VOICES OF THE CENSORS

by Lauri Robinson-Keegan

The issues surrounding personal freedom and responsibility in American society have reached a critical juncture. We are a nation of diverse and conflicting ethics facing moral dilemmas on all fronts. We are a nation whose democratic nature leads us to embrace morally relativistic thought while trying to function through institutions and fundamental structures established in a time of moral absolutes. We are less the United States and more the Confused States. All sectors of society are crying out for solutions to our problems and resolutions to our conflicts. Some of the loudest voices are also the most chilling. They are the voices of the Censors.

The Censors are well­intentioned, but short­sighted. They are not evil“rather, they are the most concerned and caring citizens in the country today. Their general motives are to protect children, preserve civil peace, and promote moral behavior. While their motives are honorable, the Censors cannot agree with each other about exactly what should be censored. Conservative Censors want to eradicate gratuitous sex and violence from T.V. and movies. They want to remove "antisocial" messages from rap and rock recordings.

Liberal Censors are more concerned with eradicating sexist and racist literature from our libraries. They want to stifle racist voices like the Ku Klux Klan or to suppress the air play of controversial radio personalities like Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. Censors across the political spectrum would like to see the government (at one level or another) step in and "protect" us from "dangerous ideas."

With the rise of violent crime, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, racism, sexual harassment and all the other ills facing our country, many people are throwing up their hands and joining the move to censor the media. The electronic media is most visibly under fire, with the U.S. Attorney General threatening to take government action if the industry itself does not.

Print media is always quietly under attack and there were twice as many attempts to censor in 1993 as in 1992. As we stand at the ready for the five-hundred channel revolution, at the on-ramp to the information highway, we are panicking about our information future. We are excited, we are frightened, and censorship offers us some sense of control. Since loss of control is at the very base of our fear, censorship offers a sense of comfort, albeit a false one.

The most obvious argument against censorship is that it violates the First Amendment right to free speech. Do not be fooled by thinking this is the best argument, though. While it is the best legal defense at this point, keep in mind that the Constitution is facing more challenges than ever before. Battles over constitutional intent and interpretation are the catalyst of our legal system's evolution. The document has always been controversial, but now it could even be labeled "endangered."

Eventually, the Censors may be able to convince the government that Joe and Jane Citizen just can't handle all that constitutional freedom and that it should be curtailed or (gasp!) eliminated. Unless Jane and Joe wake up and vote, they may find themselves unable to tune in to anything but state­run television, and unable to read anything but state­approved literature.

The best argument against censorship is that it simply does not work. The quickest way to promote sales of a record is for someone to ban it. The best way to boost T.V. and radio ratings is for someone to complain about programming“or better yet, sue. The easiest way to convince a teenager to read a book is to tell her she cannot take it from the public library because it is banned in her community.

Humans possess a basic curiosity and when someone (be it our parents or the state) tells us we cannot have access to something, we want it more that ever. The story is as old as Eden“the forbidden fruit is the most tempting. In places where the Bible is contraband, people risk life and limb to smuggle it. Bans are not an effective means of suppression in the most totalitarian of societies. In the United States, they are a joke.

"But," the Censors cry, "what about the children?" We see so many statistics about the number of violent acts children witness before such and such an age and we read studies about how young people are desensitized to violence. There appear to be correlations between violent behavior and violent media in the United States. There is no arguing with the statistics, they are black and white facts.

However, correlation is not causality. When the statistics bandied about by proponents of censorship are compared with other statistics“just as factual, just as black and white“the picture shifts. Consider this oft-quoted statistic: the murder rate in Detroit, Michigan is 14 times higher than the murder rate in Windsor, Ontario, which shares the same T.V. stations. Many people are exposed to violent media and do not commit senseless criminal acts. It seems media is not the only problem and censorship of the media is probably not a real solution.

There is an alarming trend recently for individuals to credit their actions to external forces. If I mutilate my husband's genitals, it may be because he abused me for years and I finally snapped. If I shoot my mother and father, it may be because they sexually exploited me and threatened me with death. If my son burns down my house, it is not because I left him unsupervised or because I left matches and lighters where he could access them, it is because he watched Beavis and Butthead on MTV.

Readers will recognize the above as recent headlines. As we understand more of psychology, we are seeing that past is indeed prologue (à la Proust) and that negative influences yield negative results. As we learn more about mental illnesses, we are able to accurately identify and scientifically label behavior that in darker ages of human existence would have been chalked up to demonic possession. "The devil made me do it" is probably the oldest explanation for stupid or heinous acts. In the latter part of the twentieth century we are more likely to label our demons: "Poverty made me do it," "Abuse made me do it," "Depression made me do it," "Drugs made me do it," or even "The media made me do it." However it is worded, it is the same old excuse: "I couldn't help it. I had no control in the situation. Outside forces were in charge of my actions."

While abuse or mental illness may be sufficient legal defense for murder and mayhem (though the system needs to decide to what extent they excuse acts of violence), it is unacceptable to hold the media responsible for individual criminal acts. People must be responsible for their reactions to the media they choose to consume. Parents must teach their children to consume information wisely and to act responsibly.

Media violence is a broad target and an easily accepted excuse for societal ills. As parents of more violent, less manageable children, it is easier for us to point the accusing finger at TV, radio, recordings, magazines and video games than it is to point it at ourselves. It is easier for us to say, "It's society's fault," than it is to say, "I should have spent more time with my child and less time pursuing my own agenda." It is easier to make television a harmless idiot box than to cultivate choosy and intelligent viewing habits (or to turn the thing OFF).

It is easier to live in a state of denial than it is to broach the difficult subjects of sex, drugs, crime and responsibility with our children. It is easier to pretend they are okay on the streets at 3 a.m. than it is to chase them down and haul them home. It is easier to abdicate responsibility for our children“especially once they become adolescents“than it is to parent them through one of the toughest times of their lives. Consequently, they never assume responsibility because the example that is set for them is one of not assuming responsibility. The inevitable downward spiral results.

It is a difficult time to be an American. So many of our national myths have been exploded by the truth. Where we once felt invincible and safe, we now feel vulnerable and fearful. We are a self­conscious nation“on the one hand trying to control everything, and on the other hand trying to fit in with the rest of the world.

In short, Uncle Sam is not a lanky, self­assured old man, but a pizza-faced, slightly overweight teenager. At 218 years old, we are an adolescent among nations, and as an adolescent, we are at a crucial phase of our development. We the people, as parents of this adolescent nation, need to resist the temptation to be too authoritarian (censor) or too permissive (allow anarchy). Instead, as any good parent, we must grit our teeth, allow for personal freedom, and insist on personal responsibility. And just as a parent, we must hope, pray and believe the kid will turn out all right.

Lauri Robinson­Keegan, wife, mother, and jazz vocalist, is a voice instructor at Ithaca's Community School of Music and Arts. She holds a music degree from Ithaca College and has found that it makes an excellent spare placemat for those unexpected guests.