Benjamin Franklin once said, “If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” Censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. Therefor, someone decides what is offensive and what is not. Nevertheless, what is offensive? Offensive to whom? When are lines drawn on what is deemed “dirty”? The history of musical censorship dates back to Plato’s vision of an ideal society in the Republic.
In Book 10 of The Republic, Plato presents a logical argument of the arts, specifically pertaining to painting and poetry, and concludes that art should be censored. Plato's reasoning for censoring the arts starts with him explaining that art is imitation and thus twice removed from the truth. Because art is twice removed from the truth, it appeals to the irrational part of our brain. Therefore, art can corrupt a character by influencing undesirable emotions and should indeed be censored. For example, Plato said “Courageous men are willing to die in battle — but the poets tell scary stories about the afterlife and make us fear death” (Republic 386b-d). Plato also discusses other ways a state should censor its people. He wrote, “A moral citizen’s soul will be composed and dignified — but many musical modes stir us up inside and make us jangled and unsettled” (398e-400d.). He explains how some musical notes; melodies, rhythms and lyrics are unsettling and dark. He believes the only music that should be aloud is happy and uplifting music. Lyrics must be changed in order to conform to this ideal. For example, he believes we should quell such speech as "abhorred Styx" and "the people of the infernal pit," repla...
... middle of paper ...
...tist or arousal properties of the songs. Even the humorous violent songs increased aggressive thoughts. The study also concluded that violent songs have implications for real world violence. "Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, coloring them with an aggressive tint. Such aggression-biased interpretations can, in turn, instigate a more aggressive response -verbal or physical - than would have been emitted in a nonbiased state, thus provoking an aggressive escalatory spiral of antisocial exchanges," said lead researcher Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D. of Iowa State University.
The study investigated what causes the aggression rather than aggressive behavior itself. More research is needed, say the scientists, to identify the short-term and long-term effects of violent song lyrics. The world may never know if censorship is necessary.
Is music powerful enough to incite antisocial and violent behavior? According Johnson, Jackson and Gatto’s study on the deleterious effects of exposure to rap music, subjects in the violent exposure conditions (rap music) expressed greater acceptance of violence. Subjects in the violent exposure condition also reported a higher probability that they would engage in violence (Johnson). Music plays an i...
Censorship in music is a very controversial subject in today’s society. What is considered a form of artistic expression to some is also considered vulgar and inappropriate to others. But who ultimately gets to decide what is considered vulgar and what is not? Who decides who hears what in the music industry? The RIAA is responsible for applying the Parental Advisory stamp on every album that is released in the United States. The FCC is responsible for making sure that no vulgarities or controversial comments are aired on radio or television. But why is some content edited and other content not? I will try and explain these questions in our article.
The main argument which critics use to show why the radio should be censored is because listening to explicit lyrics is linked to aggressive thoughts. This argument has some truth because studies have linked them, but the conditions of these studies also favors an increase of aggressive thoughts. Most of the studies show teenage boys who already having more aggressive thoughts because they are developing, playing more violent games, and being exposed more to the real world. These studies are also biased because most teenagers who listen to explicit music are being influenced by their parents more than the lyrics. As stated in an article debating radio censorship, “Parents still have a bigger influence over their kids’ behavior than music does” (Kiplinger). Parents who are aggressive tend to pass the trait to their kids whom tend to listen to explicit lyrics because of their previous exposure to violence and harsh
The lines “Nations droppin ' bombs, Chemical gasses fillin ' lungs of little ones, With on goin ' sufferin ' as the youth die young,” invoke a strong mental image of children dying. Thinking of this image in not pleasant whatsoever, thus having the listeners reevaluate and think of what is really going on in the world. They then state “Madness is what you demonstrate and that 's exactly how anger works and operates. Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight. Take control of your mind and meditate. Let your soul gravitate to the love, y 'all, y 'all.” Here, the Black Eye Peas displays how people’s emotions of fury and rage may lead to foolishness and madness. In addition, these lines add to the image of children dying and consequences of the mindless hate and violence acts. Furthermore, the repetitive negative emotion not only drives those people into complete ignorance, but also lures them in making an erroneous and terrible decision in life. To support this idea, an article by Charles Webel and Charles Fisher states that within groups, “there is often the phenomenon of contagious or imitative behavior. A frustrated or angry person is much more likely to behave aggressively if he or she perceives others doing so. This may involve not only “getting the idea” of violence but also gaining a kind of social “permission” to behave
In today?s society, we value and learn to tolerate different cultures and people. Sometimes people end up expressing themselves differently as well. This country is based on the idea that we may express ourselves any way we want to, be it religion, organizing, writing, or speaking. Music has been a popular form of expression for centuries. These days, in the country best known for freedom, some people are trying to censor it the freedom of music. Music should not be censored along with any other form of expression otherwise what we and artists say are being controlled. If we value freedom, then that includes what we may say and how we say it even in musical form.
