That photo of of Tipper Gore and Susan Baker is priceless. If the dictionary needs an illustration for the term, "uptight", that photo would do quite nicely.
11
The expressions on their faces say it all: Mesdames Prissy Prim and Very Disapproving. Have they come out in support of Kim Davis yet?
2
The difference between high art and pop art is purely a question of who happens to like it: if powerful people like it, it's high art, if powerless people like it, it's stigmatized. Censorship is just a way for powerful people to punish those whom they see as less-than.
4
Seeing the thumbnail picture as poorly as I do, I was sure that this was Dana Carvey as 'Church Lady' and I couldn't recognize the actor on the left. But she is hilarious too. // Frank Zappa left us way too early.
5
Tipper cost Al gore the White House and herself First Lady-some of us remembered the PMRC and didn't vote for Al Gore.
Karma.
Karma.
1
Let's not forget that all-time classic movie, "Reefer Madness", made not that long after the time when Bayer used to sell heroin along with aspirin, and Coca Cola had cocaine, both done quite legally.
9
It always struck me as odd that Tipper Gore, a rock drummer, even thought to pursue this.
Very un- rock 'n roll.
Very un- rock 'n roll.
They were right about Mad Magazine. I devoured it as a youth and it put me on a lifelong path of questioning authority and endlessly laughing at silliness and stupid things. The horror!
I am so pleased that Al Jaffe is still with us. I wish I could do this comment as a Fold-In.
I am so pleased that Al Jaffe is still with us. I wish I could do this comment as a Fold-In.
20
Jello Biafra (formerly of the Dead Kennedys) had a great spoken word album called High Priest of Harmful Matter devoted to his own experience of being charged with obscenity as a result of the PRMC.
2
The truth is that just because as an individual or society you can do something, nudity, vile, filthy lyrics, killing in movies, television, and video games doesn't mean you should do it or move as a culture with it stuck in your face each and every time you observe media. The only time that violence should be shown in media is when you need to make a documentary or mvie about actual events occurring in wars and genocides. Do we really believe that the singers who show it all in their barely there outfits add anything to how we want the female to be seen as a whole person, absolutely not! There are few brains and little character out there anymore, if it feels good and makes money who cares, not any different than the culture wars over drugs, guns, etc. Anyone that thinks society is advanced is missing all the truth. Why, if most musicians have either died at an early age or been in recovery all their lives from alcohol, hard drugs, or pills, because the atmosphere of stupidity and feeling high cancels out all sense of the reality of the destruction of your mind and body and death! Fell short for these people, absolutely no, the same with gang activity in the inner cities with guns. All bad behavior thins out the stupid according to my daughter.
1
I am not a fan of violence, but when you write that "The only time that violence should be shown in media is when you need to make a documentary or movie about actual events occurring in wars and genocides," you are asking the government to censor well, everything. Who decides? Your party or mine? Some faceless bureaucrat who decides that arm wrestling is violent? Or Cher's "Snap out of it" moment in Moonstruck? Is that violence that shouldn't be shown?
10
"you are asking the government to censor well, everything."
This would meet with the approval of the government loving liberal/progressives who can never have too much government and would like it to control everything "for our own good".
This would meet with the approval of the government loving liberal/progressives who can never have too much government and would like it to control everything "for our own good".
2
Um, no thanks, from this liberal. The norm is that it is the "small government conservatives" who love the idea of government censorship. Family Research Council much?
6
Frank Zappa'a testimony at the Senate hearings -
"Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil, greed and ignorance, smothered in balloons and ribbons."
"Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil, greed and ignorance, smothered in balloons and ribbons."
18
I remember the song "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James & the Shondells was banned from the airwaves at some Milwaukee radio stations. I also remember reading that "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles was banned from airplay in the UK. The reason? The line "I saw a film today oh boy...the English army had just won the war." And that same song was also banned because of the lyric "I'd love to turn you on." And then of course there is the classic "The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" by the late great George Carlin. There will always be some song or movie that is going to upset people and make them believe that the "destruction of civilization" will soon be up on us. It's ridiculous.
8
Ed Sullivan demanded that the Rolling Stones change the lyrics of the somg they performed on his show from "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "Let's Spend Some Time Together." The Stones complied.
3
And The Doors were also asked to change the lyrics of "Light My Fire." They said they would and did not. Ed Sullivan said they would no longer be welcome on his show. Jim Morrison's response - "Who cares? Been there. Done that."
5
Cultures that practiced segregation and did not approve of women who went public about sexual abuse (or about sex in any way) objected to Elvis's pelvis on TV. This was no accident. The preservation of segregation and man's ability to rule over and abuse women demanded censorship of honesty in these areas.
Superman was an ultrastraight Boy Scout who showed no signs of even thinking about sex. Almost a space cadet. Spiderman was a real human being, with emotions, a sense of humor and irony, and a more than passing acquaintance with the greats of human culture. Who was at greater danger of run-ins with the censor?
The alternatives to Elvis were "How Much Is that Doggie in the Window" or "Ghost Riders in the Sky". Pat Boone covered R'n'B -- actually, he did more than cover the songs; he sanitized them.
Protecting children from things they are unprepared for may be worth doing, but one the main things they need protection from is a world of hypocritical niceness that gives them worse than no help with making sense of reality.
Superman was an ultrastraight Boy Scout who showed no signs of even thinking about sex. Almost a space cadet. Spiderman was a real human being, with emotions, a sense of humor and irony, and a more than passing acquaintance with the greats of human culture. Who was at greater danger of run-ins with the censor?
