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Sept. 30, 2021 4:27 pm ET

In Great Art Doesnt Care About Fairness, Equality or Identity (op-ed, Sept. 25), James Campbell writes, It is surely one of the strangest of recent cultural phenomena that, whereas it was traditionally young radicals who fought to throw off the shackles of censorship, it is their radical heirs who lead the campaign to fasten them on again.

There is nothing strange about it. Those young radicals of the 1960s to whom Mr. Campbell refers were not fighting for free speech. They were exploiting Americas commitment to free speech to spread their own radical leftist beliefs. Now that they have completed their long march through the institutions, giving them near-monopoly control of the propagation of ideas in the U.S., they find that freedom of speech has become something of an inconvenience. That pesky thing called truth keeps rearing its head. Better to stifle the opposition altogether. Welcome to the revolution.

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Censorship and the Possibility of Great Art - The Wall Street Journal

China will ban games that include same-sex relationship, effeminate men and is looking to crack down ... [+] on anything the state deems immoral.

China is set to crack down on video games with content the state deems immoral. According to a leaked memo, games must have correct values in order to be approved by the Chinese government, as well as an accurate understanding of Chinese history and culture.

The memo was leaked to The South China Morning Post, and details the types of content the governments regulators will no longer approve. This includes:

Sorry Mass Effect, you tick off all these boxes.

This comes after China recently announced new regulations to the amount of online gaming kids and teens are allowed to play in a week to just three hours. China has also cracked down on TV, banning effeminate or sissy men and instructing broadcasters to promote excellent Chinese traditional culture instead.

Ive written about censorship plenty in the past, though more frequently about efforts in the US to have problematic content banned (where it is thankfully much harder to do). I think Chinas censoriousness can help serve as a cautionary tale for anyone not sold on the importance of free speech.

Most recently, I wrote about the Geena Davis Institutes report on violent video games and how video games reinforce notions of toxic masculinity.

"Hyperexposure to these kinds of tropes is very impactful," Davis said during a fireside chat discussing the report. "What we're exposed to over and over becomes a sort of reality for us. Media and games, the things we see in our popular culture, have a tremendous impact in shaping who we are. So as you can imagine, playing these games over and over or watching people play these games can have a significant impact about what you think is the actual way that men should be, or what masculinity should look like."

Its curious to see how much Davis and the Chinese state agree (and it was Ashely Judd saying this before Davis). Both believe that video games impact our understanding of masculinity. Davis worries that games will make men and boys more violent and sexist; the Communist Party in China is concerned that games will make men sissies. They have diametrically opposed views other than this belief that games cause some form of real world harm and must be regulated to prevent that harm.

The same goes with a new open letter to Rockstar Gameswhich I discuss on my YouTube channelfrom a group of LGBTQ+ game devs in the UK asking the studio to remove harmful transphobic content from the Enhanced version of GTA V.

Then there is the attempt, by a surprising number of game developers and media, to ban or deplatform the upcoming tactical shooter Six Days In Fallujah because they believe it will somehow inflict harm on Arabic people and Muslims.

Rewind further and you may recall the tale of Hatred, a game about a guy going out and killing innocent people thats little more than a murder simulator. People wanted that game banned and for a moment, Valve compliedpulling Hatred from its digital shelf, though only briefly. Valve boss Gabe Newell intervened and Hatred was returned to Steam, though it received an Adults Only rating, something typically reserved for graph sexual content.

At the time, I wrote: Getting excited over games being banned, censored, or otherwise restricted is a lot more troubling to me than killing pixels.

Because in a video game thats all you can ever do. Whether youre shooting people in Call Of Duty, brutalizing orcs in Shadow of Mordor or demon-slaying in DOOM, at the end of the day its all just pixels and the act of killing pixelswith a gamepad or mouse-and-keyboardis a far cry from doing the real thing. If GTA V made us all car thieves and killers wed have 100 million murderers on our hands.

Australia banned Hotline Miami 2 over a rape scene in that incredibly bloody and violent game. But that scene, like the game itself, is parody. We do not need the government to pick and choose whats appropriate for us to see or read or play, if for no other reason than the fact that the state is not subtle or nuanced enough to distinguish whats satire and whats not.

A Clockwork Orange

It is impossible to balance the scales between security and freedom in a way that satisfies everyone. If we are worried that art can cause harm, its a natural instinct to censor art in order to prevent harm. But someone always has to define what harm means and who is threatened by it.

The Chinese governments definition is very different from Geena Daviss or Ashley Judds. China wants to ban same-sex romances while Out Gaming wants Rockstar to self-censor GTA V because it includes trans sex workers. The motives may be different but the results are the same: Censorship of art in the name of preventing harm due to the misguided belief that games make people violent or toxic or gay or whatever.

