Banned Games: Understandable... But Banned Books??

Originally posted by junglejake
Ahhhh. X rated, not unrated.

No this ordinance grouped unrated movies and X rated movies together. It made no allowance for any difference between the two. If you made a "Barney" the purple dinosaur movie and didn't get an MPAA rating you couldn't show it. Several people that I work with made their own independant film and tried to have a showing of it. They had to have it at a theater 30 miles out of town because it was the only one that they could find that was in an area that didn't have these laws.

Nickelbee says:

Btw - While I can't agree that it is the greatest American novel ever written, I have a soft spot for Huck having read it when I was an impressionable youth

One of the things that makes Huckleberry Finn the masterpiece it is (similar to, say Lewis' Narnia Chronicles) is the fact that, as we mature, we find more and more layers of meaning in it.

As a kid we empathize with and admire Huck Finn and Nigger Jim because we see them as adventurers doing what we would do if we could only work up the nerve to run away from home, too.

As we get older, we're probably put off by the constant references to the word ''n-word'' and the overt racism of the people, even the "good guys". Example: Huck Finn tells Aunt Sally that there was a tremendous explosion on a paddlewheel riverboat the day before:

"Oh, my goodness! Was anyone hurt?"
"No'm. Killed a 'n-word'."
"Oh, thank goodness, I was afraid someone might've been injured."

Even older, you realize the tragic irony of Twain's tale and his handling of race in a slave society, and you see the one real turning point -- the denouement, as it were, where Huck says he's going to help set Jim free, even though he knows he's "going to hell" for it.

The justaposition of a young man doing the 'right thing' even though he thinks it's the 'wrong thing' is superb. As satire making you laugh and weep at the same time, it is matched only by Swift's A Modest Proposal -- and surpassed by nothing at all.

I first read Huckleberry Finn at age 12, and last read it earlier this year (at age 60). And this time (probably the sixth or seventh time I've read it) I got new insights into the Human Condition -- and myself.

That's what makes it great literature.

Read it again, Nickelbee; I guarantee you won't regret having done so.

I don't agree with censorship. usually, people only want to censor something when they think people will find validity in it or their own idealogical foundation is shaken.

as for lefties wanting to ban Huck Finn. I've never met any TRUE liberal who wanted it banned that actually read the book. maybe some pseudo lefties who picked it to prove to everyone else that they weren't racist and have no idea about the context it was actually used. I actually appreciate the word "'n-word'" everynow and then in a book, especially when race is obviously not the topic. And I'm of African heritage. It adds realism for I know that the word is uttered everyday in these Grand United States. Stephen King is my all time favorite writer, and I would say that every book he's written, other than the gunslinger series, refrences this word at least once during the story. but typically he also has a person of color in some sort of positive role.

books are nothing but words. to get the big picture, you may need to hear some words that you don't agree with or don't want to here. but some of us WANT to listen to a different perspective. if we wanted to only hear what we wanted to hear, we would only talk to ourselves.

passengername, EXACTLY.

A classical liberal who believes in the power of competing and conflicting ideas as well as the freedom to let those ideas compete, would not want to ban any books.

It's only be reading books like Huck Finn, which expose the concept of slavery for the morally (and economically) bankrupt garbage it is, that permit many of us to understand what freedom is all about in the first place.

As an aside, most people would guess (correctly) that the most popular book in the North in the decade before the Civil War was Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

What most people don't know is that the most populare book in the South at the same time was Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe -- a rather interesting literary dynamic!

Originally posted by Off_The_Street

Btw - While I can't agree that it is the greatest American novel ever written, I have a soft spot for Huck having read it when I was an impressionable youth

One of the things that makes Huckleberry Finn the masterpiece it is (similar to, say Lewis' Narnia Chronicles) is the fact that, as we mature, we find more and more layers of meaning in it.

That's what makes it great literature.

Read it again, Nickelbee; I guarantee you won't regret having done so.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I've read it many times. I like the book. Have recommended and taught it to kids as well. Yes, it is very good. Yes I would agree it is illustrative of great 20th century American literature - Mark Twain was remarkable. But as I said in my post, I don't agree that it is 'the greatest' American novel ever written. To say that one book can ever be 'the greatest' anything is closing the door to many excellent works that (as you said in your post) often change as we get older.

Have recommended and taught it to kids as well. Yes, it is very good. Yes I would agree it is illustrative of great 20th century American literature - Mark Twain was remarkable.

