US Censor Increasingly Controls What We View (1.5mb Thread)

spudthedestroyer

US Censor Increasingly Controls What We View
This is followed by a list of the 50 "most controversial movies". The article is to tie in with a cinema release of a documentary on censorship (which the MPAA got in trouble for for pirating :roll:

), called "The Film is Not Yet Rated" which goes on release from September 1st at selected screens in the uk.

The following is an article and censorship highlights that was published in "The Knowledge" magazine that came in The Times newspaper on Saturday. It outlines the effect that self-imposed american censorship is having on the rest of the world where censorship isn't seen as a way of pandering to Religious ideology or puritanical values. In face of laxing of the BBFC and the realisation that its job isn't to dictate what people should watch, the MPAA is tighting censorship and restricting uncensored prints from getting a real rating by a more liberal censorship board.

Please do not mirror this thread at other sites, don't want to have to keep uploading these scans - link if you want to pass the info on

jimnealer · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:43 am **Post subject:**

I don't understand this magazine. It shows titties but censors a word?(fuck/f**k). Interesting. Also, Pink Flamingos should be on the list (among other movies).

Malignus · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:05 am **Post subject:**

Censorship reminds me of Nazis burning the 'politically incorrect' books. Today it's not about the books, but movies, and the 'Nazis' are now called MPAA and BBFC. :moon:

kamlem · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:52 am **Post subject:**

Censorship quotes

Quote:

As to the evil which results from a censorship, it is impossible to measure it, for it is impossible to tell where it ends.
Jeremy Bentham

Censorship is advertising paid by the government.
Federico Fellini

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but unlike charity, it should end there.
Clare Boothe Luce

Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.
George Bernard Shaw

Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books nobody reads.
George Bernard Shaw

Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever.
Nadine Gordimer

A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.
Granville Hicks

I believe in censorship. After all, I made a fortune out of it.
Mae West

Censors tend to do what only psychotics do: they confuse reality with illusion.
David Cronenberg

The censor's sword pierces deeply into the heart of free expression.
Earl Warren

Literature should not be suppressed merely because it offends the moral code of the censor.
William Orville Douglas

The sooner we all learn to make a decision between disapproval and censorship, the better off society will be... Censorship cannot get at the real evil, and it is an evil in itself.
Granville Hicks

Censorship, I believe, is the most dangerous enemy to all human communication, and piety of intention is probably the most dangerous, the most virulent and the most self-satisfying.
Chuck Jones

We live in oppressive times. We have, as a nation, become our own thought police; but instead of calling the process by which we limit our expression of dissent and wonder 'censorship', we call it 'concern for commercial viability'.
David Mamet

...the interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.
John Paul Stevens

Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.
Potter Stewart

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:26 pm **Post subject:**

Malignus wrote:

Censorship reminds me of Nazis burning the 'politically incorrect' books. Today it's not about the books, but movies, and the 'Nazis' are now called MPAA and BBFC. :moon:

I dunno about the BBFC, before the reform, yes... now? They seem to let most things through that should be coming through, and keeping out the stuff that probably shouldn't so i can't complain.

My only complaint about the BBFC is that they don't get to work with uncut prints, and that's not really something they can help.

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:28 pm **Post subject:**

jimnealer wrote:

I don't understand this magazine. It shows titties but censors a word?(fuck/f**k). Interesting. Also, Pink Flamingos should be on the list (among other movies).

Its a national newspaper, and its english based, so largely films that were controversial in the uk.

vnorske · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:47 pm **Post subject:**

Oh! I didn't expect the Life of Brian!

Nobody expects the most controversial movies. Our chief weapon is suprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.

jimnealer · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:01 pm **Post subject:**

kamlem wrote:

Censorship quotes

I'll add one more.

"Censoring what you say is one of the ways in which people who are not nice can take away your personal freedom." - Frank Zappa

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:16 pm **Post subject:**

Quote:

Oh! I didn't expect the Life of Brian!

Banned in Ireland. So is Meaning of Life for the "every sperm is sacred" bit about the catholics and the protestants. :lol:

vnorske · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:54 am **Post subject:**

spudthedestroyer wrote:

Quote:

Oh! I didn't expect the Life of Brian!

Banned in Ireland. So is Meaning of Life for the "every sperm is sacred" bit about the catholics and the protestants. :lol:

I didn't know that, this is disgusting. I hate religion...

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:07 pm **Post subject:**

Well you'll know the IRA stuff, and the whole catholic irish vs the protestant english-irish.

maxpayne2409 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:35 pm **Post subject:**

spudthedestroyer wrote:

They seem to let most things through that should be coming through, and keeping out the stuff that probably shouldn't

Isn't that the whole point that people are getting at though? there is nothing that should and shouldn't come through, it's all down to choice about what a person feels they can handle?

i do find it amusing the way they censor sex in 18 rated films, yet in porn which is also 18 rated you can see a helluva lot more hardcore sexual content.
Now don't get me wrong i appreciate that when someone goes to watch porn they pretty much expect ti to be all hardcore sex etc, and sex isn't always vital to a mainstream movie to move it along, but the theory is still there, if someone who is 18 can watch porn and at the same age watch films with scenes of simulated sex in them get edited i just don't see the logic

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:21 am **Post subject:**

The problem is christianity for a large part. The BBFC has freed itself from this evil for the most part, but in the states puritanical censorship happens in abundance. In terms of censorship, I don't think that anything like simulated violence or sex needs censoring, but the issue is should there be censorship, and the answer is yes... until society evolves you can't really not have it.