A point of interest for future investigation could be to test listening to both prosocial and aggressive lyrics. In many real life situations, people may actually listen to both instead of the assumption of either and not the other. It would be interesting to test the effects of both conditions, in addition to their long-term and short-term effects.
Music with violent lyrics can increase aggression-related thoughts and emotions which can lead directly to violence. According to Craig A. Anderson, PH.D at Iowa State University, “Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, coloring them with an aggressive tint.” Violent music negatively affects children by exposing them to things like Satanism, drugs, suicide, and sexual violence. Music depicting any type of violence to others causes and sustains the cycle of violence in youth.
Music censorship has been a major problem plaguing America for over fifty years. In 1957, Elvis Pressley was only allowed to be filmed from the waist up on the Ed Sullivan show (Nuzum 1). Plenty of controversy has taken places between then and now, but more recently it has become much more prominent in the media, and people and organizations are beginning to actually take a stand. For example, Island Records (owned by Disney) dropped the Insane Clown Posse just after their release of The Great Milenko and MTV actually refused to play Madonna's video for Justify My Love because it was considered too sexually explicit (Nuzum 1).
Censorship is a burden that will forever hang on the coat tails of every great musical artist. The question of censorship will remain much the same as it has all through the centuries, unanswered. An opinion on censorship will always be up for grabs to anyone willing to take a stand. It is important to take a stand, and save music from losing its meaning or respect it deserves through censorship.
“Overall, increased acceptance of crime and violence appears to be linked with viewing violent or sexist rap videos rather than listening to rap music on its own (Johnson et al., 1995).” (Listening to Rap Music Does Not Make Teens Violent, paragraph 3) This points make the agreement with resource #2 Violence Rap Make Listener More Accepting Violence, they both indicated that music video which appears about violence and sexism would cause the bigger impact than lyrics. Another study compared the rap music and heavy metal music, and they found out that “Interestingly, university students who prefer heavy metal actually hold more hostile attitudes toward women, whereas their rap-loving peers tended to be more distrustful of the opposite sex (Rubin et al., 2001).” (Listening to Rap Music Does Not Make Teens Violent, paragraph 10) The research shows that rap music would cause less effect than heavy metal, and it won’t be a huge impact to cause violence crime. Therefore, it is not absolutely correct to say rap music and lyrics would make teens
“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.”(United States Constitution) However, it seems almost everywhere; many forms of art are being unfairly censored. One such form that is often overlooked as art is music. “Music is probably the most censored of all art forms”(The Economist; p 73) There are hundreds of artists who have been unfairly censored, ranging from popular music from artists such as Eminem, 2 Live Crew, and NWA, to classical music, such as Mozart’s Figaro. However unfair and unconstitutional this censorship is, the fact is that questionable music and lyrics are encouraging impressionable young children to follow their messages. Rappers like DMX or NWA, preaching gang violence often are “the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” and finally pushes a child looking for guidance into the world of gangs. The truth is that these children need to be protected from the harsh realities of the world surrounding them, but is censoring music the right way to do it?
Music, a popular outlet amongst the teen community for exploring emotions and blowing off steam. Times have changed, and the way music and lyrics are perceived has developed in a violent fashion. According to new studies, that have occurred, violent music lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings. I chose this topic because music is such an influential part of our lives that it often dictates the mood we seize to exist in. If violent thoughts occur, what can come of it?
Pieschl, S., & Fegers, S. (2016). Violent lyrics equals aggressive listeners? Effects of song lyrics and tempo on cognition, affect, and self-reported arousal. Journal Of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, And Applications, 28(1), 32-41. DOI: 10.1027/1864-1105/a000144
E. Siegel in 1956, on the impact of violent cartoons on aggressive behavior on children. The study involved showing a comedic and violent Woody Woodpecker cartoon to young children. He paired the children with one another and exposed them to either a violent or non-violent cartoon. “Results of the study indicated that the amount of aggressive behavior displayed did not vary by the level of cartoon violence observed the children” (Siegel, 1056). In contrast, other laboratory experiments have found that violent cartoons do in fact negatively influence children. “In 1961, children viewing animation involving human-like figures that hit and bite one another chose to play with an aggressive toy (like hitting a doll) as opposed to a non aggressive toy (like a ball), in a greater percentage than children seeing a non violent cartoon” (Lovass, 1961). There are two reasons to explain the contradictory finding of the experiments. First, studies that failed to find significant effects of cartoon violence on aggression used animation depicting comedic violence, but lacking in comedy. Second, revolves around the object of aggression assessed during the experiments. “It may be that comedic elements in cartoons camouflage animated violence, thereby reducing the negative effects of violent imagery on aggressive behavior” (Kirsh,
The same goes for music and movies. If I watch a movie and someone gets killed, it is not going to make me go kill someone like in the movie. How much do people actually get away with killing in movies? The villain usually dies, and that doesn't sound very good to me. Music is just that, music, and nothing more. If I were to start listening to music with violent lyrics, it would not make me become violent at all. If I am violent in the first place and listen to the violent lyrics, it is not the music's fault I was violent.