I hope you taught the kids that it was illustrative of great 19th century literature LOL!

Hey with burning, the church/all christians/south burned thousands of Harry Potter books. Watching news they interviewed a book store owner who said he didn't have a problem with it, the books were bought then burned, so he still made money.

That Harry Potter burning was stupid... like Rowling was really trying to meddle with kids minds and teach them witchcraft? Some people just have way to much time on their hands to protest a book such as Harry Potter.

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
I hope you taught the kids that it was illustrative of great 19th century literature LOL!

Ha! Note to self: Quickly change all Twain references and lesson plans from 20th to 19th.

Originally posted by JIMC5499

That would depend on your definition of censored. The Motion Picture Association of America has had a so called "voluntary" ratings system in place for almost 40 years. They say that it is voluntary, but the majority of movie distributers and theaters will not handle an unrated movie. in some areas it is actually against the law to show an unrated movie. It is considered economic suicide to try to market an unrated movie.

This article shows pretty much what I am talking about.

Threesome scene earns film NC-17

Threesome scene earns film NC-17
Egoyan's 'Where the Truth Lies' may go out unrated

Thursday, September 8, 2005; Posted: 11:52 a.m. EDT (15:52 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A week before its world premiere, a film from director Atom Egoyan was slapped with an explicit rating that will severely limit its distribution in the United States.

"Where the Truth Lies" stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and Alison Lohman. The film includes several explicit sex scenes, including one with Bacon, Firth and Rachel Blanchard.

The Motion Picture Association of America gave the film a rare NC-17 rating about a month ago. The rating means no one under age 17 can see the film in theaters.

The producers appealed the rating and Egoyan made several suggested cuts, but the appeal was denied Wednesday. The MPAA said the rating was for "explicit sexuality."

The film's distributor, ThinkFilm, must now decide whether to release the film in the U.S. with the NC-17 rating or release it unrated.

Either way, many theaters, especially outside of New York and Los Angeles, will be hesitant to book the film and many newspapers and television stations will not accept advertising for it.

"What's wrong is that in America when a film is rated for adults, then it becomes marked like a leper," the film's producer, Robert Lantos, said Wednesday. "That rating is then turned into a form of self-censorship by some exhibitors and some media outlets."

I know that it is never acceptable. I'm just saying that I can understand banning games better than I can books.

I'm assuming you mean games like Grand Theft Auto, etc.

What's to understand? That game (and others) is rated "M" for "Mature", meaning you should have to be an adult to purchase it. You're fine with banning a video game from adults?

And, if you're going to claim that kids end up with it anyhow....well, that responsibility lies with someone else doesn't it? (i.e. the parents and the store clerks), not the government or any other censorship outlet..... Prosecute a few clerks caught selling the game to minors, with some steep penalties, and you'll nip that bud quick enough...

I'm sorry, but short of Child Pornography or Snuff Films, etc.(which have very valid reasons for being banned, i.e. as it's proof of serious crimes and victimization), I can't see a valid reason for banning any kind of media. Restrict certain media to adults? Absolutely...but trying to ban adults from playing certain video games, reading certain books, etc. is absolutely NOT cool....

Neither one is understandable. Banning books is very bad, but what's the point of video games and movies being tossed off of shelves? It's similar to the books, with knowing what's in it. With the content descriptions on the cse , simply looking at it allows you to check what you'll watch. Besides which, there is no point in banning something when you haven't read the case enough. I don't mean the disc case, I mean the case against the movie or game in question. All records of violence from violent games or movies happened because of a lack of distiguishing right from wrong or a mental disability.

Well this is a funny topic who here have herd that "to kill a mocking bird" is banned becuse it has racial content but the book describes how to cope and deal with racial issues and how society tends to look down on racial classes.

Originally posted by brimstone735
...Also, to the best my knowledge, no film or video game has been censored in the United States.

There is one video game that I'm aware of that was banned in the US.
It was called "Night Trap". It was for the old Sega CD console. After it's release it was banned and then soon after they developed the video game rating system.
It was the first video game to use FMV (Full Motion Video). It wasn't even that bad...the only thing it showed was women in ther lingere.

