Essay # 6 Censorship

Salomon Sanchez
November 26, 2009
Composition # 6, Draft # 1
CENSORSHIP

The word “sensor” means to delete anything considered objectionable , this usually happens when some people in imposing their political or moral values on others by suppressing words, images, or ideas that they find offensive. A censor , traditionally, is an official whose job it's to examine literature, movies or other forms or creative expression and to remove or ban anything she considers not having the right qualities for a particular person, purpose or situation. Here I will mention some of those: painting called “The Holly Virgin Mary”, song “suicide solution” and “MTV programs”.
In 1999, the Brooklyn Museum of art had an exhibition with a controversial painting, Chris Ofili, a young English painter who had African roots, made a painting called The Holly Virgin Mary, using Elephant excrement and obscene pictures out from adult magazines. Mayor Giuliani and some Catholic were offended by the painting. They believed it was disrespectful for Catholics and the Virgin Mary. Giuliani threatened the BMA that he would take away public funding if they keep the picture in the exhibition. The BMA wanted to challenge him by keeping the painting in the show. The censorship was not successful because it was against the First Amendment. Joan Berlin, the head of the National Coalitin Against Censorship, supported the BMA also. She thought that the community had the right to make the decision about what they wanted to see or not. The government is not allowed to take away financial support just because it was offensive for some of them. I do not agree because I believe that everybody has the power for opinion and expressed by themselves, so is not fair that the government tells you what you have to do.
In 1980 Ozzy Osborne released a song called “suicide solution” which is a heavy metal genre. John McCollum’s a 19- years-old boy shouted himself with a gun while he was listening to this song. John’s parents wanted to punish Ozzy Osborne for what had happened because they thought the suicide solution song allowed their son to kill himself. His parents demanded Ozzy by taking him on a court which dismissed the McCollum’s complaint holding that the freedom of speech was absolute prohibit, than they appealed again but the second court agreed with the first one that there was nothing in Ozzy’s song that allowed anyone to kill themselves. Finally the court confirm that he has the constitutional right to express any view he wants. I agree because finally that was just a song, there were nobody telling this boy to kill himself.
In the 90’s the MTV program was been subject of debate. The famous animated program called “beavis and butt-head” wake of cotroversy that followed a child bourning down his house after allegedly watching the show. The parents television council has argued that much of the censored material on MTV can be easily dicernible because of the context within where the material in question has been presented. Producers moved the show from the original 7 p.m. Time slot to a late-night, 11 p.m. Slot and scenes were removed from esisting episodes before rebroadcst. I think that evey program we watch depends from what perspective we got from it, and I agree to keep the program but not to let children watch it.
Definitely, thise three factors we disscused in this essay - “MTV programs” ,song “suicide solution” and painting called “The Holly Virgin Mary”,- are a good example too see how important is censorship in some kind of programs, songs or art. Sometimes the effect produced by tv shows is not adecuate but either when parents let their children to watch them.