The First Amendment to the Bill of Rights exists because the Founders of our country understood the importance of free expression. The First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . ." (Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution 17). One of the ways the American people use this freedom of speech and expression is through the creation of the art form known as music. Music's verbal expression bonds our society through our emotions and experiences. This fundamental right of freedom of expression is being threatened by public and governmental groups who believe they have authority to monitor and decide what others should experience. The censorship of music
Musical censorship is incredibly important in certain venues and environments. However, any form of overarching censorship towards all musicians in all forms is not needed and potentially harmful. It is true that music can be hurtful, inappropriate, and racist but if the edges of normal and safety aren’t pushed, than society will never grow.
A: The “Prohibition” was good for jazz, because the government prohibited the society to produce and sell alcoholic beverages, while people could only have what they want in some speakeasies bars and nightclubs, where it created tons of work for Jazz musicians to perform their Jazz style dance music for the carnival crowd in these speakeasies. As a result, musician got work to do, induce them to create new songs, and the Jazz music spread in an unimaginable speed.
The prohibition era (1920-1933) within the United States of America was a period of where repressive legislation (particularly the Volstead Act) prohibited the production, transportation and sale of alcohol. Although partial temperance did ensue, effective prohibition was hindered by a period of crime, excess and hedonism. Provided this, different representations of the Prohibition era have developed within the contemporary society, with each production offering a distinct interpretation of the Prohibition’s impacts on the American nation and its society. In this sense, I aim to investigate the multimedia and written representations of the Prohibition era, their respective views on the extent of the ramifications of the period and their methods
Racism, hate, sex, drugs, and profanity are among many things people encounter in everyday life whether they want to or not. The one thing that people do have control over is what kind of music they listen to and to take that right away from anyone would be more offensive than having the president of the United States of America get oral sex in the oval office, one of the most honored places in the country. People get more worked up over the things in life that mean nothing, than worrying about crucial issues. Our society can tolerate watching parents smack their children in *Wal-Mart more than they can stand to hear a curse word, or a sexual comment in a song. Music is an
Censorship has long been an issue in Rock and Roll music. Although our American society celebrates “classic” rock that emerged in the 60’s and 70’s, today, artists such as: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Doors, The Sex Pistols, and Bob Dylan were harshly judged for their music and image they projected because some members of society feared they were too suggestive, or just completely inappropriate. These rebellious artists fought against their music being censored in the best ways for their bands.
Prohibition in the United States was an extent intended to decrease drinking by removing the businesses that produced, dispersed, and retailed alcoholic beverages. The 18 Amendment made an approval to the United States Constitution that bared the production, transference and trade of hallucinogenic liquors. Conversely, this piloted a historical Crusades recognized as the Prohibition movement (Asbury, 1950). At that time the well-known temperance movement was demanding and had little or no affect even though the legislation was behind them. This was during the 20th century when they were recognized as the Volstead Act. Unfortunately, this sparked the illegal surge and fabrication of the distribution of liquor (referred as bootlegging), which created alternative areas the initiated gang fierceness and numerous crime activity that conquering of the Prohibition movement that terminated at the end of the 20’s (Levinthal, 2016). Unfortunately, the United States realized that the prohibition was very draining and costly and looked for other substitutions and approaches. Eventually, the nation surge of alcohol prohibition changed to local procedures of regulation.
Music censorship has taken many forms in the past, but many forms are overbearing and generally ridiculous. Censorship comes in many forms. The practice of censorship is defined as “...the act of changing or suppressing speech or writing that is considered subversive of the common good.”(Merriam-Webster). Old forms of censorship included not allowing airplay, refusal of sale, and refusal of publishment. The major issue found with those that oppose censorship, is that they have no real grounds to address the problem sensibly. Most focus of censorship, however, is focused on the younger genres of music such as Metal, Punk, and especially Rap.
Like the alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s, which was intended to banish certain substances from society, recent drug prohibition has yielded the same results. For years, the United States drug policy has taken the approach of detaining and arresting anyone who can be connected with illegal drugs. The failures of prohibition are painfully obvious: unnecessary deaths, severe violence, wasted money, soiled opportunities. The ‘war on drugs’ remains the greatest violation and threat to our civil liberties and the preservation of the Bill of Rights. Since the upswing of illicit drug use in the 1960’s, the presidents of the United States have repeatedly produced policies that deem highly ineffective. An increase in presidential power is needed to
When listening to the radio, most people come across a song that has been changed from its original version, whether certain words are beeped out, or a string of lyrics are replaced altogether. This is censorship, and it is very common on the radio. It is also very controversial. People don’t agree what should be censored or if anything should be censored at all. However, we believe that censorship is a good thing. Censorship allows offensive music to be altered so that it is not offensive anymore. It also prevents younger children from being exposed to harsh and inappropriate content in a society where access to music is growing. The positives of censorship outweigh the negatives by far.
“Obscene: so excessive as to be offensive” (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary). This is the way the Webster dictionary defines obscene. How do you? Some say obscene is vulgar; others say the best way to describe obscene is through disgust. No matter how it is thought of, obscene material is everywhere in society. Television is becoming more liberal, magazines are less edited, and music is more abrasive. At some point, the public must put its foot down and demand censorship in order to keep decency in the world.
Marilyn Manson, The Beatles, NWA, Garth Brooks, and the king, Elvis, What do all these people have in common? Well, yes, they are all musical groups, but there is something more. Marilyn Manson is a heavy metal group who worships Satan, the Beatles were one of the greatest Rock N’ Roll bands of all time, and NWA was a hard-core rap group from the 80’s. Garth Brooks is a country singer and greatest selling performer of all time, and well, Elvis is the king of Rock N’ Roll. So what do they all have in common? All of these artists have or had songs with indecent or obscene lyrics.
Since the being of time people have been making and listening to music. Music has been considered the best way to express ourselves. The Bible even talks about how music was used to praise God. Music has been used for all type of things ranging from to getting a girl to notice guy, trying to get over a broken heart, or maybe losing a love one. Now society says that music has become too violent and sexually oriented. Many people have different point of view on this topic some people feel that there should be some type of censorship, while other feel censorship is against the first amendment, and others feel that parents should be responsible for what their children listen to. The question that comes to mind is should
Frequent topics of debate in our country pertain to our rights according to the constitution. Namely, freedom of speech and expression is often cause for controversy.
January 29th, 1919, a day that would forever be locked in history as one that completely shifted the attitude and behavior of an entire country. It was on this day that the United States of America ratified the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which banned the production, distribution, and transportation of alcohol. The enactment of this amendment would also bring about unforeseen repercussions that will change the city and rural streets in the United States forever. With the ban of alcohol, the government attempted to get the citizens of the country to change their ways and put the bottle down; instead, they crusted the bottle with gold and topped it with diamonds, making it one of the most