparatus, Kinetograph, therefore “movies in America were born.” (Jon Lewis, American Film 10) The year was 1891, only 16 years apart from Eadweard Muybridge’s unintended discovery. Since then, the wind of motion pictures had been blew to European countries like Great Britain and France. 1895, two French people, Auguste and Louis Lumiere, as known as the Lumiere brothers first showcased the motion pictures using Cinematographe to general public thus declared the era of silent movies. Soon a year later, in 1896, Thomas Edison also showcased the motion pictures to the general public with Vitascope, the first time in America cinema history. After the success of nickelodeon parlors and other film houses, the early movies play a significant role of “emerging consumer culture, in which one paid one’s...
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...right? Well, that world is called censorship. Censorship is basically a suppression of an individual's creativity. Many books by certain authors with strong themes and ideas are often censored. So are articles with strong opinions. Censorship doesn’t suppress anyone's creativity. It actually does. Many books written by authors like Judy Blume are often censored. Nowadays authors can’t really pour all of their creativity into a book without the fear of it being censored. “Censorship has imposed a serious limitation on a writers’ artistic creativity”(Pen America) The imagination that writers have is awesome, but they can’t express that without putting limits on their material....
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...Lyric Censorship: Language is Power Words create powerful emotions in all of us. They are used to express our feelings, thoughts and ideas, as well as communicate with one another. There are countless examples in history where we see language equating power. Within those examples we see people in the position of power, using this power of language to degrade their enemies and those they consider beneath them, and shape language in their favor. Music ties into language completely. The words of song lyrics convey powerful messages. As language is power, those in control seek to repress the power of this language in music, attempting to keep the power in their favor. But this attempt at censorship only gives those words even more influence and any attempt to infringe our right to free speech should be fought for to prevent its loss. The censorship of lyrics has occurred globally and can be dated back as far as music and poetry can be traced. Let’s take Asia as an example. Under the ruling of the Taliban in Afghanistan, music became a crime (Korpe, 2004). Instruments were burned, and people were severely punished for singing or creating any kind of music that was not deemed acceptable by the government. In Kabal, President Rabbani went as far as to create an Office for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which was used to regulate the lyric of song in the favor of the government, and punish those who spoke ill towards those in power. In Pakistan...
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...Music censorship began its journey in the early 1950’s with the “controversial” music of Blacks during the time period. It has then evolved from a form of racism to a method of suppression. It touches all major genres, but is most commonly issues with both rap and rock music. Major groups such as the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) have been formed to try and monitor the lyrical messages that are expressed in songs. The RIAA is not out to completely censor music, but to advise buyers of the messages they may be listening to on a certain album. Then there is the party that feels censorship at any level shall not be present. It is suppressing one’s First Amendment rights in freedom of expression and also suppresses an artist abilities to fully paint a vivid picture with their lyrics to the audience. The last group believes that censorship is a must, and that any songs that carry the censored material shall be taken off of the shelves. That specific group believes that contaminating society with explicit lyrics should not reward artists. The side that believes censorship of music should not exist at all states that music is a form of art. Many tend to separate music from forms of art, such as paintings and poetry. However, the lyrics in the music are an art form as well, and they cannot restrict that due in part to the First Amendment. It is part of our Bill of Rights as American citizens, and no governing powers can take that away from us. Also, society favors contemporary...
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...Censorship Seri Kamal English 204 Professor Hanan Shanaah April 10, 2011 Censorship When I used to watch cartoons aired on the television, I noticed that sometimes the scenes of the episode aired are repeated, yet the translation is not, making the cartoon look lame since it doesn’t contribute to the story. I asked my big brother about the reason behind that and he said that some scenes may contain some violence, blood, or exposed body parts that the channel, like Spacetoon, wouldn’t want the children to see, so they censor it. Moreover, censorship is not only used in cartoon, it is used also in movies and series to delete sexual content or foul language. In addition, there are many types of censorship, and the types imposed are different from one country to another. Some countries may impose moral censorship; others impose military, political, or religious censorships. Many people would agree on some of the types of censorships enforced in the countries; however, people have the right of freedom of speech and the knowledge behind political issues, so these should not be censored by the country. Censorship is a problem that is known from before World War 1 and it is still a controversial issue with many people who are with the act and laws set regarding censorship and many who are against. Censorship is the restraint over any type of communication like speech regarding many different matters. For example, being against rules set or some political moves that a country...