At my Substack, we have a Book Club and our first book was Anthony Burgesss A Clockwork Orange. I chose this novel for a few reasons. All the books in the Book Club have movie adaptations that we can watch and compare, and Stanley Kubricks film version is excellent and controversial (the second entry is Starship Troopersyou should absolutely subscribe!). But I was also interested in Burgesss dystopia and what it says about the importance of human freedom.

Burgess believed that if we took away the ability to choose between good and evil we would become no more than a clockwork orange, not a person at all. How can we truly be good if we have no choice in the matter? We are little more than a machine at that point. Its our agency, our free will, that allows us to be truly good. We must have the ability to eat the forbidden fruit in order to turn it down.

When the film was released in the UK it caused a moral panic. There were reports of copycats dressing up like Alex and his droogs and calls for the film to be banned. Anthony Burgess said at the time:

To try and fasten any responsibility on art as the cause of life seems to me to put the case the wrong way around. Art consists of reshaping life, but it does not create life, nor cause life. Furthermore, to attribute powerful suggestive qualities to a film is at odds with the scientifically accepted view that, even after deep hypnosis in a posthypnotic state, people cannot be made to do things which are at odds with their natures.

In other words, while some bad people might take inspiration from A Clockwork Orange, they were already bad. The movie didnt make them bad anymore than a video game will make you a car thief or a killer. Most people will not watch A Clockwork Orange and leave the theater a rapist or a killer or a thug.

As I have written on countless occasions, the rise in popularity of video games can be correlated directly to the drop in violent crime. Correlation is not causation, obviously, but the fact remains that as weve found new, relatively inexpensive ways to entertain ourselvesfrom games to streaming servicesviolent crime has fallen. If games caused real world violence, surely we would see that actually play out in the real world.

Chinas regulations will greatly diminish the types of games Chinese gamers will be able to legally play. We should condemn this, naturally, but its important to remember why theyre doing it in the first place: To prevent harm, to enforce their version of what is morally right and good.

We may believe that our version of censorship is the good kind, that we are only trying to stop bad games from getting released or that were doing it to help women or children or the most vulnerable in society. But power doesnt work like that and we cant always assume that the good guysaka the people we agree withwill always be in charge.

Censorship, unlike art, really is a form of violence. We forget that at our own peril.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook. You can support my work on Patreon and sign up for my newsletter on Substack. Subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

Read more from the original source:
China Is Banning Same-Sex Relationships And 'Effeminate' Men From Video Games - Forbes

Hannah Michelle BussaNEWS EDITOR

Banned Books Week was celebrated Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 this year.

Sam Petto, the Communications Director for the ACLU of Nebraska, said Banned Books Week is an annual celebration of the freedom to read and a reminder that local governments and school districts all too often attempt to ban books when they dislike their ideas, their words or the viewpoints they feature.

The week is important because it reminds us that we all need to take an active role in defending open access to information and our right to free expression, he said.

Tammi Owens, the Outreach and Instruction Librarian and Associate Professor at UNO, said many of the books that end up on most-challenged lists contain diverse content.

These diverse perspectives offer windows into other lives or echo our own experiences, and its so important for everyone to have access to those stories, she said. Perhaps especially so for people, young adults in particular, who see themselves in those stories but live in communities with people who may want to censor those ideas.

The American Library Association keeps track of the efforts to ban books. Petto said these numbers show common themes.

Books featuring the perspectives of people who are LGBTQ, people of color and people belonging to certain faith traditions are most frequently challenged, he said. What does that tell us? Censorship often targets the viewpoints of those who are already most marginalized. To fix our most challenging societal issues, we need education and free expression, not censorship.

Petto said it is fortunate that government censorship is unconstitutional.

The law is absolutely clear on that point and groups like the ACLU are here to defend your First Amendment rights when theyre violated, he said.

Many popular books have been banned.

It sounds bizarre to anyone who had childhood dreams of getting their letter from Hogwarts, but nationally, the ACLU has defeated efforts to take the Harry Potter series out of school libraries, Petto said.

Omaha author Rainbow Rowells book Eleanor & Park has been challenged in several school districts. Petto said Rowell links resources on her website to help students resist those censorship efforts.

Beth Black, the owner of The Bookworm, said Banned Books Week is important to remind people of the importance of free speech and the expression of ideas.

Often, the objection to a specific book, especially in the schools, comes from a single person who is imposing their beliefs and opinions on the majority, she said. I feel that the objection of one should not be imposed on the masses.

Black said open communication allows both parties to express their ideas and beliefs, while the lack of communication is both divisive and destructive. Censoring ideas ends communication.

As an independent bookstore owner and as an American citizen, I do feel that censorship is wrong, she said.

