2008 Woodie Awards
Social censorship priorities are out of whack
Sophie Siemion
Issue date:
2/27/08
Section:
Opinion
Over the past decade, the Internet, movies and mass media have become prime vehicles for bizarre and extreme visual entertainment.
Among this entertainment is a widely accepted wave of violence and an "inappropriate" sexual influence.
Games like Halo 3, a violent warfare game, teach players to kill while corporations like Microsoft benefit off of the unnecessary angry exposure to many generations.
Meanwhile the exposure of too much leg, Janet Jackson's breast or a cinematic love scene, are deemed inappropriate and not for our children to view.
In 2007, many game Web sites rated Halo 3 the number-one game. Marketwatch gave Xbox360 a pat on the back for raising profit and surpassing Nintendo Wii.
Halo 3 sold 3.3 million copies in the first two weeks of its release, and while Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates smiles, our youth adapts to the normality of a bazooka to the head.
Not only has violence crept into our living rooms, but history has shown war as an acceptable solution to our problems.
It's no surprise that with such a violent upbringing the United States holds the highest incarceration rate in the world.
In our society we quickly censor sexual media but we refrain from censoring violence.
Why has the slaughtering battle trumped sexual intimacy, winning acceptance in our culture?
The image of being nude has been so misconstrued to signify promiscuity that we have forgotten its simple place in nature.
Two stereotypes have been strongly placed upon violence and sexuality in our society.
Evidently violence is justified, given certain circumstance, while the body apparently is only beautiful and accepted when in the privacy of one's home.
While we all dutifully live by these invisible standards, a sex scandal still has the ability to push a suffering Darfur to page three.
The name Bill Clinton will no doubt always coincide with Monica Lewinski and John F. Kennedy with Marilyn Monroe, because the public still loves the drama of an intimate affair.
Among this entertainment is a widely accepted wave of violence and an "inappropriate" sexual influence.
Games like Halo 3, a violent warfare game, teach players to kill while corporations like Microsoft benefit off of the unnecessary angry exposure to many generations.
Meanwhile the exposure of too much leg, Janet Jackson's breast or a cinematic love scene, are deemed inappropriate and not for our children to view.
In 2007, many game Web sites rated Halo 3 the number-one game. Marketwatch gave Xbox360 a pat on the back for raising profit and surpassing Nintendo Wii.
Halo 3 sold 3.3 million copies in the first two weeks of its release, and while Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates smiles, our youth adapts to the normality of a bazooka to the head.
Not only has violence crept into our living rooms, but history has shown war as an acceptable solution to our problems.
It's no surprise that with such a violent upbringing the United States holds the highest incarceration rate in the world.
In our society we quickly censor sexual media but we refrain from censoring violence.
Why has the slaughtering battle trumped sexual intimacy, winning acceptance in our culture?
The image of being nude has been so misconstrued to signify promiscuity that we have forgotten its simple place in nature.
Two stereotypes have been strongly placed upon violence and sexuality in our society.
Evidently violence is justified, given certain circumstance, while the body apparently is only beautiful and accepted when in the privacy of one's home.
While we all dutifully live by these invisible standards, a sex scandal still has the ability to push a suffering Darfur to page three.
The name Bill Clinton will no doubt always coincide with Monica Lewinski and John F. Kennedy with Marilyn Monroe, because the public still loves the drama of an intimate affair.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Michael Walker
posted 2/27/08 @ 3:15 PM PST
While I do enjoy the 'blame entertainment' view that a lot of short sighted people have taken; I have to say I feel your conclusion is a little loose. (Continued…)
Post a Comment