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Do we need Censorship in the Media?

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Introduction

Do we need Censorship in the Media? Censorship is the cuts and remakes of media mainly movies. Censorship is usually when 'obscene' scenes and actions have been removed from a piece of media. Censorship has been around for a long time, censorship is supposed to protect 'us' from the things which happen in media for example movies which contain horror, sex or violence. Censorship is said by the government to help us because it cuts out scenes which may mentally affect us for example a film about poverty and the working class which could trigger a revolution because our minds are not mentally strong able to take that it is just a film. We might even need censorship in some movies to protect young people fro m watching adult movies which could change them for a short or long term period. The areas of media I am going to look at are films, video, music, printed word and video games all these areas of media are widely available to many groups of people, this includes adults and children. Censorship has been around for a long time but the censorship of movies really began in 1898 with the movie called "The Cheese Mite." ...read more.

Middle

woman wanted one she would have to get it done in secret, this was very dangerous because doctors and patients can be prosecuted for manslaughter and put in jail. A new boundary was made in 1965 with the film 'Repulsion'; this film included graphic violence and female sexuality. The film is about a monster and a girl, the creator of the film called it 'artistic' instead of just a normal film. As movies like these were tested the boundaries in the censorship industry a film called 'Rosemary's Baby' broke barriers by having the idea that you could have sex and violence on the screen but not at the same time. This film was very graphic because it involved a woman being tortured and having forced sexual intercourse with the devil. Many were cut out by the BBFC. Before the sixties which was the decade of sexual liberation many controversial thing happened. The first is Ken Russell's 'Women in Love' which contains two naked men wrestling, to some viewers this could imply sexuality because the men were panting and lying next to each other naked. The controversial film 'Brighton Rock' which involved Gangsters and showed Britain's seedy underworld, the interesting symbolism in 'Brighton Rock' is that you can never change and you are the same all the way through e.g. ...read more.

Conclusion

We have also seen new categories come and go e.g. 'H'-Horror and 'X' over 16 viewing. During the sixties people became more and more free about sexuality due to the pill being invented and 'free-love', films like 'Performance' and 'Flesh' were being made more increasing the boundary between pornography and art. One has also shown how through the years films even censored are 'considered' to damage people; this has been shown by the Jamie Bulger case and the 'Hungerford Massacre'. In the present day I have seen more ways of censorship from different things, this includes magazines of an adult nature being placed on the top shelf, which is out of reach to most young people, and the more suitable magazines are put at a reach were everyone can get them. I think that censorship is needed in the media but to a certain extent. By a certain extent I mean that it shouldn't be taken to far e.g. bad cuttings. I think that the effect that censorship has on children is good because it blocks out scenes which I don't think would harm children but affect them or make them do 'bad' things, because we still don't know if the effects they have are long or short term. Philip Tete-Donkor 11.1 ...read more.

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