Art and Morality Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art and Morality - Movie Review ExampleArtists argon the ones who involve to normally face the brunt of this censorship. Whether you consider the criminal stain charges against the rap group for the album 2 stick intend up Crew in the 80s or the fatwa issued to kill Salman Rushdie for his book Satanic Verses artists pass always been persecuted for bringing out work which goes against ethos of society. (Greenwood) This chant for censorship is not limited to Islamic countries or third world countries which are not considered mature enough but extends to the self proclaimed champions of free speech USA and the occidental Europe. From the Comstock Law of 1873 to the 1996 Communications Decency Act the developed world is full of laws which stifle artistic freedom. (Caso) The question which arises is this should we reserve censorship of controversial art which shows murder, declared sexual scenes or offends religious sensibilities? The answer is a large-scale NO. The reason i s very simple. Censorship is like a wild poisonous snake you cannot retain whom it will bite. Once power is given to the government to ban someone else it may turn it transmit and ban something you like too. The most frequent target of censorship is sexually denotative art forms. Hundreds and thousands of books have been banned all across the world for their sexual content. Some books may be sexually explicit however sexual content is usually an palliate for the ban. One example which comes to mind for such alibi is the ban of Grapes of Wrath. (Wartzman) Grapes of wrath is a much celebrated and controversial book which was releases in 1939. As a work of art this book is exemplary which went on to win The National Book award, the Pulitzer pillaging and the Nobel Prize in 1962.It is set during the Great depression and focuses on the hardships faced by families during the period. However the book was contradictory vehemently by groups of big landowners who were opponents of org anized labor. Explicit sexual content was used as an excuse to ban the book at that time from schools. The example of Grapes of Wrath is given here to show how gender can be used as an excuse to ban books whose main content is nowhere tie in to sexuality. Thus obscenity can easily be used as a vehicle by the government or powerful pressure groups to ban books or ideas to which they are opposed .Pornography and sexually explicit material is completely relative. What might be sexually offensive to one person may be normal for other person. We might find it amusing and childish that many Islamic countries ban films which show lip kissing but the same argument can be used for that art forms which absolute majority of Americans find sexually explicit. These famous lines by Justice John Marshall sums up the futility of trying to desex obscenity one mans vulgarity is others lyricsNot only obscenity but even pornography has no legal definition. Some may consider a small-scale skin sho w as pornography where as others may consider it as the requirement of the film. In the absence of a formal definition we are left to the whims and fancies of certain individuals who are given the decently to decide right and wrong. Laws are those which can be objectively applied, not something which requires subjective treatment. Concerning the Gods I am not able to know either that they do exist or that they do not exist.- The treaties of Protagoras. (Schiappa) some of us this day will not find the above line offensive as atheists are now an acceptable part of the society. Some openly