The alternatives to Elvis were "How Much Is that Doggie in the Window" or "Ghost Riders in the Sky". Pat Boone covered R'n'B -- actually, he did more than cover the songs; he sanitized them.
Protecting children from things they are unprepared for may be worth doing, but one the main things they need protection from is a world of hypocritical niceness that gives them worse than no help with making sense of reality.
8
Tipper Gore and the censorship wars - all of us boomers can remember it, if you were awake and not stoned when it all happened. Zappa, a genius, got it right and his fearless defense of creativity was a landmark of resistance in a rather dreary era. We all referred to what was happening as "The Revolution" and indeed it was - Tipper and associates lost this battle like gangbusters. Compared to what she was having a cow about then, the misogynistic, violence-fueled rants of the current crew look like nuclear fallout. But by now she has other fish to fry, we hope.
7
Having communal standards actually has a useful effect in that it gives youth something against which to test their own views of the world, something to reject should they so choose, a dialectic process through which they can create something new and, at times, better.
As to those at any point for whom current culture is inviolable, I would merely note that Bayer used to sell heroin along with aspirin, and Coca Cola had cocaine, both done quite legally.
As to those at any point for whom current culture is inviolable, I would merely note that Bayer used to sell heroin along with aspirin, and Coca Cola had cocaine, both done quite legally.
6
This video, and article, grossly oversimplifies these histories, and misses many other incarnations of moral panic, such as Dr. C. Delores Tucker's 1994 hearings about the dangers of Hip-hop. Sure, there's a connection to be made between the anti-horror-comics scare and the PMRC, but the deeper details of both are quite different. The take home point for all of this, though, is that attempts at censorship in the name of protecting children are all of them misguided -- duh! -- there's nothing to say in their favor.
2
When I was the tender age of sixteen, I attended my first rock concert--The Grateful Dead. My dad said that I had always been a "good" boy, but that I was never the same person after going to that that show, or the Country Joe and the Fish concert two weeks later!
8
Censorship is to intellectuals what gun control is to the NRA. It touches on a fundamentalist fear that any concession is the road to ruin. The media and artistic unions turn a complete deaf ear to the present stat of music. Presently the pop culture in America is a cesspool, but there is no outcry against it, because of the political correctness which says that all self-expression deserves the space to exist. Really America, you should look at the poison that is your mainstream culture. Violence, speed, and noise everywhere in movies, music, advertising, TV, radio. Music is three chords, screaming and decibels. Architecture is all straight lines, lack of scale and disconnect from surrounding buildings. Modern art is largely a self-indugent crock. Political radio is toxic waste. I don't know how self-restraint can become fashionable again, and censorship is a non-starter, but the laissez-faire attitude in regards to culture is producing a dangerously dumb population which the rest of the world sees as a definite threat. By the way the poison of pop music is not specifically in the words but in the nasty sounds, negative emotions, oppressive volume and simplified craftsmanship. You still have great museums, orchestras, universities, and many talented people, but there is a need to examine and try to do something about the toxic pop culture.
5
Punk rock was 3 chords and still managed to foment political movements and consciousness.
When's the last time you went and sought out new music? There's actually some incredibly good stuff out there today, even if it's not getting broad commercial play, given the changing music industry. Just because they're not all playing Chopin doesn't make new art forms invalid.
Today's cultural output may not all be to one's taste, but there's no hard proof that the culture has dumbed down as a result. The MEDIA may've, but intelligence scores aren't plummeting as a result of bad art.
When's the last time you went and sought out new music? There's actually some incredibly good stuff out there today, even if it's not getting broad commercial play, given the changing music industry. Just because they're not all playing Chopin doesn't make new art forms invalid.
Today's cultural output may not all be to one's taste, but there's no hard proof that the culture has dumbed down as a result. The MEDIA may've, but intelligence scores aren't plummeting as a result of bad art.
2
The so-called toxic pop culture has absolutely nothing to do with the perceived need for censorship. And if you think modern rock is three chords, you haven't listened to it in 50 years.
Warning labels in and of themselves aren't censorship, although I suppose when a film director has to guarantee a PG-13 cut, that is a form of censorship. In the case of comic books, that was a clear case of censorship. And what were the politicians so concerned about? Gory stories in comic books about monsters. A lot less scary stuff than in a Harry Potter film and now almost every teenage movie is about vampires or zombies.
Having said that, I don't have a problem with warning labels which appear on TV shows, cable, movies, and some music and if anything should be obvious, it's that media is getting ever more explicit in spite of the warnings and just as people ignore the nutritional labels on foods, they ignore the warning labels on media.
While there have been occasional mistakes, like the Woodstock movie being rated R so that kids who actually attended the festival weren't permitted to see the movie without an adult and some of Steven Spielberg's films getting a pass on violence that other filmmakers don't get, overall I believe the ratings system works well. It's not like we're not seeing violence and sexuality in movies - there's plenty of it. And did warning labels stop the sale of Rap and Hip-Hop? It's been the best selling genre of music for over 30 years.
Warning labels in and of themselves aren't censorship, although I suppose when a film director has to guarantee a PG-13 cut, that is a form of censorship. In the case of comic books, that was a clear case of censorship. And what were the politicians so concerned about? Gory stories in comic books about monsters. A lot less scary stuff than in a Harry Potter film and now almost every teenage movie is about vampires or zombies.