[edit on 13-9-2005 by HrdCorHillbilly]

Originally posted by nikelbee
While the US does not ban as happily as some other countries (Australia & UK) here is a List of some films banned in the US:


The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
High School Confidential! (1958) (film by Howard Hughes primarily focused on Jane Russell's breasts)
Ben-Hur (1959) (originally banned by the NAACP for racists views)
Carnal Knowledge (1971 - Banned by the House for Un-American Activities)
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1974)

As for banned books the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) was infamous for burning all the books (art, history, myth) from previous regimes. He was rumoured to have wanted to erase history. He buried scholars alive, hated free thinkers and tortured philosophers. He even banned discussions dealing with the past.

Mao Tse-tung said this about Shi Huangdi:

'Qin Shi Huang was famous for burning books, but I burned millions of them and in many cases the authors who wrote them.'

www.greencine.com... - Banned Films#

If those movies are "banned" in the United States, why can I buy them from companies like Amazon?

The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
High School Confidential! (1958)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1974)

I really wouldn't call them banned when you can go out and purchase them from a U.S. business openly selling them.

They are only banned from things like middle schools, etc. Which I don't think is horrible since I don't think 4th graders need to see something like "Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS" in the school's library media section.

[edit on 30-10-2005 by andpau66]

Originally posted by HrdCorHillbilly

Originally posted by brimstone735
...Also, to the best my knowledge, no film or video game has been censored in the United States.

There is one video game that I'm aware of that was banned in the US.
It was called "Night Trap"....

Also wasnt Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas pulled from the shelves as well?
i seem to remember that happening.

This isn't banning as such, but close enough:
Click here

Highlights of law
The governor signed into law AB1179 by Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. The new law will:

Ban the sale or rental of ultraviolent video games to anyone under the age of 18 starting Jan. 1. (Ultraviolent is defined as depicting serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.)

Require manufacturers to label a game if it is ultraviolent.

Fine stores $1,000 per incident if they are found to be selling marked games to a minor.

Allow adults to notify local law enforcement if they believe a store is in violation.

We do have it a lot better off now (Especially in America?) than the past in regards to banned books. For the most part, we can write what we want about people in office and not worry that we will lose our lives for it (almost the reverse, I would be more scared walking in my city wearing a "Go Bush!" shirt than a "Boo Bush" one).

Nobody likes to hear things they don't consider to be true (or don't want known) said about them. The Catholic Church has been under the eye of the media for some time now, and Dan Brown just brought more interest in the behind-the-scenes of the Catholic Church. True, its a fiction novel, but that doesn't stop the interest.

Same can be said for the Harry Potter books. Rowling was not writing witchcraft books, but she did give a lot of kids interest in witchcraft.

Books put ideas in readers heads, which is why books get banned.

----Pineapple

Originally posted by nikelbee
While the US does not ban as happily as some other countries (Australia & UK) here is a List of some films banned in the US:


The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
High School Confidential! (1958) (film by Howard Hughes primarily focused on Jane Russell's breasts)
Ben-Hur (1959) (originally banned by the NAACP for racists views)
Carnal Knowledge (1971 - Banned by the House for Un-American Activities)
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1974)

As for banned books the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.) was infamous for burning all the books (art, history, myth) from previous regimes. He was rumoured to have wanted to erase history. He buried scholars alive, hated free thinkers and tortured philosophers. He even banned discussions dealing with the past.

Mao Tse-tung said this about Shi Huangdi:

'Qin Shi Huang was famous for burning books, but I burned millions of them and in many cases the authors who wrote them.'

www.greencine.com... - Banned Films#

Yes, FINALLY someone has stepped up to define REAL Censorship. You think movie ratings and video game ratings are censership? Real censorship puts YOU in prison and YOUR written work ends up in a bonfire.

Haven't you ever wondered why the colleges, Radio and TV stations are the first institutions shut down whenever a country is under a coup? Ever wonder why Liberal Professors are the FIRST people shot during the takeover? "Alternate avenues of thought" are terrifying to a new dictator.

Under real Censorship, there would be only one or two "acceptable" TV or Radio stations. (USABC 1...USABC 2...) In some countries, simply listening to something else aside from "approved" stations will, at the very least, get your stereo equipment confiscated. (And God help the Disc Jockey when they finally find him!)

In the Jewish Ghettos of Nazi Germany, just possessing a radio got you shot!

And I think we all remember Nazi Germany as the biggest book-burner of them all. (sorry if I digressed there...but hey, I really was trying to make a point!)

[edit on 3-11-2005 by Toelint]

Makes one wonder which rating the news should get....

Banning books and games for kids has 1 big drawback, the banned items/books/games will become "underground", which will boost their popularity