Things that make you feel uncomfortable

I wasn't going to do another blogpost, but I felt inspired.

They're trying to get To Kill a Mockingbird 'dollied' up in the same way Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was edited a few years back. In a school in Mississippi (The irony), the former was removed from the facility for the use of the word nigger, though they didn't specify what words were used, you can put two and two together.

Some of the students said they felt uncomfortable reading the literature with the word present. To be honest, it's not meant to be comfortable. It's a story dealing with heavy elements such as rape, racism, and sex. Stories like that are not meant to be comforting, they're supposed to put a mirror to real world events at the time. To Kill a Mockingbird is a vital book in the history of this sorry-ass country in how it exposed the behaviors, social structure and state of America in the south. The book has always had controversy over its subject matter, this isn't really anything new. In a county in Virginia in the 60's, the book was banned for the plot centering around rape.

But let's talk about another subject: Why are you banning books for uncomfortable reading? If you feel unsettled reading a book, why not just put it down and read another? Same with a television show with 'questionable' material. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Turn the channel. I never understood that. These groups and individuals don't like something, so it has to be banned? I can imagine how many books were destroyed and burned over someone's comfort zone being invaded because they didn't like it. It's not just television and literature, music too has been hit by these watchdog groups.

Hip-hop and Rock n' Roll are two genres that have been attacked, but the former especially with its material around the turn of the 90's. I remember that reverend that ran over Snoop Dogg's CD with a steamroller. For what purpose? Because he's talking about situations that are represented in his environment? That's what Hip-hop does (or did): It talked about the state of the environment the Master of Ceremony in particular was in. The push of gangsta rap must have made all of America and the book banners/burners shit themselves. NWA, 2pac, etc., all of those groups shifting to a violent tone in their music wasn't because they were glorifying it, it was a literal reflection of their lives, the same as To Kill a Mockingbird and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to an extent. Real life inspires writers, even with fictional stories. To ban books and music because they dare try to put real-life elements in their stories is foolish and it shows how sheltered these people are, willfully or not.

As a writer myself, I try to incorporate real-life elements in Mission, not directly but taking a few pages and cues and molding it in my vision. I don't hold back and do not intend on holding back as the story goes on. It may make people feel uncomfortable, and I say to them: read another book. If you want some safe, comforting book you can always read a picture book. There are no harmful words and happy colorful illustrations that encourage positivity and hope.

Back to Hip-hop, with many artists having their work criticized and even censored via 'clean' versions, one artist comes to mind with how many people he pissed off and ran up the wall.

I guess when a white guy says the things blacks have been saying for around two decades, then it's a problem. Another artist comes to mind, or more or less the outro of the track I'm referring to (3:42). You can't get angry when you shelter your kids from books with the word nigger and other obscenities and they suddenly stumble upon an Eminem or Wu-Tang album and learn about things they never heard about. Is it the artist's fault for talking about killing people and beating their girlfriends or is it it the other way around?

Hmm.

I still can't wrap my head around the actions of some people. Today, we have social justice warriors attacking video games and other media for depicting women in a sexualized manner, like that hasn't been done before.

The worst part is, it's working. Too many companies and developers are buckling down and pandering to their demands and when games outside the west are translated, they censor them. Do these women know the difference between reality and fiction? I don't think seeing Ayane from Dead or Alive is going to make me think of women as objects, when she's been getting the dicks of pre-teens and teens hard for almost twenty years. You're only now complaining about it?

On that note, the oh-so controversial topic of lolicon is in the same circle. It's simply fiction. Some people are attracted to little girls. The countless doujins and erotica with lolicon is simply a reflection of that topic. If you don't like it, simply tab out or if you have a doujin in hand, put it away. Don't burn or destroy it. Just put it away. They even put the R18 on the front page for a reason. Not everything with a colorful character is for kids, bringing me to my next point: censoring of anime and manga. Not the same as banning books, but why not jump into this one, too.

In Japan, standards are different from North America. It's why you'll see manga and anime touch upon death or violence commonly. Those two elements are a natural occurrence in real life. As of today, standards and practices are different but back in the 70-90's, you had a lot of violent matter in anime, blood, gore, you name it. When these works came to the western audience, they were toned down with the notion that being animated means it's for kids.

Well, to an extent that IS true. Most shows like Dragon Ball and the second half of the manga adapted as Dragon Ball Z had a lot of violence being a shonen series, targeted towards boys but in general targeted towards children.

Image courtesy of Chris Psaros

The image there shows Muten Roshi about to grab Bulma's chest. Notice the top left corner? That's the equivalent of shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man and so on. Those shows barely touch upon the level of blood and violence that both adaptions of the Dragon Ball manga show regularly. Even then, the adaption was toned down compared to the manga. But in Japan, that's considered normal for children.

Yet in America, uncut series will warrant a TV-PG rating. When Cartoon Network showed Dragon Ball Z uncut back in 2005, the PG rating was consistent, even with some of the more brutal scenes. It helped that it was on cable and aired around 10:30, so maybe they could get away with that rating. I remember Princess Mononoke aired uncut on Toonami with a TV-14 rating and no one complained. Just throwing that out there as well.

Wouldn't the standards for Japan not be akin to America? Why not simply have the increased rating in the states? Sure, you may not get a big audience as you'd like, but you wouldn't have to put with dancing around death with bullshit analogies or wasting time painting blood over with a scene that requires the characters to be bloody. And on that same note, Kids WB! had Batman for one season and there was blood on the character's mouths when the scene called for it, yet Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon and a personal example, One Piece couldn't get that same privilege. Hell, some old cartoons that are classics with kids have cigar smoking and guns. Why aren't those edited?

I'm getting off-topic here, but my point stands with the original message: If it makes you feel uncomfortable, move away from it. If you feel you have to shield people from subject matter that makes YOU feel uncomfortable, it says more about you than the material in question. Censorship, no matter what form or what media it targets stifles creativity and progress. Those children you seek to protect grow up eventually.

Eventually, they'll have to get a taste of reality.