October 9, 2004
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More than ever, I deplore censorship.
Censorship is the act or practice of censoring.
Here’s the definition from Merriam-Webster dot com
One entry found for censor.Main Entry: 2censor
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): cen·sored; cen·sor·ing
/'sen(t)-s&-ri[ng], 'sen(t)s-ri[ng]/: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable
…and here is the dangerously deluded comment from grisaleen that motivated me to post this update of my previous post:
I understand, but if the museum mostly caters to children, then it’s
not in the appropriate museum, no? Shouldn’t you display it
somewhere where the people who see it will understand your
message? You wouldn’t display this sort of thing IN a school, so
why would you take schoolchildren to see it?Basically, I’m saying that the artist will be able to display her work
somewhere that’s more suitable. That’s not censorship. It’s
only censorship if that were the ONLY museum displaying art, or if ALL
museums decided not to display this painting.First of all, I would display
it in a school. What better place? Must we always talk down
to our children and endeavor to keep them ignorant? I would
display it alongside Manet’s Olympia, and invite them to compare and
contrast.
I’m so very glad that not everyone thinks as grisaleen does. In this opinion, I have some powerful backup.
Censorship is the tool of those who
have the need to hide actualities from themselves and others. Their
fear is only their inability to face what is real. Somewhere in their
upbringing they were shielded against the total facts of our
experience. They were only taught to look one way when many ways exist.
Charles BukowskiThus if the First Amendment means anything in this field, it must allow
protests even against the moral code that the standard of the day sets
for the community. In other words, literature should not be suppressed
merely because it offends the moral code of the censor.
William O. DouglasThe great and invigorating influences in American life have been the
unorthodox: the people who challenge an existing institution or way of
life, or say and do things that make people think.
William O. DouglasThe way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth.
William O. DouglasThe danger of censorship in cultural media increases in proportion to
the degree to which one approaches the winning of a mass audience.
James FarrellAll despotisms should be considered problems of mental hygiene, and all
support of censorship should be considered as problems of abnormal
psychology
Theodore SchroederCensorship always protects and perpetuates every horror of the
prevailing forms of oppression. With us, its subtle disguises increase
its evils by creating delusions of safety, liberty and democracy. It
precludes that intelligence which is necessary to hasten wholesome and
natural social evolution.
Theodore SchroederLiberty of thought means liberty to communicate one’s thought.
Salvador de Madariaga
Fear of corrupting the mind of the younger generation is the loftiest form of cowardice.
Holbrook Jackson
Censorship is like an appendix. When inert, it is useless; when active it is extremely dangerous.
Maurice EdelmanCensorship is the commonest social blasphemy because it is mostly
concealed, built into us by indolence, self-interest, and cowardice.
John OsborneDid you ever hear anyone say, “That work had better be banned because I might read it and it might be very damaging to me”?
Joseph Henry Jackson
There is nothing that dies so hard and rallies so often as intolerance.
The vices and passions which it summons to its support are the most
ruthless and the most persistent harbored in the human breast. They
sometimes sleep but they never seem to die. Anything, any extraordinary
situation, any unnecessary controversy, may light those fires again and
plant in our republic that which has destroyed every republic which
undertook to nurse it.
William E. BorahExperience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty
when the government’s purposes are beneficient. Men born to freedom are
naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded
rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment
by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.
Louis D. BrandeisThere’s more, much more. I still haven’t found my favorite quote
on censorship. First I’ll have to recall who said it.
Comments (3)
Here’s another quote, I don’t recall from whom–”No girl was ever ruined by a book.”
BTW, I started another Melody frag, got it maybe half done, I’ll finish it up Monday, I hope.
Manet’s Olympia is one of my favorite paintings. Have you seen Venus of Urbino? Olympia was a take on that painting, with the subject being naked as opposed to nude. Everything in Olympia points towards the subject being a whore; the slippers, the flowers from an admirer, the black cat–but the woman herself has such a look of defiance. As I said–one of my favorites.
It is my strong belief that children should be taught at an early age the difference between nudity and nakedness, and between art and gratuity. Intent is the key to everything, which is why I never found Michelangelo’s David in any way offensive. The intent was to show “perfect” proportion and physical condition–the perfect man. Personally, I think his proportions could have been a little larger in some places.
p.s. Whoa. Sorry about the rambling.
I would have no problem with my son seeing that painting, especially since he’s only 17 months old and hasn’t had his innocent brain corrupted by our perverted yet puritanical society. Those classics are an excellent opportunity for education, if parents and teachers had the balls for it.
Censorship is for pansy asses. There are things I don’t want my son to see, like R rated violent movies full of explosions and graphic simulated sex, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t see them, or that he can’t go see them when he’s old enough. *shrug* Rate it, give people the means to make their own choices, and GIVE them the choice, that’s what I say.