IS CENSORSHIP NECESSARY?
Many a time did we buy or borrow a certain movie, book or political magazine to watch that amazing scene, read that certain paragraph or look at that particular article that everyone else was talking about. But when going through the book or watching that movie we often find that that specific paragraph or scene just isn't there. It is then that we realize that the copy in our hands was subjected to censorship. At that very moment we feel a sudden gust of rage or anger erupting from within us. A certain rage or anger that forces out a question, which unfolds a series of other questions. Why was this movie or book censored? Who carried out the act of censoring? How did this person or group of persons know what to censor? Why don't they let me decide what is good for me and what isn't?
The very thought of censorship disturbs us because we feel that our freedom is being restricted, by a bunch of religious loonies who carry out these acts of censorship to prevent their own children from being 'corrupted' rather than protecting the public.
Censorship can be in many forms and directed towards different productions. Among the most common, which is also observed in many third world countries, is censorship which is religious based and which deals with censoring ideas that go against the official religion of that particular country. Also at certain times censors cut out important parts of a novel because they claim it contains obscene language, which in fact is very similar to the everyday language in the streets, in school and in the park.
For instance, when Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye' made it to school libraries and classrooms it was met with intense opposition. The...