Having said that, I don't have a problem with warning labels which appear on TV shows, cable, movies, and some music and if anything should be obvious, it's that media is getting ever more explicit in spite of the warnings and just as people ignore the nutritional labels on foods, they ignore the warning labels on media.
While there have been occasional mistakes, like the Woodstock movie being rated R so that kids who actually attended the festival weren't permitted to see the movie without an adult and some of Steven Spielberg's films getting a pass on violence that other filmmakers don't get, overall I believe the ratings system works well. It's not like we're not seeing violence and sexuality in movies - there's plenty of it. And did warning labels stop the sale of Rap and Hip-Hop? It's been the best selling genre of music for over 30 years.
1
You can't yell "fire" in a crowded movie theater as public safety triumphs over free expression, but the rigidity of a societies' conduct and expression is the strangulation where creativity goes to die.
We're so sensitive and judgmental in a land where our so called freedoms of expression are extolled by our politicians in theory, but in practice, there's a circle the wagon mentality of protecting the group think from outside agitators.
John Lennon suggested rightly that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus at the time and the guardians of group think reacted with mobs burning records, as a horrified Lennon looked on.
"You know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be, the way things are going, they're going to crucify me," John Lennon
We're so sensitive and judgmental in a land where our so called freedoms of expression are extolled by our politicians in theory, but in practice, there's a circle the wagon mentality of protecting the group think from outside agitators.
John Lennon suggested rightly that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus at the time and the guardians of group think reacted with mobs burning records, as a horrified Lennon looked on.
"You know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be, the way things are going, they're going to crucify me," John Lennon
6
Well, for Christ's sake. Lennon looked like a guru in drag. Why wouldn't they crucify him?
2
I was a young child in the early 50's and loved the horror comics of the day, like the Crypt of Terror, or something like that. I still remember some of the stories. Somehow I survived them and grew into a responsible and loving family man and professional contributor to society.
5
Remember an album titled 'Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'? No? Probably because it was hard to find when it first came out and now, like virtually all of Zappa's recorded works, virtually impossible to find in any of the corporate retail establishments. Then again, these well-intentioned witch-hunters who pushed for censorship-by-label identified Zappa's classic album 'Jazz From Hell' as a notorious example of just the sort of lyrics that so worried them. They almost certainly never listened to this work, and how can I say that with such authority? Because it doesn't have a SINGLE lyric. Not a word. Not even a human voice. Only instrumentals.
Need I say more?
Need I say more?
9
Why on earth do you say that Zappa's stuff is hard to find?
3 seconds of web searching show that 'Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention' is readily available on Amazon both as CD and mp3. And most of his other releases are available there. If that's not a "corporate retail establishment,"I don't know what is. I'll also take the opportunity to point out the availability of this album and practically everything else Zappa recorded on the official Zappa website: http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com
3 seconds of web searching show that 'Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention' is readily available on Amazon both as CD and mp3. And most of his other releases are available there. If that's not a "corporate retail establishment,"I don't know what is. I'll also take the opportunity to point out the availability of this album and practically everything else Zappa recorded on the official Zappa website: http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com
2
ONLINE is where you'll find it. But in old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar stores? Only in the relatively few independent ones left. I rest my case.
1
How can this article not reference David Hajdu's comprehensive exploration of the comics scare, The Ten Cent Plague?
Because not every article can have everything in it you want.
5
Frank Zappa had the " Central Scrutinizer" in his Joe's Garage album over 30 years ago. Despite the Central Scrutinizer's existence, Mary could not think pure thoughts.
2
"'[T]rigger warnings'...have been proposed on some college campuses, to alert students to curriculum material that may upset them or possibly cause post-traumatic reactions in, say, rape victims or combat veterans. Works suggested for such advisories have included 'The Great Gatsby' (misogyny), 'The Merchant of Venice' (anti-Semitism) and 'Mrs. Dalloway' (suicide). Are these alerts a reasonable way to shield the more vulnerable from harm, as proponents assert? Or are they, as critics fire back, a misguided notion that infantilizes students who would be better served by dealing directly with life’s harsher realities?"
I hope that last two-part question is rhetorical. If the answer is not the latter, then we truly have fallen far.
I hope that last two-part question is rhetorical. If the answer is not the latter, then we truly have fallen far.
4
Trigger warnings are for college-age students who are adults already, and hence does not make sense. Warning labels make it easier for parents to watch out for children, and are helpful as a reference (it is up to the parents to decide eventually). They are different. The report confuses two things for two age groups, due either to sloppy thinking or slanted reporting.
5
This is the reason why I could never support Al Gore despite all his fake liberal credentials. Forgetting the living hell he personally made out of the lives of every 80s child would be like forgetting how Reagan destroyed the economy or Bush lied to start a war or Obama gave a trillion dollars to bankers who robbed this country.
5
How did Al Gore make anyone's life a living hell? By putting some lame warning label on a record album -- wait a sec -- it wasn't even AL Gore. It was his wife, Tipper. Are they clones or identical twins? She's a different individual human being than him -- isn't she?
22
Funny how conservatives are trying to tether Hillary Clinton to political moves made by HER husband. Good for the goose much?
1
Just which congressmen do you think called the hearings on behalf of their spouses in the PMRC?
