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Indian censorship of film continues apace.

The Central Board of Film Certification in India under is commonly referred to as the Censor Board. A quick glance at some of its heavily debated recent decisions will elucidate why. While primary role of the CBFC is to provide certification for different categories of films, it is also entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that films do transgressone of the express restrictions of free speech in India. This has meant that from time to time, the CBFC has withheldpermission for the screening of films or requested specific cuts and changes to the story. More recently, this has become commonplace rather than the exception.

The biggest theme that the CBFC under Chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani appears to be at war against depictions of sexuality. Recently, the film The Danish Girl was denied the required certification to be aired on TV as its topic was declared as overly sensitive and accordingly requiredtoo many cuts. The film looks at sex reassignment and gender dysphoria. Ka Bodyscapeswas similarly denied certification as it apparently glorified homosexual relationships and contained vulgarity, depicted Hinduism in a derogatory manner, and also depicted a Muslim woman masturbating.

This war is not just against depictions of desire among sexual minorities, as evidenced by the CBFCs halt on the screening of Lipstick Under My Burkha. The stated reason for this ban was that the film was too lady-oriented and had abusive words, audio pornography, and was potentially sensitive to some sections (implying the Muslim community). These bans and others have been banded together as evidence that the CBFC is extremely skittishabout depictions of sexual desire. Adding to the fray, kissing scenes are routinely cut out of the television screenings of movies, and abusive words are muted even in films about verbal violence or abuse.

This trigger-happy censorship environment has a larger context in the specific demands of cultural groups and morality crusaders. While the CBFC seems happy to lead by example, political parties, cultural representatives, and religious groups add to this growing trend towards censorship. The film Parched for instance faced opposition for depictions of female nudity inUdta Punjab, which discussed drug abuse,faced opposition for its use of language and violence and its portrayal of the state of Punjab. Alleged distortion of history is another common theme cultural groups draw upon while calling for these bans as in the case of the trouble faced by the films Bajirao Mastani and Padmavati, both of which depicted Hindu-Muslim inter-religious romances in the lives of historical rulers or leaders.

In each of the above cases, specific criticism has been levied against the ban, but collectively they allude towards a dangerous trend where existing taboos are solidified and a certain narrative of history alone is tolerated. Sexuality in some forms is accepted typically when it adheres to the male gaze, fictional license is allowed for historical movies that merely attempt to create a larger than life narrative, which does not discomfit existing understandings of power and villainy.

Prominent directors and actors, both new and veteran, have spoken out against this trend both on mainstream media and social media, but the enemy they wish to take down is not singular. While much of the anger may be directed against the CBFC, and rightfully so, the source of the CBFCs mandate comes from the public. For as long as public sentiments continue to be inflammable in the face of art, and fragile narratives of masculinity, social order and historical narrative are threatened, the lurking demon of censorship cannot be defeated.

Original post:
Sex and Sensibility: India's Censor Board and Overreach | The ... - The Diplomat

The ACLU has been fighting against censorship for nearly a century. April is National Poetry Month, so weve been thinking about a free speech case from sixty years ago that involved a small but powerful book of poetry.

Sixty years ago,ACLU of Northern California staff attorney Al Bendich defended City Lights Books publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was accused of obscenity for publishing Allen Ginsbergs poem Howl.

Over 500 freshly-printed copies of Howl and Other Poems were seized by the government, rather than allowed to exist as thought-provoking literature. The trial against City Lights Books made its way to the California State Superior Court in 1957, where Judge Clayton Horn ruled in favor of Ferlinghetti and the ACLU.

Judge Horn found that the poem was not obscene for referencing sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and instead held redeeming social importance.

Excerpt from Howl by Allen Ginsberg

Howl and other free speech cases like it laid the groundwork for the rights we exercise today. But we still need to stay vigilant against attempts to stifle free expression through censorship.

Last month,The ACLU of Northern California advocated on behalf of high school students who were censored by their school after writing an article on Black Lives Matter for their high school yearbook. The principal, fearing controversy, removed every reference to Black Lives Matter and edited their article beyond recognition. We sent a demand letter to the school district, and the students won.

Just as its illegal for the government to censor a poem because some might find it offensive, its illegal for a school to remove Black Lives Matter references from school publications because the school is afraid of robust conversation.