Whilst i subscribe to the libertarian view on most things (libertarian being let people do whatever they want for those that don't know), on censorship two words destory ANY argument against it. Child pornography. Yes censorship is justified.

Unfortunately, its a necessary evil. I don't see any viable alternative in preventing such things. I only support censorship in the protection of any serious laws broken in the production of the obscene material. I think its the only time censorship stands up as the only viable solution, and destroys any argument against it. There is no arguement for child pornography. I don't think there's many others, but that alone means that censorship is necessary.

So no, some stuff really needs banning and i've yet to find an alternative to censorship. Even sealand censors child porn and they have no laws :lol:

maxpayne2409 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:41 am **Post subject:**

what? i think you maybe missed my point, i wasn't saying porn should be shown at mainstream cinemas or anything like that, i was commenting on how porn is rated with the same 18 certificate as other movies, so why do they cut out simulated sex in movies. i'm not talking about law breaking as what you speak of is against the law but i dont seem to recall there being any laws about excessive sex in movies between adults.

incidently its funny this should appear today as in the newspaper there was an article about companies going through old cartoons like flintstones, tom & jerry etc and removing all traces of smoking so as not to "portray smoking as fun to kids" (coz you know watching a mouse run a cat through a cheese grater or setting him alight with a match is perfectly ok). It specifically mentioned cartoons from the 40s where tom is trying to impress a lady cat and is seen rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it, and fred flintstone lighting up a cigar for recreation. Whats the world coming too

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:07 am **Post subject:**

Wonder if they'll censor pattie and selma in simpsons then, just watching series 4 and they smoke like chimneys.

maxpayne2409 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:36 am **Post subject:**

hmmm who knows, most likely will eventually, also what will they do with regards to the already released dvds? a recall of ones currently unsold? or just leave them and start releasing "friendly" ones

for that matter what about sherlock holmes, will they just ban him as he permanently smokes a pipe? can you imagine casablanca with all the smoking scenes removed, would last about 3 minutes :lol:

fierysky · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:36 am **Post subject:**

spudthedestroyer wrote:

Whilst i subscribe to the libertarian view on most things (libertarian being let people do whatever they want for those that don't know), on censorship two words destory ANY argument against it. Child pornography. Yes censorship is justified.

Actually, while not a libertarian myself, the technical libertarion argument is (I think) that people should be allowed to do whatever they please as long as it does not directly and negatively harm another person. Since child pornography harms whoever is involved in the pornography itself, you can still be 100% anti-censorship with that libertarian viewpoint, as fictional violence and smoking and swearing and sex harms nobody, but child abuse and molestation does harm somebody.

maxpayne2409 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:38 am **Post subject:**

fierysky wrote:

but child abuse and molestation does harm somebody.

yeah it hurts michael jackson, "it's just a little jesus juice" :lol:

spudthedestroyer · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:33 pm **Post subject:**

fierysky wrote:

spudthedestroyer wrote:

Whilst i subscribe to the libertarian view on most things (libertarian being let people do whatever they want for those that don't know), on censorship two words destory ANY argument against it. Child pornography. Yes censorship is justified.

Actually, while not a libertarian myself, the technical libertarion argument is (I think) that people should be allowed to do whatever they please as long as it does not directly and negatively harm another person. Since child pornography harms whoever is involved in the pornography itself, you can still be 100% anti-censorship with that libertarian viewpoint, as fictional violence and smoking and swearing and sex harms nobody, but child abuse and molestation does harm somebody.

ah rite, you see, the thing is, organisations like nambla.org (yes south park fans, they are real) argue it doesn't harm children as long as they agree you see.

I guess your right though, it probably still comes under libertarian.

collie · **Posted:** Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:58 am **Post subject:**

One point in the article, about the rating of already edited versions (cut versions being shown on silverscreen):
In my opinion studios do that on purpose. Cause they want to sell us first a ticket for the theater and later on the DVD with the Director's Cut/Unrated Version.
So the movie industry is to blame as they aren't interested in movies as a work of art, but only wnat to maximize their profits.

Funny thing to me is that a lot of these formerly banned and controversial films are nowadays seen as cult classics.

btw - Seems to me that it's getting harder and harder for filmmakers to really shock the audience, as "we've seen it all". Surely a horror board is filled with people, that can't be shocked, but I think this is a widespread phenomenon.
Reality is more shocking nowadays than it has ever been, so it's hard to beat that with fiction...

US Censor Increasingly Controls What We View (1.5mb Thread)

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