Thursday, February 5, 2015

The Crucial Divide Between Censorship and Ignorance

If you have eight hours to spare in your day and feel like being lectured with vigorous passion, feel free to ask anyone involved in the arts why censorship is such a big deal. Since the inception of storytelling, rules and strictures have been put into place to quell its potential to address topics that exude any type of discomfort. Books, plays, and films have been banned across the world due to their controversial nature, and in response, rebellious artistic collectives have sprouted alongside them to continue the publication and pollination of such works in their respective societies. Occasionally, controversy has even elevated relatively mediocre properties to that of temporary fame a la The Interview.

Despite our continuous effort to mature as adults, we still get a thrill from watching that movie that our mom forbade.

Within our “developed” nation, we appear to be reducing the limits of censorship more and more with each year. Language denoted as explicit or unseemly seeps further into network television every year, and previously taboo topics such as homosexuality are discussed and represented across a number of networks and films; Transparent, a tv show documenting the trials and victories of a transgender parent played brilliantly by Jeffrey Tabor, even won a Golden Globe this year for best drama series. Open minded thought is definitely on the upswing when it comes to popular media, but for every yin, there must be a yang, and for every apparent victory, there must be a maddening counterattack.

The previous model of “polite conversation” that evidently existed throughout the better part of history before the 21st century has been consistently eroding throughout the past few decades, and luckily, this has allowed previously ignored topics to be discussed intelligently and thoroughly. Unfortunately, this lack of decorum has coupled with the rapid ascent of social media, and the demon spawn of said pairing has permitted the exponential increase of public ignorance. Thoughts of staggering stupidity are now thrown into the cybersphere with reckless abandon, and whenever consequences of any kind are mentioned, the phrase “free speech” is rocketed out of the metaphorical canon before the final syllable falls.

Let this be an open declaration to those perpetrators of this behavior: I will not censor you. I support your right to say whatever the hell you want. If you want to see American Sniper and voice your deepest desire to “kill some ragheads,” you have the freedom to do so. If you want to fire off an undoubtedly intelligent rant about the “faggots” and “damn Mexicans” that are trying to take over “your country,” go ahead, by all means.

But.

BUT.

I, upon my high horse, unquestionably possess the right to 1. be offended by your display of unremorseful ignorance, 2. denounce your ill-informed, pathetic statements as exactly that, and 3. judge your overall character as a human being and consider that in the future regarding the terms of our acquaintance, or if I am in such a position, potential employment.

Let me repeat in case those three syllable phrases tripped you up in that last paragraph – ah, there’s another one. My deepest apologies. Shit, that’s four. I guess you just have to keep up at this point. I will not censor you. As a human being, it is your right to say whatever you want, but that does not excuse you from the potential consequences of your actions. You can touch the stove, but your hand will burn, and you can yell “FIRE!” in a theater, but you will be arrested. Artists and lawmakers alike have fought for years for your right to read Howl, Huck Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and more, but their sacrifices did not remove the penalties associated with the willful spread of malicious hate. Never will I support the aggressive blanketing of censorship, but never will I stand for the venomous spread of hate.

Freedom is not a synonym for absolution.


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