Debates of all sorts discussion

What do you guys think about freedom of speech? Is there a certain thing as too much freedom of speech? What sorts of things can/should be censored? Should certain groups of people be more restricted than others?

Lala, I haven't been on this group in a while. Got distracted by finals and whatnot. But anyway ...

I believe that freedom of speech is very important and something we should all have the right to. Of course there are downfalls, like hate speech. So yes, it does mean people are allowed to say terrible things––but I'd much rather have that than people not being able to say what they want to.

I could go on a long rant about it of course, but I'm sure more points will be brought up as we continue the discussion and all.

I agree. Just because I'm offended by something does not mean it should not be said. Plus, if censorship is ever started, how could we know where to stop?

Well, censorship has started. Or rather, it's always been around really. Schools are allowed to ban books, songs are censored on the radio, a lot of things deemed "offensive" have to be edited out of films so that they can avoid an NC-17 rating (and if anyone wants to know more about the subject, I recommend the documentary "This Film is Not Yet Rated"). And I do fear that such things could increase or become more severe.

♥ Rachel♥ wrote: "I agree. Just because I'm offended by something does not mean it should not be said. Plus, if censorship is ever started, how could we know where to stop?"

yeah, it is a very slippery slope...

Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Well, censorship has started. Or rather, it's always been around really. Schools are allowed to ban books, songs are censored on the radio, a lot of things deemed "offensive" have to be edited out ..."

Speaking of movies, I heard on NPR the other day that one of the more recent James Bond movies (can't remember which) had had to change a line in order for the film to air in China. The actress had to change "I miss the Cold War" to "I miss the old times." I was just kinda struck by the ludicrousness of it.

Yes, I understand song censorship since it's so easy for a child to just turn on a radio and hear something he/she isn't supposed to hear. And at least with music censorship, there's usually a "clean" version and an "explicit" version––rather than forcing the artist to just take out the word completely.

As for schools banning books, I'm a bit on the fence about that. On one hand, I think kids should have access to anything they want to read, that they should be aware of all important issues, etc. But I also understand that the school doesn't want to be attacked by angry parents, if a kid gets a controversial book out of the school library. So, it's a bit hard for me to decide about that.

But yes, I do think there are a lot of issues with the movie rating system––especially after watching the aforementioned "This Film Is Not Yet Rated." It's kind of a one-sided film, but I did learn more about how the rating system works from it. For example, most of the people rating the films are conservative which makes them harsher about their decisions. And there's not really a proper criteria as to what qualifies as an R-rating or NC-17; basically the people on the board just write down what they find offensive, and then randomly choose a rating. And if you get that NC-17, you don't really have a choice but to edit out that "offensive" material. What makes it worse is that the board can be very sexist or homophobic when making their decision; like, homosexual sex scenes are more likely to get an NC-17 than heterosexual sex scenes, and anything involving female masturbation is more likely to get an NC-17 than male masturbation, etc. I could go on forever, but I think you get the idea...

As I write this our country has been torn in half by a painting. I cannot quite put in words how big this thing is here in South Africa right now. Just google Brett Murray (he's the artist, with a long history of protest against the state, going back to apartheid days), and Jacob Zuma (our president, with 5 wives, 14 children from them and more than 15 from ... umm... cough... other sources. This is relevant because the painting displayed the ummm presidential member)

There were calls for the artist to be stoned to death.

why? He's paid him a compliment, what he painted wasn't small and shrivelled...

I know its more serious than that...