2
Censorship and ratings are two completely different things and shouldn't be conflated. Americans should be alarmed by censorship, but we've proven pretty amenable to systems that rate media content based on sex, violence and vulgar language-- and for good reason: They neither prevent content providers from making whatever they want to make nor adult consumers from seeing whatever movies they want to watch or listen to whatever records they want to hear. They also provide parents with some chance of limiting the exposure of their kids to content they don't think is appropriate for them. I thought back then, when I was a young man, as I still do today that Zappa and others opposed to the music warning stickers were overreacting to what is simply an advisory label and not any sort of prohibition. On top of that, the system has always been voluntary for record labels.
On the other hand, the arrest of 2 Live Crew was a clear case of censorship and not to be confused with any sort of opt-in rating system.
On the other hand, the arrest of 2 Live Crew was a clear case of censorship and not to be confused with any sort of opt-in rating system.
3
I must admit at the time i thought it was ridiculous. i have to say 30 years later and seeing what happens when there are no boundaries I was wrong. one has to look no further than the latest reincarnation of the muppets and asked one self are we really better off as a society.
6
But what 's wrong with the Muppets new show? I do not live under a rock, but his is the very first time I have heard of any complaints regarding the writing or other content of that show.
This is interesting to read in conjunction with today's "Sunday Dialogue: The Media Gap," which is described this way: "Readers react to a letter about the decline of serious, in-depth coverage in favor of infotainment and skimpy news morsels."
It has taken more than only 60 years, but the advertising and entertainment industries have shortened our attention spans, sugared our appetites for substance, and sleazed down our national intelligence. Evidence? The current campaign for the Presidency.
It has taken more than only 60 years, but the advertising and entertainment industries have shortened our attention spans, sugared our appetites for substance, and sleazed down our national intelligence. Evidence? The current campaign for the Presidency.
17
You would have done well with this article to pursue the discussion about how violence in our culture today affects fascination with guns, and the ease and regularity with which mass killings occur. Where once someone might have sought retribution with an assault, now guns are the method of choice.
It's not for me to say whether there is a connection, but this article is no more than a jog down memory lane without that analysis.
It's not for me to say whether there is a connection, but this article is no more than a jog down memory lane without that analysis.
5
what, me worry ?
2
An interesting aside to this narrative concerns a copy of Dr Fredric Wertham's book, Seduction of the Innocent, which was purchased at a flea market by the mother of a comic book fan for twenty five cents and given to her son as a curiosity Over the years , this fan took the book to one comic book convention after another and asked every comic book artist he met to autograph and deface it. By the time I came across it at an MoCCA Fest at the armory on Lexington Avenue and 26th Street it had been anointed by virtually every artist of note in the industry, each of whom had placed their not-at-all flattering comments about Wertham on its pages. Stan Lee was the first to have signed it, and I had the opportunity to photograph and video its contents while Peter Stampfel, musician, counter culture icon, comic book collector, and first reader at DAW books turned its pages. My video, simply titled: Seduction of the Innocent, was included in a group show at The Con Artist Collective's gallery on Ludlow Street in the summer of 2014. The contempt for Wertham and his idiocy has never been documented with greater clarity and precision than it was by the community of creatives he hoped to destroy. Truly, he who laughs last laughs loudest.
7
There are several of us who us Seduction as an autograph book of sorts. After my research debunking Wertham was published a couple of years ago, I turned one of my copies into a comics autograph book. I've been fortunate to have superhero folks from Neal Adams, Paul Levitz, and Jim Steranko to others like Art Spiegelman, Raina Telgemeier, and Ellen Forney add their riffs.
Is being permissive an absolute good? Is permissiveness towards the lives of children in your care an absolute good? Do parents have the right to define the limits of good taste for their children? Does a current generation of adults have the prerogative of programming the rules for what is culturally transgressive in the minds of a generation yet to come to adulthood?
To any thinking person of any political persuasion, these are perennially important fundamental questions for which the answer is neither an automatic yes nor an automatic no. The article, however, assumes that the answer to all of them is no, and implies that the matter is settled.
Yet almost any parent of a child or a teenager would likely beg to disagree.
To any thinking person of any political persuasion, these are perennially important fundamental questions for which the answer is neither an automatic yes nor an automatic no. The article, however, assumes that the answer to all of them is no, and implies that the matter is settled.
Yet almost any parent of a child or a teenager would likely beg to disagree.
3
Thanks for labelling. That way I can exert my freedom to choose what I'm buying and yes supervise my children's choices too. I'd rather know and control what my children are hearing, watching, eating, drinking than let the industry control the marketing and the product with its spins. It is like cigarette. Should we eliminate the warnings because it may be censoring smoking? The semantic coupling of censoring and warning if a fallacy employed by the advocated of industry. Freedom for industry often clashes with freedom for the consumer to know what it is consuming. And yes, children are a captive consumer market.
8
I hate to break it to you, but streaming services like spotify and about a million sites online mean that if your kids want to hear music they don't have to buy it, screen it past you, or even see the album cover. Rating systems are absolutely censoring, the same way that it would be censoring to put a gated wall around a nude statue in a park. By definition, limiting people's exposure to ideas or works of art some deem objectionable is censoring. Smoking is not just objectionable, it is a health risk, that is why it warrants a warning label, not because some find it vulgar.
4
md, Unless you are listening to the item you are trusting the label "decider" :) to be honest or have values you agree with.
I agree that Children are a captive audience and warnings are not the same as censorship. You being in Berkeley your child is going to be more aware of how marketing targets them than someone from Oakley. They will also be able to see the things you prohibit if they choose to.
