Banned in China

According to this proxy test strix.org.uk is now banned in China. Hooray! I'm a dissident!

Actually, this site is banned all over the world, from UAE to Boston. As many readers will be aware, Boston was recently a victim of a heinous plot to blow up the city, and everyone in it, using D batteries inside Mooninite Lite Brites. Police responded swiftly and decisively by blowing up a city traffic counter that treacherous actors unknown (in the transit department) had chained to a lamp post. So I understand why its necessary to take certain dangerous freedoms - such as reading this blog - away from the Boston public. I'm actually quite pleased to be Banned in Boston, even if only on municipal WiFi; it's a longstanding accolade of porn and progressive writing:

Boston was founded by Puritans in the early 17th century. Puritans held highly negative views regarding public exhibitions of sex. Boston's second major wave of immigrants, Irish Roman Catholics, also held conservative moral beliefs, particularly regarding sex.

In the late 19th century, American 'moral crusader' Anthony Comstock began a campaign to suppress "vice." He found widespread support in Boston, particularly among socially prominent and influential officials. Comstock was also known as the proponent of the Comstock Law, which prevented "obscene" materials from being delivered by the U.S. mail. Some critics have pointed out if the list of banned words were strictly enforced, then even the King James Version of the Bible would be unmailable.

Following Comstock's lead, Boston's city officials took it upon themselves to ban anything that they found to be salacious, inappropriate, or offensive. Aiding them in their efforts was a group of private citizens, the Boston Watch and Ward Society. Theatrical shows were run out of town, books were confiscated, and motion pictures were prevented from being shown; sometimes movies were stopped mid-showing, after an official had "seen enough". [Wikipedia Link]

As a regular user of the Net, it's often surprising to remember how repressive most countries continue to be. In Zimbabwe, my home country, homosexuality and all kinds of porn are still illegal due largely to the influence of the Catholic Church. The UK and US continue to have formal censorship boards for 'safeguarding public decency' that operate from guidelines laid down in the 1950's and '60s. The timing is important, these laws were created to enforce the patriarchy of a completely different culture than the one living under these laws today.

The UK Obscene Publications Acts of 1959 and 1964 inform the current British Board of Film Classification. Laws used to decide what the public should be allowed to see were laid down before the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s, before the gay rights movement of the 80s, before the contraceptive pill was developed and before the advent of multiculturalism.

Melonfarmers.org maintains a list of the boards recent decisions. A telling excerpt about the previous chairman of the board, concerning Texas Chainsaw Massacre:

James Ferman, newly appointed secretary of the BBFC, was very influenced by [sensationalist] advance publicity. He convinced himself that there was no way that the sustained terrorisation of a young woman could have a beneficial effect on the British public. Well, correction here. He was worried about the effect on the British working class. After the film had been shown, uncensored, to members of the British Film Institute at the London Film Festival, Ferman got up on stage and, thinking he was among friends, said,

"It's all right for you middle-class cineastes to see this film, but what would happen if a factory worker in Manchester happened to see it?"

When they heard this gaffe, the audience became hostile, and Ferman was visibly shocked. He never again referred to the true nature of his job as a censor - to stop working class people being stimulated by controversial films. [link]

This situation today is little different, both in the UK and the US, and it's quite odd. Perhaps I live in a bubble of liberal thought, surrounded by easygoing, progressive people. Perhaps the cultural mainstream really does want to be cosseted from the 'depravity' and 'moral decay' of filmmakers.

I doubt it though. I look on with spanner wielding glee at a generation being raised with the internet, exposed to every variety of sexual preference and behavior through the daily spam in their email. Encountering porn and 'social deviance' constantly though childhood. I think they'll turn out just fine, and I wonder what they'll make of the censorship their parents and grandparents pushed on each other.

Related: This Film is Not Yet Rated
Related: Confessions of a Censor

Created 2007-05-19 20:22:47 by strix and filed under internet

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posted: 2010-12-4 00:58:14