What the fuck? Censorship gone mad
By Rebecca Stewart
A censor is defined as an official authorised to examine books, films, plays, news reports radio and television programmes, letters, and other material to remove or suppress what is considered to be objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.
This definition gives a broad idea of censorship in its most basic form.
Classification boards around the world gather and analyse films, movies, video games, music, books, plays, news broadcasts, television shows and other commercial material to determine if it is suitable for public consumption. They also decide if there needs to be an age restriction on the material. Sometimes, they decide to withhold the material from the public altogether.
What’s most interesting is the development of censorship over the ages. I remember listening to songs on the radio and having words blanked out because they were deemed unsuitable for some members of the public to hear (read: children). Yet, one day as I flipped through my preset radio stations I heard a word in a song that made me take a double check as to what I’d heard. Sure enough, the word “shit” had not been censored out. Had this song been released when I was a child (not that long ago), that word would have been censored out.
When did it become okay for these words to be broadcast to the general public. Many parents out there are still trying to curb their children’s use of “bad” words, and here the classification board is deeming it okay for many of these once blacklisted words to be let out publically.
In all fairness, if an artist is going to release a song with expletives and know that the words will be blanked out upon broadcast, why are they being released in the first place and why don’t they chose another word? Surely it can’t be that hard? And why is it necessary for them to be used in the first place. Children get along fine in the playground with their use of “stupid head” over the adult version of “wanker” or “fuck head”.
It is obvious that the public’s tolerance for public swearing is growing. Words that were once considered taboo are now commonplace.
Swearing can bring down the intelligence level of a person. They have lost all use of their, what could be, very extensive vocabulary in favour of one to two syllable words that don’t quite adequately express the meaning behind what the person is after. Sure, you hit yourself with a hammer and you let out a yelp of perhaps “shit”, but when you talk to someone and try to express your feeling of anger towards them “you’re a fuck head” doesn’t quite get there, in fact, the true meaning of the sentence may have nothing at all to do with what is wanted to be said.
Though, if we’re not careful, the next generation to come are going to be worse off than us.
