Contemporary censorship and the existing threat to the comic book industry.
Censorship and its targets will always be the simplest way to construct an informed picture of the social and moral standards of any given point in history. Or is it that censorship reflects the fears and insecurities of those in power at any given point in history? The existing perception of censorship in the minds of the masses is a standardised and regulated system of analysis pertaining to the arts, media, culture and literature. This continual observation allows for the exclusion of certain materials from general circulation, on the grounds that they may be morally damaging, incendiary or a degenerative influence upon society itself. If there is nothing wrong with the concept of monitoring and taking action against such material if it falls into the aforementioned categories, why then, does contemporary censorship often seem to miss the point entirely?
In 1993 a toddler by the name of James Bulger was kidnapped from a shopping centre outside Liverpool and brutally murdered by two ten year old boys. This was a horrific event which the media (in its perpetual bloodlust) latched onto in it’s tried and tested methods of overstepping legitimate and constructive journalism with sensationalism and a well publicised witch hunt. When the focus should have been on intricately examining the way in which we care for our children, it was averted to yet another shadowy culprit; the horror film. It is human nature to find someone to blame in such tragedies, but it ia always equally important to remember where the ultimate responsibility lies. The film in question was Child’s Play 3, which emblazoned the cover of every newspaper in the UK and Ireland for weeks, under the old adage of ‘Ban this sick filth’. This called for the resurrection of the DPP Video Nasty list, first brought into play by campaigner Mary Whitehouse several years beforehand. This was such a successful resurrection of the cause that it led to the outlawing and severe censoring of many titles over the following few years (Natural Born Killers and Reservoir Dogs being two such examples). It was easier to blame the movies, than to blame ourselves. It removed any aspect of collective guilt, eradicating any ideas that we as a society might be failing, by imposing a tangible scapegoat.
I cite this case as a mere example and could list many others, horror films have always been associated by the conservative media with serial killers, social misfits and potential super villains. It is stigma such as this that has left the horror movie in a confused state, partially banished from the mainstream and for many years unsure of its own identity. A recent resurgence in quality horror is a sign that it is losing a certain amount of this stigma, but its reputation will be tarnished forever.
Music fell under similar scrutiny in this era, a nation of white middle class parents became terrified of the CD’s that their beloved white middle class offspring were listening to. Ice T and Snoop (Doggy, at the time) Dogg were particularly singled out. Ice T’s record label Time Warner came under government attack for its releases that apparently inspired racial hatred and violence. It was a well known fact that a significant amount of Gangster Rap (That’s what it was called at the time, kids) contained violent and sexual content, but there was a pantomime element to so much of it. Any individual who would have been significantly riled up by a Bodycount record to go on a killing spree would have an existing propensity for such things and once again, it raises the question of a society which leaves people feeling alienated and desperate enough to commit such crimes. Why do we seem so eager to shift blame onto entertainment, when what should be examined is the state of a culture which allows people to be left feeling alone, worthless and ultimately prone to extremist and damaging behaviour?
Living in Ireland for a significant part of my life, I have seen many examples of extreme censorship. It was only in the mid 1990’s that we were deemed grown up enough to be allowed Playboy magazine, which was allocated to the highest shelf in the newsagent and came free with a glowing neon badge which stated ‘I’m going to Hell’ with every purchase. The wearing of the badge was compulsory. Other items we were not allowed included Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (Banned until the late 1980’s), which showed the levels of insecurity which lay in both church and state. Just over a decade ago Ireland brought in its own form of video classification. In the UK they have the British Board of Film Classification; in the USA they have The Motion Picture Association of America. This was portrayed as a way to deem what was suitable for a mass Irish audience. Initially, all it served to do was to impose higher ratings on nearly all general release films and excluded many others completely. It was a few years after the introduction to this, when I was working in a business that dealt with the certification process, that I discovered the real reason behind the new system. It was imposed shortly after another large media expose on the damaging qualities of media and gave the impression of a caring and benevolent system, designed to protect and care for the citizens. The actual reason for imposing the system was the fact that the movie industry was an untapped source of government revenue. Now, to get a movie certified for an Irish audience, a film distributor has to submit their product for consideration, at quite a substantial fee. This has had a great affect on the availability of many titles in this country. The problems getting a movie passed in Ireland may now arise from budgetary constraints and not from any issues of content whatsoever. In fact, whilst running an independent DVD retail store, I found this to be the case with the vast majority of material. If you can afford to submit your film for consideration, there is a good chance it will also be heavily edited as well. Is this an example of constructive censorship? No, it’s merely another way for money to be generated, which serves only to generate questions on the entire issue of censorship in Ireland.
Last week in the UK, a coroners and justice bill was implemented, banning the publishing and ownership of certain graphic imagery. I have included two links below for you to follow on the subject, so I will not reiterate the content here. The furore over this bill is that it implements both comics and graphic novels. Any item that pertains to any form of sexual theme relating to any character under the age of 18 will be banned outright. On paper this sounds like a perfectly acceptable proposition, but it is the ambiguity and unspecific nature of the ruling that has left many writers, artists and even MP’s objecting to it. The aim is to eradicate a large amount of pornographic comic material that comes from Japan; however, the bill has not specified this. This has lead to comics such as Alan Moore’s ‘Lost Girls’ and several DC Vertigo titles being examined. Even Watchmen is under observation, due to the scene in which a young Rorschach witnesses his mother having liaisons with a ‘visitor’. In the context of the story, this is detrimental to the overall development of his character and an explanation to his demeanour and general psyche. To take it as a single panel, it could be manipulated to represent something entirely different and sinister. It is the lack of any contextual specification in regards to this bill that causes concern to the comic industry.
It is another example of a problem being identified and the clumsiest steps being taken to rectify it. There is a requirement for people who are knowledgeable on the subject to assist with such a task or the whole village will be burned to the ground in search of a single alleged witch. A draft such as this needs to be specific, due to the sheer volume of graphic art that exists today. What is being proposed now is that some friendly men will probably be paying you a visit in the near future to rifle through your comic collection. Without being contextually aware of what constitutes as acceptable within the graphic arts, it is an almost impossible concept to grasp. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
We live in a culture of analysis. So much of our everyday lives are observed, noted and recorded. We are living in environments where the previous methods of censorship are becoming increasingly redundant. Concepts like this bill have the right idea at heart and that is commendable, but a more informed and specific legislation is called for before we see piles of books being burnt on Sky News and comic shop owners being dragged into the streets and disembowelled for being a threat to society. Be careful what you are reading.
See http://www.comicbookalliance.org.uk for more information.
Source articles: http://tinyurl.com/dfkghl
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