Today marked the first day of classes of the new (and my last) undergraduate semester. I can honestly say that I am excited about all of my classes and I think I am going to close out on a great semester. I am taking this great class on Social and Political Philosophy, which should provide some good blogging fodder.
On that note, for those of you who have been reading my blog for a while (what few of there I am sure there are) you have probably noticed that I have been all over the map with my posts lately. I would expect that trend to continue as I try to figure out who I am, and exactly what it is I am trying to say.
I am a work in progress and maybe one day there will be a great unveiling but ‘till then, bear with the construction.
Oh and enjoy the "video" for the song I haven't been able to stop listening to for days (may or may not be safe for work, depending on how fascist of a company you work for).
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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5 comments:
I may be the vocal minority around here -- I understand why people would be upset about IMDb putting those guards in place, but I don't understand the venom that has been poured their way.
So you have to register and you have to enable adult content. Two extra steps that you won't have to worry about again (unless you are at a new computer and have to log back in).
There is a president in office who is trying to send 20,000+ more troops into Iraq when the last election gave him a new mandate which he has chosen to ignore.
I love my entertainment, but I think there are other things to get upset about than the fact that you have to do the same thing Google's been doing for years now and I haven't seen this kind of movement against them.
Personally, I would rather them put in a filter then to have the site in danger of being shut down.
We all have our personal definition of censorship. This does not fall into that category for me. The content is still there. You now just have to spend 30 seconds data entry to see it now.
My original purpose of posting the video was to share the song however, since he addresses the IMDB issue in the video, I welcome your comment. The issue I take with IMDB over removing the search option for Shortbus is that I don’t see what offensive material can come from the page describing the film? Besides, you can actually access it through JCM’s profile (without registering) so I really don’t see the point in making it non-searchable by title.
Maybe too much is being made of IMDB’s choice to change the way that “adult” titles are searched. However, the policy doesn’t seem to be fair across the board. For example, the movie 9 Songs is searchable and has by any definition way more sexual content than Shortbus the difference? 9 Songs is exclusively heterosexual in it’s sexual content. I also think that IMDB’s decision is part in parcel of a larger socio-political movement in our Nation that troubles me.
Films with queer content are consistently treated differently than films with heterosexual content, particularly in ratings. For some reason in the general public’s minds queer sexuality carries a lower moral standard. Take for instance the same-sex marriage episode of the Simpsons. IN all the years the show has been on television, and all the topics they have dealt with, only one show has ever carried a parental warning which specifically read: “This episode contains discussions of same-sex marriage – Parental discretion is advised”. Parents Televison Council president L Brent Bozell asserted that: ‘At a time when the public mood is overwhelmingly against gay marriage, any show that promotes gay marriage is deliberately bucking the public mood.’
The fact that our lives continue to be censored beyond our heterosexual counterparts perpetuates the notion that we are somehow dangerous and should be avoided. I personally am totally offended by this notion and think that we deserve to be treated better than that. To further the point, go to IMDB and read the comments posted for the two films Shortbus and 9 Songs and you can immediately see the difference.
As far as Google goes, I assume you mean that you have to have a login to view adult content either in groups or in image searches. I haven’t really used Google for this purpose so I don’t know for sure however, the line I would most likely draw between the IMDB is that the Goole feature can take you to actual adult content whereas IMDB does not. In fact, if you Google “Shortbus” the first thing that comes up is the film’s official site. Again, I draw the line between actual adult content and an informational page about a film which does not contain any adult content at all. Besides, Google has fought the Justice Department in their quest to subpoena user’s search records.
Lastly, I am painfully aware that we are in an unjust war which I haven’t supported from day one. I have on number of occasions on this blog taken this government to task over the Iraq war. However, this particular post wasn’t designed to take on IMDB or censorship. I will continue to criticize the American government and socio-political ideologies on many fronts.
So you're starting a war on war? COOL!
And you don't have to log in to change the way Google does a search. You can go into their setting and turn off the adult setting. Whatever cookie is in your browser then changes.
But I do see your point that searching for 'pussy cats' on Google will actually bring up pictures of vagina. (What is the plural for vagina? Do you put an 's'?). You put the same thing into IMDb and you get The Tom And Jerry Movie. (I haven't tested that).
The problem is that the things I've read haven't gone into as much detail as you have and now I see where the yelling is coming from. When are people going to learn it's all in the details? :)
And I see Bozell reasoning behind the warning for the Simpsons. In the field of entertainment so much unfortunately depends on the public's ever-wavering tastes. And it's supposed to be the same in our system of government is the point I was trying to make there. See? I need to learn the details lesson. I'm not agreeing with the PTC's decision at all, it's just that I can see their side of it even when I think their decision was the incorrect one.
It's funny, I went into my account on IMDb to turn on adult content and it was already turned on for me. Either I did it eons ago or they just know I'm a dirty bird.
So to recap, here is what I'm seeing when it comes to what entertainment groups think we can handle in increasing level of intolerance:
1. Violence
2. Gory violence
3. Potty mouths
4. Female nudity
5. Full-frontal female nudity
6. Hetero sex
7. Male nudity
8. Male full-frontal nudity
9. Homo sex
10. Films with Paris Hilton
(BTW, I'm using you to test out if I want to turn this into a post on my blog. To paraphrase my favorite Simpsons line, "I am evil Ho-WARD!")
Feel free to use me anytime for a testing ground :P
I think your list of tolerance in entertainment is just about right. Unless of course the violence/gory violence is direct at the presumed savior of man. In that case, bring on the blood and torture.
I hate to admit it but I watched House of Wax only to see Paris Hilton come to a spectacularly horrific death actually speaking of IMDB…. If you look at her profile she was in a film called QIK2JDG in which she played a “strung-out model”… I wonder how she prepared for that role?
Ok back to seriousness. I too see the point of the PTC’s warning on the Simpsons. Though as I was walking down to campus today I thought that it would also be a great statement by Groening to have included the warning to prove a point.
I have always maintained that we must first seek to understand any opposing point of view. Only then can we begin to truly comprehend the task at hand and how to create a more civil society. I am one who doesn’t believe in censorship and have always tried as hard as I can to hold true to the words written in The Friends of Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
I just found out that Shortbus is searchable again on IMDb.
The power of the people and all that.
And I put House Of Wax in at the store and keep skipping chapters until she left that damn tent so I could see her get it.
The words you've quoted friends are certainly ones to live by. Now if only we could get everyone into that cult.
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