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...As new technologies evolve and become a part of our daily lives, so do television shows and what people are allowed to view on a regular basis. Censorship, a word that seems to be causing quite some controversy over certain people may not be such a bad idea. As America has seen, a countless amount of people have been known to complain about censorship on television. Although this seems to be a problem to some, maybe the real question to be asked is, is there enough censorship of television? Many families agree that certain rated R movies should not be shown to young children and only certain shows should be censored to an extent, yet they do not see the significant effect that regular television shows really have on their children.As a child grows, more and more statistics are proving that they are being exposed to too many shows that should be censored. Many studies have concluded that young children are most affected by what they see on television (Dritz, Russel 1996). For example, a child that watches a cartoon with a lot of violence or tunes into their parents favorite soap opera might find an increasingly amount of exposure to violent acts and sexual content. Children are very vulnerable to such influences and often do not know the difference between right and wrong and the difference between reality and fantasy (Dritz, Russel 1996). As the years go on and television seems to be too censored to most, studies have continued to prove the increasing numbers of children...
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...The New Media: Distorting Politics Carreon, Elimar Andree L. Valmores, Michael Aldrin S. Hidalgo, Jebb B. Saint Louis College Mr. Al Gerald S. Barde English IV IV – St. Alphonsus of Ligouri October 21, 2011 The New Media: Distorting Politics The crucial function of mass media in influencing public’s knowledge and understanding on global and national issues is indisputable. In the Philippines, media plays a critical and widespread role in daily life (Suguitan, 2007). Suguitan proclaims that it is an understatement to say that the media is merely influential, for it is powerful enough to make or break persons and institutions, and even shape society (2007). Performing as the main source of information, media serves as the medium in which the government informs, explains, and tries to win the support of the people for its programs and policies (Soifer, Hoffman and Voss, 2001). In this jurisdiction, the media is often called the fourth branch of the government for it monitors political matters to ensure political players don’t abuse democratic processes (University of San Francisco, n.d.). According to Political scientist Harold Lasswell, a pioneer in media studies, the media must perform three societal functions: surveillance of the world to report ongoing reports, interpretation of the meaning of events, and socialization of individuals into their cultural settings. Surveillance involves two major tasks. When it constitutes to the need of general public, it...
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...Courtney 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...
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...|Music Censorship | |Final Draft | | | | | | | |Emilee Westerfield | | | |University Composition and Communication II/COM156 | | | |11.18.2012 | | ...
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...Fahrenheit 451 is a criticism of how society in the future could be. Although the novel was first published in 1951, many of the ideas Bradbury proposes are beginning to become true within today’s society. Bradbury touches upon issues such as censorship, technology, and what society holds as valuable. These issues all appear in today’s society because of the media. One of the biggest themes in Fahrenheit 451 is censorship. This theme is shown throughout the book by the firemen. In this book, the firemen stand as leaders and public figures within the society. The firemen are constantly trying to burn all material items that help the masses gain knowledge. Beatty states, “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war” (Bradbury 58). This quote shows how keen the firemen are on censoring the public from any ideas or beliefs that may challenge the status quo. The firemen are concerned that if the public is exposed to the ideas proposed in these books, and hear the other side of the story, that they will stray from the common belief system that was established for the society. Fortunately, in today’s America, censorship...
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...1. What philosophical principle did Google’s managers adopt when deciding that the benefits of operating in China outweighed the costs? When it comes to the benefits outweighing the cost in China from a layman perspective, one could easily say that there is no philosophical principle was adopted, but rather, common sense led them to China. Even though China may have censorship everywhere, the Chinese don't have as many regulations as they do in America or other developed nations. Workers in China earn way less and work longer hours. Google is able to buy property for less in China, too. If anything, Google actually gained money by establishing a branch in China. On the contrary, one could also say that Google’s managers adopt utilitarian approach, because according to utilitarian philosophy, “it focuses attention on the need to weigh carefully all of the social benefits and costs of a business action and to pursue only those actions where the benefits outweigh the costs” (Hill, 2009, p. 144). For Google, they have their own legitimate and logical reasons why they should keep Google’s with the censorship by Chinese government. Without a doubt, China is a huge promising and potential Internet market in the world, where Google can make a great number of profits. Also, Google top managers explain that it’s better to give Chinese users limited information than to give nothing. What’s more, Google managers argue that Google is the only searching engine in China telling users that their...
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