I agree that Children are a captive audience and warnings are not the same as censorship. You being in Berkeley your child is going to be more aware of how marketing targets them than someone from Oakley. They will also be able to see the things you prohibit if they choose to.
I was 10 when Tipper Gore started all that mess. My parents read her book. Whatever marginal potential I had for ever being cool was consequentially dashed when I was banned from listening to pop radio or watching MTV. I can't stand that woman.
36
Back in the innocent 1980s, all kids could be corrupted by were song lyrics, which first they had to listen to closely to (barely) understand. Today kids can look at violent porn on the internet, most of which does not claim to be artistic expression at all, nor would anyone argue that it is. Forget "warning" labels--why is this legal, especially since the performers end up injured and infected with deadly diseases? The worst rock artists endured from performing were cases of tendonitis and laryngitis, and their fans could shrug off their lyrics as fantasy.
4
When will the bluenoses learn that by trying to reduce demand, they end up increasing it? I'm no fan of rap music, but under no circumstances would I advocate censoring it. Most of its consumers are young white kids who will eventually outgrow their cultural infatuation. It will be replaced by something else that most will tolerate and a handful of self-annointed taste arbiters will try to eliminate. Just as it was with movies in the '30's, comic books in the '50's, music in the '80's, and video games now, they will fail and fail miserably. Their's is a fool's errand.
14
Looking at Tipper's blonde helmet head, and remembering the late, great Frank Zappa eviscerating her weak arguments, one can't help but wonder if she was the real Dinah Moe Humm.
4
And she was breeding a dwarf
But she wasn't done yet.....
But she wasn't done yet.....
And the late great Frank Zappa destroyed all of them on a regular basis on television.
3
That photo of Susan Baker is perfect: her facial expression & body language says almost all that needs to be said here.
7
I have an uncertain memory that movies at one time in the US had to earn a seal of approval from the Catholic Church. "The Nat King Cole Show" was not allowed to be broadcast in the "Jim Crow" South. There was also a period in the late 60's and early 70's when TV shows from 9-11pm would have adult content and shows before 9 would be for the whole family. That was when most home TVs presented broadcasts from the 3 Letter networks. While many Americans do not want a "Nanny" State telling them what they can read or hear, they also want their family values affirmed in the public square. I think Americans will accept mini-resolutions, but the creative spirit of our artists prevents a Final Resolution from happening.
1
Yes warning labels on records served little purpose but they caused little harm as well. Do we think that labeling porn movies as well "porn" is somehow censorship? We have always put labels on edgy things and put them in boxes (e.g. a red light district). Sometimes they stay in the box and sometimes they worm there way out into accepted culture. We should not have the knee jerk reaction that labeling is the same thing as censorship. We still have a movie rating system and it still has some purpose and value.
6
On the other hand, Bayer used to sell heroin along with aspirin, and Coca Cola had cocaine, both done quite legally.
Having communal standards actually has a useful effect in that it gives youth something against which to test their own views of the world, something to reject, a dialectic through which they can create something new and, at times, better.
Having communal standards actually has a useful effect in that it gives youth something against which to test their own views of the world, something to reject, a dialectic through which they can create something new and, at times, better.
3
This article facilely conflates several different issues (e.g. trigger warnings for college students in lit classes with protecting children against graphic violence) in its implicit dismissal of any kind of regulation. Labels on material targeted at and sought by children hardly constitute censorship and are reasonable in a world where ten-year-olds can get their hands on video games that extol rape and murder. Even old Frederic Wertham had a point besides the one on top of his head. Would it make his concern more palatable to point out that World War II-era comics were aimed at GIs and were loaded not only with graphic violence against women but also vicious racism and anti-semitism? Probably not the best things for seven-year-olds to pick up without any societal protection.
3
drrichardson, Do you think maybe there is an intended point to writing it up as they did? Looking at your criticism I am reminded of Ellen Rockmore's recent Op-Ed on Texas school books.
We recognize in most things in life, that stuff which is perfectly OK for adults to view, listen to or purchase is not necessarily OK FOR MINOR CHILDREN.
I do not recall Tipper Gore or anyone else trying to ban music or movies, or deny ADULTS the right to purchase this material. It was about how minor children suddenly were being inundated with really graphic, crude, vulgar materials that their parents had very little ability to know about or protect them from.
As you say: those 50s comics were NOT about some high-minded ideals -- not even sexual freedom or verbal expression -- they were about things like murdering women in very graphic, vicious ways (that you could hardly even do in major film TODAY) -- splatter gore and violence -- racial stereotyping -- encouraging laughter and humor at the pain and degradation of others.
I've actually read some of these comics, and even though I knew about them, I was disturbed by what I saw -- and I was at least 17 at the time. They were totally inappropriate for minor children under the age of 13 -- then OR now.
I do not recall Tipper Gore or anyone else trying to ban music or movies, or deny ADULTS the right to purchase this material. It was about how minor children suddenly were being inundated with really graphic, crude, vulgar materials that their parents had very little ability to know about or protect them from.
As you say: those 50s comics were NOT about some high-minded ideals -- not even sexual freedom or verbal expression -- they were about things like murdering women in very graphic, vicious ways (that you could hardly even do in major film TODAY) -- splatter gore and violence -- racial stereotyping -- encouraging laughter and humor at the pain and degradation of others.
I've actually read some of these comics, and even though I knew about them, I was disturbed by what I saw -- and I was at least 17 at the time. They were totally inappropriate for minor children under the age of 13 -- then OR now.
