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August 05, 2007
My thoughts on the V-chip...
...and censorship in general.
If there is one thing I've learned from following this argument on the news, in blogs, and so forth, it is that everybody has a different definition of what is acceptable. It might be influenced by religious beliefs, personal predjudices, great or poor parental skill... but it all comes down to matters of opinion.
It's rather surprising that the focus is still on censorship for the masses given how much a personal decision censorship is in the home. It's almost like saying we want parents to be involved in their kids lives and make decisions based on family value, but at the same time we don't trust them to make apropriate decisions so we'll just let our old friend the government decide what is acceptable. Of course that government is going to base it's decision on pressures from moral watchdogs with an agenda to push.
DirecTV boxes actually let parents decide what is and isn't apropriate in a variety of ways. For instance, you don't have to block an entire channel, you can just block time blocks within a channel. If you don't mind your child watching cartoon network, but don't want them watching the adult swim time-frame of that channel you can just block those hours.
I think that answer is superior to the V-Chip.
I know it's not just DirecTV that does this, but it's the service I'm most familiar with. I think it should also be noted that the V-Chip has to be enabled so it's not like the TV will simply bleep out anything and everything at it's discretion.
I really do believe it should be the decision of the household. For instance, I don't believe that nudity should be censored. It's a clear throwback to America's puritanical background that we consider nudity indecent or shameful. That's not to say that I think kids should be able to turn on the TV and see people having sex, because that is sex not nudity. I just think that American's do more damage than good casting the human body as something to be hidden and ashamed of.
I also take offense at any sort of censorship of the homosexual lifestyle, whereas some (most even) households don't.
It's a bit comical that all these years later we are still trying to pretend that gay people don't exist and that, when they do, we cast it in an unfortunte light like having cancer. That's why shows like Will & Grace are important for giving people a perspective of everyday life as a homosexual so that the myths about it are somewhat dispelled. Since TV seems to be the only medium to break through to the masses these days unless you are writing a Harry Potter novel, it's important that those who would have their children understand this have the option to unchain shows like W & G.
On the flip side, those who do not want their children exposed to such lifestyles should have the ability to make that decision to censor.
Again, I feel it should be based on the values of the household, and I firmly believe that the government should have little or no jurisdiction on those values. A standardized acceptance of what is right and what is wrong just doesn't fit the diversity of the American people and the diverse moral and belief systems that exist within that diverse group.
Posted by Decemberice at August 5, 2007 05:51 PM