She said books shouldnt simply be judged by todays standards. Books written decades ago still need to be discussed, while keeping in mind the time in which it was written.

Weve come a long way, but its important to remember where we came from, she said.

Petto said Banned Books Week isnt just about books its about free expression and having the right to discuss and consider all kinds of ideas and information.

That right takes constant defending, he said. Case in point: UNO students recently helped stop a University of Nebraska Board of Regents resolution that would have chilled classroom conversations of racism and whitewashed history.

Petto said state leaders have already said theyll attempt to pass similar legislation next year focusing on K-12 schools, denying those students an inclusive education.

Ideas are powerful and its not the governments role to pick winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas, he said. Thats why well always be ready to defend your right to free expression.

The top ten most banned books for the past twenty years can be found here.

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Banned Books Week - Gateway - The Gateway

The COVID-19 Pandemic has served the Democrats well. With a Karl Marx mentality, they agree with censorship of medical and legal professionals who disagree with the vaccine or how it should be administered. Seniors and those with other health issues should take the chance and get vaccinated. They are the ones dying in great numbers.

The vaccine proponents ignore those that are exempt, including congress, the senate, Hollywood actors, and Illegal immigrants, including millions in our sanctuary cities. We are not told all the ingredients in the vaccine or the side effects and not told why the manufacturers cannot be sued. Its the reason people like Bill Gates and now eight more new billionaires exist because Moderna, Pfizer and J&J are sure investments for them.

Tell us all the facts and dont censor anyone with the medical, scientific and legal credentials that dont agree with the likes of Biden, Fauci and their minions. With true transparency, we can choose to get our families vaccinated or not. Proponents claim the vaccine is safe. If true, make them liable, like with all other drugs. Then the distrust might dissipate. A simple solution that we should all agree on: Stop the censorship.

(Donald Siracusa is a Bay Terrace resident.)

More:
Stop the vaccine censorship to gain our trust (letter to the editor) - silive.com

By most accounts, Minamata is a pretty good movie. Its a dramatization of the story of real-life photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who in 1971 was dispatched to the Japanese fishing village of Minamata to chronicle the impact of mercury poisoning by the Chisso Chemical Company.

What resulted was a shocking series of photographs that exposed the crime to the world, despite the company trying to block Smith at every turn. Ordinarily, this would be classic Oscar bait: a sober prestige picture about corporate greed with a heavyweight actor at the helm.

But, unfortunately for Minamata, that heavyweight actor is Johnny Depp. Depps reputation has crumbled over the last few years, particularly after the UK High Court ruled that it wasnt libelous to call him a wife-beater, promptly followed by him losing his appeal against the decision.

Minamatawas soon removed from festival schedules and director Andrew Levitas says MGM went out of their way to bury the movie in the US. Heres his letter to the studio:

In re-exposing their pain in the sharing of their story, this long marginalised community hoped for only one thing to lift history from the shadows so that other innocents would never be afflicted as they have and it seemed in that moment, with MGMs partnership, a decades-long wish was finally coming true. Now, imagine the devastation when they learned this past week, that despite an already successful global roll out, MGM had decided to bury the film (acquisitions head Mr. Sam Wollmans words) because MGM was concerned about the possibility that the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them and that from MGMs perspective the victims and their families were secondary to this.

Australian photojournalist Stephen Dupont feels its particularly insulting that this story wont get the audience it deserves, saying that he enjoyed the movie, that the pain of the real-life victims of the poisoning has been ignored, and that MGM is engaged in censorship:

MGM is not just punishing Depp but everyone else, the other actors, the director, the cinematographer, writers, all those involved. Even if the allegations were true, I wouldnt change my opinion. With Depp what were talking about is a marriage breakdown, something that lots of people go through all around the world, the only difference is that theyre not celebrities. Its a sad state of censorship in a far too critical world where, god forbid, if you say or do anything the wrong way, or make a mistake, and youre crucified every which way. Lets get these things into perspective.

Its a fair point, though in my eyes theres a difference between saying something the wrong way and beating the crap out of your wife.

Anyway, theres a chance Minamata might one day get its moment in the spotlight. Depp is pinning his hopes on a titanic clash with ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022. Depp is suing Heard for $50M over a Washington Post op-ed she wrote about her experience as a victim of domestic violence. Shes filed a $100 million counterclaim, also alleging defamation and that Johnny was responsible for a social media effort to tarnish her career by getting her booted offAquaman 2.

Perhaps if Depp is vindicated in a domestic court he can begin rebuilding his reputation and Minamata will be reappraised by audiences. Though, honestly, I wouldnt get your hopes up too much.

See the original post here:
MGM Accused Of Censorship After Burying Johnny Depp's Latest Movie - We Got This Covered