Poll: Censorship?

[Dys]

Umm, censorship is different from a TV station deciding to edit films before they air them, or radios editing songs to make it appropriate for a younger audience (not to say that isn't annoying, but it's hardly censorship worth commenting on). It is more editing or banning some form of media completely, with it being illegal/impossible to attain the original version.

Censorship is certain games being completely banned in Australia, banning political enemies from public forums or banning a song (or music album) from sale due to the content (be it of a violent, extremist or sexually explicit nature). It is a direct violation of freedom of speech and should be purged completely from all civilization.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

I think you don't know what censorship means. It has nothing to do with blood in TV shows. It's all about prohibiting certain ideas, texts, religions etc.

Oh, and the Silent Hill movie wasn't gory at all. Can't image what could have been cut out except for 2-3 very small scenes.
But... how does gore scare people? I don't get it. :/

Last time Silent Hill was on British tv half the Pyramid Head and Alesa bits were cut out. It was on at about midnight when the next day was a school day, so I can't see why they did that, it's not like loads of little kids were likely to see it at that time.
Censorship is to me a lot like political correctness. It was probably thought up for a very good reason but has been missused and abused to the point where it is the problem rather than the solution.
Some governments in particular are way to eager to censor stuff for know sensible reason. There are one or two things that I think there is some justification to censor, but they are in a tiny minority. If people are going to be offended, they should not watch something, simple as that. If parents are worried about what they're kids see, then check the age ratings, monitor them on the internet and be warey if they're watching after the watershed, don't screw around with everything just 'cause you're to lazy/thick to keep control of your kids.

 

[[Cold-Shoulder]]

I am of the position that nothing should be censored, at all. Not Gory movies, not japanese rape games or rape scenes in other mediums, absolutely nothing. The only thing i find acceptable is sticking a warning on it saying "this might give you or your kids nightmares" and leave it at that. People should have an absolute freedom in making whatever they want, even though it might disturb some weak-minded person. Better to have no censorship at all than having nothing to watch but "Captain Bland's Monotonous Adventure" on tv and then playing "Captain Bland's Monotonous Adventure - The Game" - Shamelessly borrowed from Yahtzee Which is what we're heading toward, slowly but surely.

There is such a thing as japanese rape games?!?! Who would play a game like that?!?!
You have a good idea but everyone know that it is never going to happen.
My ideas are similar to yours but a few things are censored like rape scenes and japanese rape games never exist.
And welcome to the escapist

 

[goatzilla8463]

-snip-

As right as you are, consider this:

I'm 14 and I live in England, a place where censors are used.

I still find ways to get 18 games and watch 18 movies. Also, I know about sex, drugs and the general shit-ness that is humanity. In fact, I'm probably not a very good human at all.

So I still think censors are obselete.

 

[Dory16]

I am a mature 16 year old who doesn't have a problem with a bit of violence/bad language/sex/gore etc., but should I choose to watch a film or play a game which contains more than a bit of this stuff (ie an 18), I have to get my dad to buy it for me. There is none of my moral fibre or innocence left to be ruined frankly, so why the government feel the need to continue to protect me is ridiculous. If someone wants to do something, the government should not have the right to prevent them from doing so, and call it protection.

Ok, 6 year olds should probably not watch Antichrist or Bruno, but the government have Far more important things to do than stopping them. I know it's a cliche, but leave that stuff to the parents.

 

[thedo12]

I hate, it and it has gotten in my way of my purchasing games.

I went to my local game store recentaly, and picked up assassins creed, and ninja gaiden 2, when I went to purchase the games, they asked for a photo id. Since I don't have a drivers lisence the only option I could possibly have is my passport and I don't exactly carry that around with me.Long story short, I had to settle for soul calibur 4 and naruto 2.(not exactly good games)

Im 18 years old , and I can't buy mature rated games unless i have my parent's with me, this is why censorship must die.

 

[Wadders]

-snip-

As right as you are, consider this:

I'm 14 and I live in England, a place where censors are used.

I still find ways to get 18 games and watch 18 movies. Also, I know about sex, drugs and the general shit-ness that is humanity. In fact, I'm probably not a very good human at all.

So I still think censors are obselete.

You make a good point. I'm 18 and I also live in England, but like you (and 99.99% of the population) I was aware of the "sex, drugs and the general shit-ness that is humanity" long before I was 18. However, did your parents let you watch Certificate 18 films, or buy 18 rated games for you? or did you access them in other ways?

My parents were reluctant to let me access 18 rated stuff, but I managed. Thats where censorship, as far as preserving kids innocence goes, falls down. The censors can do all they want to stop it getting in to the hands of kids, but parents can easily bypass all of that, and if they don't want to, the kids will go to their mates house and watch it over there instead.

That doesn't mean that censorship of things like film and TV should cease altogether though. It can work, and its the principle that counts. If there was no censorship, and games that would have been 18 rated could be bought by a 10 year old walking into GAME or whatever, then I'm sure there would be an uproar from parents and the media, asking why we were exposing kids to this kind of stuff at such an early age. Censorship may not stop kids knowing about more mature things, but I think it stems the tide a little, and allows them to be eased into the adult world, rather than be bombarded with images of extreme violence, sex drugs whatever in their formative years.

