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Censorship

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Submitted By ckendrick
Words 1800
Pages 8
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 be free and to do what they want to do. America is known as a free country because everyone race, age, and gender are equal. Censorship is something that has been debated over for years. There is always something that has been "exposed" that should not have been, or something that was not revealed that should have been. There is a constant argument over what should be censored and what

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