1
1950s society was terrified by pop culture and tried to suppress it. Then the 1960s came along and young people struck a blow for freedom of speech and expression. The 1980s came along and made nihilistic self-indulgence respectable and profitable. The revolutionaries of the 1960s are now plagued with drug-addicted children and grandchildren. Naturally, they blame it on Tipper Gore.
2
Fascinating! I am learning so much... my grandfather's caregiver named his new cat Tipper Gore to spite him. Everyone was flailing around in the dark.
2
What was left out of the article is the fact that the Comics Code, movies ratings, and music ratings were industry formed as sops to the culture war fear-mongers and had no actual legal basis. Fake censorship to quiet the would be censors.
1
"Violence" or "Violence against women"? I say the latter is the issue here. Let's be specific.
3
For a well-written account of the comic book story, see David Hadju's "The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America" that came out around 2008.
Censorship has nothing to do with art, and everything to do with ignorance and fear.
For example, the philosophy that the former Mrs. Gore embodied, lives on today in the words of those who say, that the solution to homelessness, is to round up homeless people, and put them somewhere, where no one will see or hear them.
The target may vary, but the thought process does not.
For example, the philosophy that the former Mrs. Gore embodied, lives on today in the words of those who say, that the solution to homelessness, is to round up homeless people, and put them somewhere, where no one will see or hear them.
The target may vary, but the thought process does not.
2
The one has nothing to do with the other. Mrs. Gore was not trying not to see something unpleasant, she was trying to figure out what to permit her child to see and experience at the right developmental age.
It was and is entirely reasonable for parents to have some heads up as what is in the entertainment their kids wish to consume so that they have a sense if it is approrpriate. It is the parents job to monitor this.
It was and is entirely reasonable for parents to have some heads up as what is in the entertainment their kids wish to consume so that they have a sense if it is approrpriate. It is the parents job to monitor this.
3
Films, music, comic books, and all the rest of it mirror reality. The puritanical element would have us believe the reverse, but they are, and always have been, wrong.
8
By all accounts Tipper Gore's little plan for PURITY failed. Kids and adults like me wanted the unedited or UNADULTERATED versions of their favorite artists. In fact the disclaimers that were slapped on the raunchier albums like Prince or Outkast only served as an INCENTIVE to purchase them. What a joke.
1
Everyone should watch Frank Zappa's testimony before the Congressional committee hearing on music lyrics. He offers a very sensible solution - inserting a lyric sheet under the shrink wrap - and gets Al Gore to agree with him. And he makes some of the other reps look like the fools that they were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAF8Vu8G0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAF8Vu8G0w
2
I occasionally recall that line line of Zappa's characterizing the PMRC as a sinister toilet training plot. I'm still laughing with glee 30 years later. In another 30 years I will probably be gone but I'll go with the confidence that Zappa & the Mothers will live on.
Neither nudity nor sexual practices, wild or otherwise, threatens our Republic, rather it's social and economic inequality that undermines the credibility of "government of the people, by the people and for the people." Tipper Gore and Susan Baker should have focus their time and energy on ensuring our schools taught our children that western notions of free speech and equality are the foundations of our Republic and that we all have a responsibility to not only preserve and protect those ideals but also to activity work to bring our society closer to that ideal. Now that's human progress pure and simple.
5
"Whose ox is Gored." So so clever. Yeesh.
Outrage Hobbyists constantly declaring that we live in the worst of times, where all of our rights are being degraded as never before, should watch this report.
4
Ha! I remember my 8th grade teacher in Oak Park, Illinois in 1957 being disappointed when he caught me reading MAD Magazine. If only he had known that years later I would be in the Hip Hop/Rap biz!!
3
Rather than making the asinine Tipper Gore the focus of this article, you should have focused upon the real culture hero of the day (and now) - the late Mr. ZAPPA. Speaking out for freedom of expression like any good citizen should, he made mincemeat out of Ms. Gore and her husband's stooges, (er, I mean colleagues), in TV debates and Congressional hearings. The "ratings" imposed provided jobs for a few idiots, one supposes, but have had no noticeable effect one way or the other on pop music or its sales figures. As Zappa pointed out, if you tell teenage kids "you can't listen to X or watch Y, "they are going to buy or steal mass quantities of X and Y... meanwhile Zappa's records are still selling quite well, as his brilliance has come to be widely recognized.
40
The best part of that media debacle was listening to Frank Zappa stand against censorship and do so eloquently. He never mis-stepped at any point and Tipper when speaking was largely clueless.
12
As great as he was I was hoping Frank would appear at the hearing say: "Now we know who the brain police are" and played "Toads of the Short Forest"
1
Music will always be at the center of culture wars. Comics, not so.
2
“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” Marcus Tullius Cicero aprox 60BC.
24
Tipper Gore redeemed herself when she turned her formidable energy into advocating for mental health, including mental health care to be covered by insurance.
6
I'm almost 60, to enjoy this NYT report I paused OutKast's brilliant and rude, "Stankonia" album. The shock of the repressive history lesson serves to motivate me to better appreciate this fine work.
American legal principles reject censorship in general. I personally would like to see no censorship of language of any kind, in any venue including TV news. It's a constant fight against small minds, thank the non-existent gods for our constitution!
American legal principles reject censorship in general. I personally would like to see no censorship of language of any kind, in any venue including TV news. It's a constant fight against small minds, thank the non-existent gods for our constitution!
