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  From: Adam Hawes <adam.hawes@flinders.edu.au>
  To  : Richard Russell <richard@yellowgoanna.com>
        <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 12:03:17 +0930

Re: [OT] The censorship debate...

> Does anyone here care about censorship? Is anyone here involved in actively
> doing anything about it? Are there any half-decent groups around the place
> dedicated to fighting for our freedom of choice in what we see? Is it worth
> trying to arrange a screening of (say) Ken Park in Adelaide, like the Free
> Cinema people attempted in Sydney? Not that I'm prepared to get arrested
> like Margaret Pomeranz did...

I have read all the replies to this thread, and although my view is
similar to every other reply, I will voice it anyway.

I do care about censorship.  I think it is a right waste of time.  

Censorship is a left-over from the "dark ages" of society, where the
media giants, the government, and (to a lesser extent in more modern
times) the religious sector sought to control what society viewed, as a
way of controlling how society thought and behaved.  On the whole they
achieved that.

When a film comes along that challenges the morals of beliefs of the
people in power then they try to ban it, or give it R ratings.  This in
effect limits the number of people who will see the film and have their
views challenged or changed by it.  Hence, achieving some level of
control over the general masses.

Things are changing now, with the rapid uptake of the Internet.  The
'net has allowed people to exchange views with people outside their
normal moral, ethnical and social groups on a large scale.  Everybody
can have a webpage, or publish something, and nearly everybody will be
able to see it if they are interested.

The powers that be will try and stop this happening, but it is mostly
useless.  Look at the example with China's strict Internet censorship
laws.  Look at the laws we are supposed to have here limiting what we
can publish online.  If it's offensive, "unsuitable for minors", or
generally not legal then you can be done for publishing it on the net. 
That includes posting to newsgroups and mailing lists.

Of course, the Internet is such a large place that they can't censor it
reliably.  It would not be possible.  The government would have to
censor pages by keywords in hundreds of languages (ok English is the
most common, but pages do exist in other languages).  There is no way of
blocking or reviewing each page individually because there is too much
information and it is changing too rapidly.

Anyway, back to the films specifically.  I have seen Ken Park, and I
thought it was OK.  It is mostly a film that deals with typical
adolescent issues... sex, drugs, violence, parents, religion, etc.  It
is done pretty well but the sex scenes are a few too many, and probably
a bit too graphic for the story it's telling.  I don't wish to ban it
though.  I would encourage others to go see it and make their own minds
up - after at least warning them what's contained in the film so they
can decide if they will be offended or not.

As pointed out, there have been dozens of films that have raised
controversial issues, but many of them were not banned.  Lolita (the
remake) is one that springs to mind.  There were sex scenes in that. 
They were simulated, but they girl was still underage and all that
separated her from the guy was a towel... There was a good interview
with her and her parents on 60 Minutes (IIRC) shortly after the film was
released and they talked about it in some detail.  At least in the
original the sex was generally only implied, rather than depicted (I
haven't seen it, I'm just going on what I've heard).  Sex sells movies. 
That's why so many movies have sex scenes in them.

Someone said that censorship doesn't force people to break copyright
laws, but I believe that it does.  If a movie is banned in Australia
then there is no easy way to import it.  The only easy way is to get on
the net and download it - hence violating copyright laws.

Ok, enough about censorship.  Back on topic for me.

Adam

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