Gigi Harney is the Creative Strategist at the ACLU of Northern California.

More:
Fighting Censorship: Victories in 1957 & 2017 #ACLUTimeMachine - ACLU of Northern California (blog)

The annual list from the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tends to include a broad range of titles with the potential to offend. Repeat "honorees" include Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" for depictions of rape and incest, transgender reality TV star Jazz Jenning's coming out story, "Fifty Shades of Grey" for obvious reasons, and the "Harry Potter" books because of witchcraft.

But the embattled comedian's "Little Bill" books are believed to the first time a title has been targeted solely for its author and not its content, ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Director James LaRue said.

"I think it's our fascination with celebrity. If we love the person we love everything about him. If we hate the person we hate everything about him. We don't seem to be able to separate the message from the messenger."

The "Little Bill" books follow the adventures and life lessons of Bill Jr., a 5-year-old Philadelphia boy. The series became an Emmy Award-winning Saturday morning cartoon series that ran on and off from 1999 to 2006.

The ranking is based on 323 challenges reported to the office in 2016 by school librarians across the country, the ALA said. The ALA's list does not specify where any of the challenges occurred.

Challenges tend to come from parents or students who choose a book for some reason or another and bring it to the principal to try to remove it permanently.

But LaRue said successful challenges tend never to get reported and the real number is likely much higher.

Books featuring "diverse" characters, such as racial minorities or gay, lesbian and transgender people, have become targets of challenges with increasing frequency this year.

Five of the 10 books on this year's list included LGBT characters, including Jazz Jennings' picture book. All five books were successfully removed from library shelves, or, in other words, banned, according to the ALA.

"Critics of this list say no book is banned in America and I beg to differ," LaRue said. "If a book is removed it's been banned."

The complete list includes:

-- "This One Summer," by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

The ALA says this young adult graphic novel, winner of a Printz and a Caldecott Honor Award, was "restricted, relocated and banned" because it includes LGBT characters, drug use and profanity, and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.

-- "Drama," written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier

Parents, librarians and administrators banned this Stonewall Honor Award-winning graphic novel for young adults because it includes LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint, the ALA said.

--"George," by Alex Gino

Despite winning a Stonewall Award and a Lambda Literary Award, administrators removed this children's novel because it includes a transgender child and the "sexuality was not appropriate at elementary levels," according to the ALA.

-- "I Am Jazz," by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas

This children's picture book memoir was challenged and removed because it portrays a transgender child and because of language, sex education, and offensive viewpoints, the ALA said.

-- "Two Boys Kissing," by David Levithan

This young adult novel, a National Book Award longlist and Stonewall Honor Book, was challenged because its cover has an image of two boys kissing and it was considered to include sexually explicit LGBT content.

-- "Looking for Alaska," by John Green

This 2006 Printz Award winner is a young adult novel that was challenged and restricted for a sexually explicit scene that may lead a student to "sexual experimentation."

-- "Big Hard Sex Criminals," by Matt Fraction, illustrated by Chip Zdarsky

This compilation of adult comic books by two award-winning artists was challenged and banned for being considered sexually explicit by library staff and administrators.

-- "Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread," by Chuck Palahniuk

This collection of adult short stories was challenged for profanity, sexual explicitness, and being "disgusting and all around offensive," according to the ALA.

-- "Little Bill Books" series, by Bill Cosby, illustrated by Varnette P. Honeywood

This children's book series was challenged because of criminal sexual allegations against the author, the ALA said.

--' "Eleanor & Park," by Rainbow Rowell

A New York Times Notable Children's Books and a Printz Honor recipient, this young adult novel was challenged for offensive language, the ALA said.

Read more from the original source:
Bill Cosby's 'Little Bill' books targeted for censorship - CNN.com - CNN

A profile in The College Voice, the student newspaper of Connecticut College,ofan activist-turned-artist named Mike Alewitz details his radical, politically charged career that is characterizedas muchbythe provocative works heproduced as bythe incidents of censorship theworks inspired.

Alewitz, aformer professor atCentral CT State University,who earned his MFA from theMassachusetts College of Art in 1983, is best known for his murals depicting the American labor movement. According to the profile author, his "stories are a routine of acceptance and decline, of struggle and movement. His pieces are vibrant, loud, colorful. They declare to be acknowledged."