Short, less garbled and less disorganized response:

Yes, I agree, but that doesn't mean censorship should cease to exist.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Australia gets a lot of crap when it comes to censorship, especially with games. We can't get any games deserving an R18+ rating meaning no Silent Hill 5 (legally anyway) and we nearly didn't get Fallout 3. There are a few other games we aren't getting but most people don't care about those. No More Heroes has black blood because red blood would be to violent. Wooo scary, heaven forbid we have a game with red blood... like nearly every other violent video game ever made.

someone remind me of the name please

You might be thinking of Heat [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_(1995_film)]. Man, that was an awesome scene.

 

[Shycte]

No kind of media should ever be censored. It should be up to the parents to decide what they think their kid can see, hear or play.

 

[Epitome]

Australia gets a lot of crap when it comes to censorship, especially with games. We can't get any games deserving an R18+ rating meaning no Silent Hill 5 (legally anyway) and we nearly didn't get Fallout 3. There are a few other games we aren't getting but most people don't care about those. No More Heroes has black blood because red blood would be to violent. Wooo scary, heaven forbid we have a game with red blood... like nearly every other violent video game ever made.

someone remind me of the name please

You might be thinking of Heat [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_(1995_film)]. Man, that was an awesome scene.

If he wa sthinking of Heat then there is no fucking point in that movie if your going to censor the heist the whole thing leads up to!!?? Yeah i saw the leaked draft of teh websites your government plans to filter all in teh name of removing child porn and preserving decency, alot of them seemed more about preserving government policy and unwanted information. wikileaks was almost banned wasnt it? Why dont they stick an M stamp on it and let you have at whatever you want though, moreover why do people accept that the government gets first dibs on what you can/cannot see?

 

[crooked_ferret]

Censorship is a weird thing and strangely cultural, as you will notice different things/themes being censored in different media forms around the world.
For instance in America horrific deplorable graphic violence barely gets noticed.
but if someone shows a boob, you better run for cover.

Where as in japan strange freaky sexual situations appear to be fine so long as you blur out genitalia.

I think all the standards are a bit off personally.
...but then again I'm apparently a foul-mouthed pervert...

 

[Sipo]

FUCK censorship

 

[Krakyn]

It doesn't have to be just censorship on T.V., it can be censorship on anything such as games and the Internet.

Censorship on TV is different than censorship in games, books, films, and on the internet. Most likely, censorship on TV has a work-around. You can go buy the DVD for the show or movie and get the uncensored clips...in the other instances, there is no way to work around it if every source is censored.

I understand that censorship can come from the good intentions of protection, but it can also come from greed, like a ruling organization (see: totalitarian government or Catholic Church) not wanting ideals that undermine them to spread. As long as there's a way for us to freely exchange information and work around censors to see full versions, I can accept minor censorship...like I understand that TV is censored for little kids.

 

[j0z]

I think theintentions are good, but it doesn't work. I saw Terminator 1 & 2 when I was like 3, had MGS when I was like 12. Do I run around killing people? No, except my enemies . I regularly watched R rated movies throughout my childhood.
The whole idea of protecting kid's innocence goes out the window when they start school, since there will always be that one kid that ruins it.
I live in America, and I can turn on the TV and see a hundred acts of violence in no time, and it is perfectly acceptable in current society. But for some reason, we try to keep the sex covered and stuffed in the closet.
Why is it that we are allowed to watch people die (taking of a life) but we hide sex (creation of life) ?

 

[Fire Daemon]

If he wa sthinking of Heat then there is no fucking point in that movie if your going to censor the heist the whole thing leads up to!!?? Yeah i saw the leaked draft of teh websites your government plans to filter all in teh name of removing child porn and preserving decency, alot of them seemed more about preserving government policy and unwanted information. wikileaks was almost banned wasnt it? Why dont they stick an M stamp on it and let you have at whatever you want though, moreover why do people accept that the government gets first dibs on what you can/cannot see?

Yeah, Australia is going crazy with protecting the children from the Internet. I don't think we'll ever get as bad as China but still, the Government shouldn't b telling people what they can and can not look at. At the moment it seems like the Internet filter is a failure though, people who had a go in the trial said that it slowed down their speeds so much that that they took it off rather quickly.

 

[crooked_ferret]

Do I run around killing people? No, except my enemies .

yeah you should be careful though I mean do you want them digging up the skeletons in your closet... well that's a bit premature they're just corpses now they won't be skeletons for awhile yet...

 

[Epitome]

Yeah, Australia is going crazy with protecting the children from the Internet. I don't think we'll ever get as bad as China but still, the Government shouldn't b telling people what they can and can not look at. At the moment it seems like the Internet filter is a failure though, people who had a go in the trial said that it slowed down their speeds so much that that they took it off rather quickly.

Heres hoping, here in Ireland Isps and media labels decided they could cut off my internet based on shoddy evidence with no appeal system and zero legal interference. It was a volountary agreement so the Government has no say. Ill get the usual they are only after pirates the innocent have nothing to fear speech from some1 oim sure, but my point is if 3rd parties can force ISPs under threat of lawsuits to filter what they consider objectionable content how far will it go? Bloggers being cut off because they are taking from newspapers, etc?

 

[Rigs83]

I live in America where censorship is insane.
A tiny glimpse of the naked female body=PG 13 rating
The naked male human body or sex scenes= R rating
Talking about sex=R Rating
John Water's film talking about sex=NC-17 Rating
Intense Depictions of Very Bad Weather [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117998/]=PG-13 rating
Independent film=NC-17
Studio Film=PG-13

 

[space_oddity]

FUCK censorship

I cant find a way to phrase this more succinctly.
This, forever this.