2/20/01
Censorship? by Mirai

Well my rant schedule is getting erratic. But I don't mind it saves you all from reading a bad rant every week. Its better to get one good rant every few weeks, than a really bad one that sounds forced every week. But on to the rant. Be warned I'm going to get VERY serious this rant.

Censorship is a very near and dear topic to me. Even before I started watching DBZ, that's only when it started to really piss me off. I remember back in the days of my "youth" (only about 4 years out of it I guess) ahh yes the good old days. We had G.I.Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles. They were great, full of fun goofy action and in especially in case of the first 2, big guns and lots of violence. Kids were different back then, we knew the difference between reality and fantasy. And each show taught a lesson. They taught honor, sacrifice, truth, justice, and a lot of other good stuff. Now a days if a show like Transformers and G.I.Joe were proposed today they would be laughed off the street. No violence, no guns, no projectiles, no death. So what are we left with....Censored everything, Teletubbies was even going to be censored!

To me its as if we are ignoring that certain things exist in the world, making sure kids never have to deal with anything serious. But the way I see it Censorship works the opposite way than what it is meant to. We get kids killing each other with guns, or just fights because they didn't know how getting shot affects someone, or how they can cause serious damage to people with only their hands. When I was a kid we never heard of things like kids planning an assault of their own school like in Columbine, or even the killing of anyone by a gun by anyone under 13. How many have happened in the last year or so? I've seen a story of a kindergartner shooting a little girl and a teacher. What is the world coming to?

The other affect of Censorship can be that since certain things are denied to them, they want to see or become involved with it all the more. I mean honestly if a parent comes over to and says,
"Don't do this!"
-"Why not?"
"Because I said so"

All that does is make the child want to do it all the more. The more something is denied the more exciting it is perceived to be. I've seen 7 or 8 yr. Olds who watch South Park, now this is not as bad as somethings but the fact that many times the parent lets them watch it. I mean I enjoy the show, but I just don't like the idea that kids watch it and laugh at stuff they don't even understand, and then get the wrong idea about certain things. On this I blame not only Censorship, but parents not wanting to do anything themselves, they rely on TV and video games. Neither are bad things but the fact that a parent shows no concern over what the child plays or watches.

This brings up my final idea is that I hate mass censorship it is wrong, evil and bad. No company or government should have the right to choose what I can or cannot see, unless something is outright stupid, massively offensive, you know what I mean. But censorship IS something that should be done in the home, by parents if they believe its necessary. Certain things are not meant to see by a child. Hard Core Sex, South Park, etc. are not for children because they are not meant for kids, while things such as DBZ (while not meant for only kids) is ok to watch.

-Mirai

(The Opinions expressed here ARE the official opinions of the DBZMission becuase its my site. If you don't like it then thats OK. Who am I to tell you how to think?)