In the profile, Alewitz, now in his 60s, tellsthe story of his life's work through a tour of his Connecticut home, identified "by its fiery red exterior and vibrant pink detail," where he sits at his dining table accompanied bya make-up smeared mannequin and a "large, plastic bunny with long white ears."

His story begins as an undergraduate at Kent State University, where his witnessing of the Kent State massacrefurthered his motivationas an anti-warorganizer. At the time of the massacrehe was the university'sChairman of the Student Mobilization Committee Against the War (SMC). After the shooting,

he left to become an organizer for anti-war movements, traveling to Austin, Los Angeles, Cleveland, New Orleans, Virginia, Boston, New Jersey. At the time he began working for the union movement, he was in industry as a railroad worker and machinist. He even laid some of the railroad tracks in New London, Connecticut that remain about half a mile from his house. While working, Alewitz picked up sign painting and billboard painting before going to the Massachusetts School of Art in his late thirties. He considers this the beginning of his art career. I had the background, he tells me. I could render.

As an MFA student, Alewitz had his first encounter with the censorship of his work. A column he painted in tribute to a local back man killed by the police was subsequently graffitied by the police and then painted over by the authorities. Since then, the profile explains, "Alewitz has been devoted to agitprop work, a combination of agitation and propaganda, which he also refers to as 'high grade street art'."

Alewitz garnereda reputation for works that paid tribute to labor groups, such as the International Confederation of Energy and Mine Workers and UNITE The Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees, murals that reflected his political perspective;his sense of antipathy toward the capitalist system. The author notes that an adjacent room in his house is lined with booksKarl Marx, Frederick Engels, and Lenin.

Yeah, hetells the profile writer,Im the real deal.

According to the profile, Alewitz keeps boxes of press articles about incidents of censorship his works have produced. In 1999, for example, he was funded to produce a series of muralscalled Dreams of Harriet Tubman. The central mural he painted "shows Harriet Tubman holding a gun and on either side of her are red swirling waves. Silhouettes of people cluster and crowd at her feet." The mural was never made public, however:

Youre in a place where there are statues with white men with guns everywhere and they cant his voice trails off as he tells me the story. I painted the only image of a womana Black womanwith a gun. After the mural was rejected, Alewitz issued an offer for a free mural but no one would provide a wall. Everybodys afraid, he says. It was censorship and not the kind that helps your career.

Alewitzs history with censorship iswell known to NCAC.In 2014, for example, the Museum of the City of New Yorkrefused to display his mural at the inaugural exhibition of the museums Puffin Gallery for Social Activism.Despite the overtly left-leaning politics of the Puffin Foundation,which commissioned the mural for theireponymous gallery, the museum was reluctant to be associated with the murals unvarnished, left-wing, pro-labor views.NCAC urged the museum and the foundation to open a dialogue about how this mural, which depicts the struggles of radical labor and civil rights movements in our society, can be presented to the public.

Read the rest of the interview withThe College Voice, which takes the readerthrough Alewitzs house and studio, floor by floor, mural by mural, story by story. As the profile writer comments:

There is a book in every one of these stories, he says. [] There are novels behind his paintings and behind those novels are history books. His house is a time capsule.

Summer Wrobels interview with Mike Alewitz, The House on Federal Street: Meet New Londons Resident Censored Artist, appeared in The College Voice on April 4, 2017. Read the full piece here.Take a tour through one of Alewitzs mural proposals here.

Read this article:
An Art Career Intertwined with Censorship: The Murals of Mike Alewitz - Blogging Censorship (blog)

Pictures are powerful. What we see (and what we dont) shapes our worldview. So whos controlling the filter? How do mediaoutlets decide what to show, and what to blur out? And how doyou know if what youre seeing is real?

Amanda St. Hilaire, Dennis Owens, and guest-host Amanda Peterson discuss these issuesand how they affect families (especially children). They also talk about a new effort to showcase the hidden gems in your neighborhood, and read the comments and questions you sent in during the week.

Subscribe to On Deadline in iTunes or Google Play Music to get episodes automatically delivered to your electronic device each week. You can also listen on Stitcher, TuneIn,or in the player below:

Write a review, send us an email, or message us on Facebook to share your thoughts or suggest a topic for discussion.

Below are links and references from this weeks episode:

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Getting the real story: Censorship in the digital age - ABC27