Regarding Censorship in America
Regarding Censorship in America
Censorship is a word with many meanings. In a broadcast sense the word censor, according to the Pocket Oxford Dictionary (seventh edition 1984), means “an official with power to suppress whole or parts of books, plays, films, letters, news, etc… on the grounds of obscenity, or threat to security.” “Suppress” and “obscenity” are the key words in that definition. Censorship occurs when we watch television or a movie, listen to the radio or buy music, or even read a book or magazine. Censorship also occurs in places such as public beaches because one can only remove so much clothing without being considered indecent. There are regulations for what the public can and can’t see or hear.
So who decides what the public can and can’t see? Who ultimately decides what is “obscene” and what should therefore be “suppressed”? Aren’t we as a society capable of making that decision for ourselves, and, if we are parents, for our children? Apparently not, and perhaps for good reason too, because what is not obscene to one person may be objectionable to another. Furthermore, much of the censorship in our society is mainly geared towards children. Age is used as the criteria for rating systems regulating what is proper for children to see at certain stages of their lives. Censorship is one way to regulate what children in a society should and shouldn’t experience at a young age. It serves to reinforce the morals a society hopes to instill in its children. But censorship is not solely aimed at children. Censorship is also a way of regulating ourselves, which might also be determined by the community in which we choose to live. From movies to television, from radio to CD’s, from good old-fashioned reading books to the Internet, censorship will always play a role in today’s society.
Movie censorship is regulated by a rating system determined by age groups. Three main issues are scaled to decide how movies are rated: violence, sexual content, and adult language. These issues can be considered obscene in society today. The movie rating system according to the Motion Picture Association of America is broken down into five main categories. The lowest of the movie ratings is Rated-G, which stands for General Audiences and indicates all ages can...