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Gauntlet #2
Gauntlet: Exploring the Limits of Free Expression - Stephen King Special - Vol. 2
Book by Hoffman, Barry
402 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1991
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June 27, 2011
I have a fascination with censorship. It's why I enjoy movies like "This Film is Not Yet Rated" and "F**K" (asterisks were part of the name) and why I've read some of the books that I've read. There may be a part of me that is still affected by the almost censorship in my reading that occurred back in third grade (my teacher was upset that I was reading a prose version of The Odyssey and told my dad that I shouldn't be reading such adult material). So when I came across this particular magazine (it was the Stephen King edition, so I ran into it in the Stephen King section of my favorite used book store), I grabbed it immediately and started reading it soon after.
This was released in 1991 and, as a testament to what occurred during 1990 and 1991, this is a wonderful historic document. Though it is biased (anti-censorship), it is interesting to hear about the various forms that censorship took back then and connect it with the books I've read and the movies I've seen since. Specifically, there were about four main topics that were discussed here: 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty As We Wanna Be," the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit, the inclusion of NC-17 (and also a brief discussion of the PG-13 rating) and a look at Comics.
2 Live Crew: I enjoy music and I love hearing about the growth of the different genres. While there was one article that had a quote claiming this album was not all that great, the controversy that surrounded it is still a fascinating read. We have record store owners who were fined for selling the album (even after the album was deemed "not obscene" in an Appeal), a rap group that had a major single ("Me So Horny") that became a chapter in censorship history and then disappeared and of course the fallout of the parental warning labels and "clean" versions of albums.
Robert Mapplethorpe and Art: Mainly these sections were cries against the NEA and the various Family First-type organizations that were uneducated about art and yet deeming "art" as obscene. Some of it was interesting, but as history.
NC-17: First movie with this rating is "Henry and June." The discussion that follows is an optimistic view of the ratings system. Finally, something that can label a movie as definitely not for children BUT without the sexual undertones of the X rating. Recall that it was only in the 1980's (mid-1980's I believe) that the PG-13 rating was created. Stephen King has a nice piece in here about the X rating that calls PG-13 the Spielberg rating.
Comics: Apparently the idea of the adult comic was just beginning to come into its own ... maybe. I mean, this is a decade and a bit after Heavy Metal. Still, this is coming after Maus I and II where the idea of the Graphic Novel as something for adults and children is finally percolating. The articles seem to be geared towards those critics that condemn adult material in comic books claiming that the medium is a children's medium. However, as we have now seen, the medium is an artistic medium and one that is not just for kids anymore. Took a while, but finally got there.
As far as the Stephen King information, there was an interesting article regarding the differences between the two versions of The Stand (claiming a sort of censorship), but the rest was mainly geared towards buying rare King than a decent discussion on the banning.
Overall, this was a fun historical document and it also has some interesting fiction pieces. Somehow I have to find the 3rd issue ... they discuss Lenny Bruce there.
This was released in 1991 and, as a testament to what occurred during 1990 and 1991, this is a wonderful historic document. Though it is biased (anti-censorship), it is interesting to hear about the various forms that censorship took back then and connect it with the books I've read and the movies I've seen since. Specifically, there were about four main topics that were discussed here: 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty As We Wanna Be," the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit, the inclusion of NC-17 (and also a brief discussion of the PG-13 rating) and a look at Comics.
2 Live Crew: I enjoy music and I love hearing about the growth of the different genres. While there was one article that had a quote claiming this album was not all that great, the controversy that surrounded it is still a fascinating read. We have record store owners who were fined for selling the album (even after the album was deemed "not obscene" in an Appeal), a rap group that had a major single ("Me So Horny") that became a chapter in censorship history and then disappeared and of course the fallout of the parental warning labels and "clean" versions of albums.
Robert Mapplethorpe and Art: Mainly these sections were cries against the NEA and the various Family First-type organizations that were uneducated about art and yet deeming "art" as obscene. Some of it was interesting, but as history.
NC-17: First movie with this rating is "Henry and June." The discussion that follows is an optimistic view of the ratings system. Finally, something that can label a movie as definitely not for children BUT without the sexual undertones of the X rating. Recall that it was only in the 1980's (mid-1980's I believe) that the PG-13 rating was created. Stephen King has a nice piece in here about the X rating that calls PG-13 the Spielberg rating.
Comics: Apparently the idea of the adult comic was just beginning to come into its own ... maybe. I mean, this is a decade and a bit after Heavy Metal. Still, this is coming after Maus I and II where the idea of the Graphic Novel as something for adults and children is finally percolating. The articles seem to be geared towards those critics that condemn adult material in comic books claiming that the medium is a children's medium. However, as we have now seen, the medium is an artistic medium and one that is not just for kids anymore. Took a while, but finally got there.
As far as the Stephen King information, there was an interesting article regarding the differences between the two versions of The Stand (claiming a sort of censorship), but the rest was mainly geared towards buying rare King than a decent discussion on the banning.
Overall, this was a fun historical document and it also has some interesting fiction pieces. Somehow I have to find the 3rd issue ... they discuss Lenny Bruce there.
Displaying 1 of 1 review