15
If you've actually watched the senate hearings - which I recommend to all Americans - all three speakers (Zappa, Snider, and John Denver) were serious and eloquent.
The biggest problem was a conflict of interest. The actual issue at hand could have been discussed and decided the right way (and was, in my opinion), and even despite the idea of adding warning labels to any albums, has it done anything to stifle interest in the arts generally, or music specifically? Has it been used as a heavy hand to censor what groups say? Not really... Cutting the funding for music in the schools and the corporate merging of almost all music distribution has been MUCH worse.
The biggest problem was a conflict of interest. The actual issue at hand could have been discussed and decided the right way (and was, in my opinion), and even despite the idea of adding warning labels to any albums, has it done anything to stifle interest in the arts generally, or music specifically? Has it been used as a heavy hand to censor what groups say? Not really... Cutting the funding for music in the schools and the corporate merging of almost all music distribution has been MUCH worse.
7
It's neither nudity nor sexual practices, wild or otherwise, threatens our Republic, rather it's social and economic inequality that undermines the credibility of our government "of the people, by the people and for the people." Tipper Gore and Susan Baker should have focus their time and energy on ensuring our schools taught our children that western notions of free speech and equality are the foundations of our Republic and that we all have a responsibility to not only preserve and protect those ideals but also to activity work to bring our society closer to that ideal. Now that's human progress pure and simple.
25
A side effect of the anti-comics crusade was to create instant rarity and elevate certain comics to valued collectible status. This was a windfall to anyone whose comics survived the onslaught of frightened parents.
Like most witch hunts, this ran its course and ultimately accomplished nothing. Reprints of most of the targeted comic books still sell at prices that I'm sure the original publishers never dreamed of.
Like most witch hunts, this ran its course and ultimately accomplished nothing. Reprints of most of the targeted comic books still sell at prices that I'm sure the original publishers never dreamed of.
3
In the enduring controversy over sex and violence that has been with us since the time of Sophocles, I'm clearly on one side of the issue:
There is too much violence !
There is too little sex !
There is too much violence !
There is too little sex !
17
A major reason that Al Gore was never elected President is because of his wife, Tipper's absurd campaign against popular music. Tipper's campaign accomplished nothing beneficial, but her obnoxious campaign did assist GW Bush in being elected in 2000. As GW Bush was one of the worst Presidents in American history, Tipper inadvertently, indirectly caused much damage to the USA, to the world, while destroying her husband's political future.
20
I agree about Tipper's negative affects on Al Gore's career but my god have you ever listened to Al Gore speak in a speech? He is Jaw-Droppingly bad at public speaking, even with the teleprompter going. Watch some youtube videos if you dont believe. That did him in as much as anything else.
6
The pathetic moment for Al Gore was when he and his family tried to portray themselves as Kennedy-esque, playing backyard football as the votes were being recounted in 2000.
5
I've been aware of Al Gore, going back to when his father was still a Senator. Al Gore's speeches were no more boring than Hillary's, and certainly less boring than GW Bush's of GH Bush's speeches. But I don't vote based on the excitingness of speeches.
BTW, Al Gore won the national popular vote by over 500,000.
Although I have long condemned Tipper's silliness, GW Bush was elected because of Fl Gov Jeb Bush encouraging the Florida government to cheat on the 2000 Presidential Election. But if it wasn't for Tipper's misplaced mischief, Al Gore would have been elected President.
BTW, Al Gore won the national popular vote by over 500,000.
Although I have long condemned Tipper's silliness, GW Bush was elected because of Fl Gov Jeb Bush encouraging the Florida government to cheat on the 2000 Presidential Election. But if it wasn't for Tipper's misplaced mischief, Al Gore would have been elected President.
12
Perhaps a blessing, then, is the internet and the content that can be viewed without verifying your age.
I was never much of one to be shocked, but I do remember going to see Dr. Zhivago with friends in high school, and the sharp gasps that were heard throughout the theater when the camera cut to them in bed in the ice covered house.
Are we worse for being aware earlier, or as we know about the younger crowd, they already know about things that we worry will threaten them.
I was never much of one to be shocked, but I do remember going to see Dr. Zhivago with friends in high school, and the sharp gasps that were heard throughout the theater when the camera cut to them in bed in the ice covered house.
Are we worse for being aware earlier, or as we know about the younger crowd, they already know about things that we worry will threaten them.
4
When my best friend and I were growing up in the late 50's and early 60's we were told that comic books are a communist plot designed to "soften (our) brains". We were not that impressionable. Certainly older individuals attending college should be capable and expected to self-select their courses without palliative measures by instructors. If a curriculum is perceived by a college student to have the potential to be too stress-inducing, perhaps that person should consider another class (or major).
15
Comic books were a plot to sell "Sea Monkeys"
4
A lot of folks here do not understand the censorship issue in comic books. Comics of that era (early 50s) were unbelievably violent and grotesque, showing really frightening imagery and exploitive stories -- fine for adults, but these were very deliberately marketed to CHILDREN, with colorful covers and sold right next to things like Archie Comics or Superman.
My dad (who was already an adult then, but loved comics) had a bunch of these, and I got to read them when I was in my teens. They were really very disturbing, and HAVING READ SOME OF THESE, I can very well understand why people wanted comic books to have a code and industry standards, and be aware their products were going out to impressionable children -- just as we TODAY do not let 6 year olds into see horror/slasher films.
