Venus in the Cloister 2001 (Censorship In Music : Should acts like Eminem and Marilyn Manson be Censored?)

Member Name: samantha

Product:	Censorship In Music : Should acts like Eminem and Marilyn Manson be Censored?
Date:	04/03/01 (195 review reads)
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The publication of Venus in the Cloister was held to be a misdemeanour in 1727 as it had the ability to ' weaken the bonds of civil society, virtue and morality' and thus the law of obscenity and the push for censorship was born. Anyone who has read my other opinion will know that the publications of Fanny Hill and My Secret Life lead to an outcry in the Victorian age, but pornography flourished and whilst 'civilised society' pushed for censorship many people embraced this new freedom. The law of censorship today relies upon the Obscene Publications Act 1959 which states once an article has been published that

‘its effect…is, if taken as a whole, such as to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter embodied in it’

Whether the article will deprave and corrupt is a matter for the jury . There is no need to show activity that it has actually resulted in depravity and expert evidence may be adduced at a trial if the matter is found to be obscene. The jury must consider the work as a whole and whether it will effect a significant proportion of persons, ‘more than a negligible number but maybe much more than half’.

The court will have regard to the right to freedom of expression under article 10, however these rights may be constrained for the protection of morality. The court will have a wide margin of appreciation in regard to the state morality as

‘it is not possible to find in the domestic law of the various Contracting States a uniform European conception of morals.’


The BBC is well known for its propensity to ban records and a quick look at those which have been banned reveals (from Rocklist, inc. comments)

Jane Birkin - Je T’aime - Maybe it wasn't helped by Serge Gainsbourg singing about the joys of going "entre tes reins" - between your kidne
ys - i.e. up your bum

(Frankie goes to Hollywood - Relax - Sexual references - 1983

The Au Pairs - Come Again - Referred to orgasm - 1981

The Moontrekkers - Night Of The Vampire - morbid /"scary" content 1961

Sam M.Lewis - Gloomy Sunday - Too mournful - 1930??

Mike Berry & The Outlaws - Tribute To Buddy Holly -"morbid concern" for a dead teenage idol - 1961


The Gulf War provoked some even more astonishing decisions by the BBC Mr. Martin Cloonan, Ph.D., Research fellow, University of Stirling, Scotland states

'What happened was that this list of records was not a ban as such it was just a list of records produced which BBC producers and DJ's might like to consider carefully before playing. This is not a ban, it was produced by local radio within BBC. Just a few examples from this list. It says, "Be very careful about playing these records during the Golf war": ABBA: Waterloo, Kate Bush: Army Dreamers, José Feliciano: Light my Fire, Queen: Killer Queen, 10CC: Rubber Bullets. (BRITAIN AT WAR. HOW MUSIC WAS "RESTRICTED" DURING THE FALKLAND AND GULF WAR)

Will this really effect the political affiliations of British citizens? Are we giving Kate Bush more credit than she deserves?.


So how are the concerned American parents dealing with the perceived problem of popular music. a quick visit to the site Plugged in ‘Helping Parents and Youth Leader Guide Teens through the world of Popular Youth Culture’. A noble endeavour I hear you cry, making parents and kids communicate effectively. Errm no it’s all about controlling what your child can watch and currently includes an article on the dangers of MTV. Each record/album is given a summery which is broken down into,

1) Artist and genre

2) Pro-Social Content (will it make you help old people across the road?)

The best comment I found was fo
r Limp Bizkit ‘Life’s a blast on "Take a Look Around," which decries hate and ponders man’s existence, but…..’

3) Objectionable Content (including number of f words and sexual content

4) Summary/Advisory (Do you let little Johnny or Jessica watch it?)

In the interest of research I performed a search for Eminem’s ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ because as we all know he seems to make the US hot under the collar and, oh dear, the album contains no redeemable contents and the review is even flagged as unsuitable for children. Their conclusion is ‘He’s raping young minds at an alarming rate’.

On this site there are a huge number of reviews and any fool can argue (and I will) that if these records are such a danger, as your hard pressed to find one that isn’t defined as such, why aren’t the reviewers out gunning people down and knocking up the church organist?

Clearly this is because they are ignoring the evidence presented to them by organisations such as The American Academy of Paediatrics who state ‘To date, no studies have documented a cause-and-effect relationship between sexually explicit or violent lyrics and adverse behavioural effects’

I like Marc Almond and he sings about prostitutes and drag queens, but have I ever felt the urge, no. Many people (well some) like Val Doonican, do they all wear argyle sweaters?

This is just another in a long line of moral panics that the Governments of the World can use to shift the blame from juvenile delinquency and crime off there doorstep and onto artists and parents.

Returning to the values of the days of Venus in the Cloister is not going to change this, as Geoffrey Robertson QC says ‘We live in an age where one persons obscenity is another persons bedtime video’. Does anyone really believe that Eminem will ‘weaken the bonds of civil societ
y, virtue and morality' or even deprave and corrupt? We’re giving music magical mystical quantities which, quite simply, do not exist

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The current situation in the US has led to yet another round of 'lets ban the song'- ABC reports

'Clear Channel, the world's largest group of radio stations, circulated the list in its newsletter Hits Daily Double. It includes AC/DC's "Shot Down in Flames" as well as mellower songs such as Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door."
Dave Mathews Band's "Crash Into Me," and the Kansas hit "Dust in the Wind" also made the list.

Clear Channel represents about 1,200 stations and broadcasts in 47 of the top 50 U.S. markets. One out of every 10 radio stations across the United States broadcasts under the Clear Channel's banner'(Sept. 19)

USA today reports that these claims over banned songs have been exaggerated but I wouldn't be surprised if they had some truth in them - would you?

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