Those violent comics were the horror/slasher films of their era. BTW: if my dad had kept that stuff (my folks moved, and my mom -- who hated them -- saw her opportunity to trash them and she did), I am sure they'd be worth a fortune. Among other things, he had the first ever issue of Mad Magazine.
My dad (who was already an adult then, but loved comics) had a bunch of these, and I got to read them when I was in my teens. They were really very disturbing, and HAVING READ SOME OF THESE, I can very well understand why people wanted comic books to have a code and industry standards, and be aware their products were going out to impressionable children -- just as we TODAY do not let 6 year olds into see horror/slasher films.
Those violent comics were the horror/slasher films of their era. BTW: if my dad had kept that stuff (my folks moved, and my mom -- who hated them -- saw her opportunity to trash them and she did), I am sure they'd be worth a fortune. Among other things, he had the first ever issue of Mad Magazine.
For a great historical perspective on the topic check out Frank Zappa on "crossfire" in 1986. Brilliant . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISil7IHzxc
14
That was terrific. Thanks for posting that. Everyone should watch it.
1
This article is strangely tone-deaf to what was actually happening regarding these events and across middle-class America at the time. It was a pop-culture war -- that part is true for sure.
So what is missing from this article?
The topic of the "explicitness of music" has a lot to do with growing popularity of rap songs playing on the RADIO in middle class white neighborhoods -- places that were far away from urban area where rap was born. Frank Zappa was a great spokesperson no question there -- but it was not actually HIS music that Tipper Gore and her ilk cared about. You see -- Pop radio regularly censored music at that time, but for the first time MORE songs were very noticeably and serially "bleeped" so that anyone could figure out that pop music was using more (cough) foul language than ever ever before. You would hear all the bleeps over and over again and parents heard that. What surprised USA parents even more is that the albums were virtually always NOT bleeped. And THAT's were parents drew the line for better or worse. That is were parents got annoyed. It wasnt about Art for them, it was about the f and n words being used typically in rap songs.
Couldnt the article have said any of this? To my eyes it certainly looks simplified and possibly intentionally revisionist. That hilarious picture of Tipper Gore looking peeved was intentionally selected and sorta proves my point that this article is selective in representing the whole story.
6
I learned the banned four letter words my first day of school at age five. Some people have completely forgotten their own childhoods.
5
Of course Dick and that is part of the culture war aspect of it. But you werent singing the f and n words for the very first time in USA radio stations were you when you said those words?
Of course, people swear all of the time in real life but they pick their moments -- like not at work meeting for example. And at the same time Frank Zappa isnt standing next to you saying foul language is "art" either. I think you over simplify what was going on at the time.
Of course, people swear all of the time in real life but they pick their moments -- like not at work meeting for example. And at the same time Frank Zappa isnt standing next to you saying foul language is "art" either. I think you over simplify what was going on at the time.
1
I remember picking up some neighborhood kids in the car -- none of them over age 11 and many as young as 6 or 7 -- and they grabbed control of my car radio, and tuned it expertly to a rap station, where the singer was singing lyrics so utterly vile and obscene and demeaning to women, that -- due to what I GUESS some folks call "censorship" -- the good editors here at the NYT will not permit me to write in a post.
It is easy for a lot of lefty liberals without kids to moralize on this (or the late Frank Zappa, who thought nothing of naming his own children Dweezil and Moon Unit), but there is a special horror to hearing elementary school-age children (mostly girls here) singing this vile stuff about "ho's" and the F bomb in their cheerful little voices.
It's a kind of indoctrination in crudeness and lack of respect. And it is wrong to present this openly to children, with no framing context and no ability for parents to turn it off or tune it out.
It is easy for a lot of lefty liberals without kids to moralize on this (or the late Frank Zappa, who thought nothing of naming his own children Dweezil and Moon Unit), but there is a special horror to hearing elementary school-age children (mostly girls here) singing this vile stuff about "ho's" and the F bomb in their cheerful little voices.
It's a kind of indoctrination in crudeness and lack of respect. And it is wrong to present this openly to children, with no framing context and no ability for parents to turn it off or tune it out.
2
“Censorship is the tool of those who have the need to hide actualities from themselves and from others. Their fear is only their inability to face what is real, and I can't vent any anger against them. I only feel this appalling sadness. Somewhere, in their upbringing, they were shielded against the total facts of our existence. They were only taught to look one way when many ways exist.”
Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
55
That quote has a dark side though doesnt it? If you take it for what it says, then Fairy Tales "arent real" and are not "total facts" and should be censored. I am not pro censorship at all btw but I find this particular quote chilling and patronizing in tone, rather than revelatory.
For me, anytime anyone starts talking about The Real Truth I have my skeptical hat on because truth has a way of being VERY complicated and very subjective.
For me, anytime anyone starts talking about The Real Truth I have my skeptical hat on because truth has a way of being VERY complicated and very subjective.
1
My mother bought what Frederic Wertham said and I had to hide my comic books. When I was at college she threw away my collection (from the late 1930's and after) If I had them now I could sell them and have a fortune.
19
The desire to label is always couched as a desire to protect, but it always strikes me more as a desire to control. Labeling food or medicine is one thing, but we are talking here about labeling works of culture; those who pursue such labels -- and it is telling that this pursuit usually takes the form of wanting to issue "warnings"-- seek to control culture.
The efforts are however mostly in vain. In a free society, culture, for better or worse, finds its way around such things, like a river around rocks. As the indie music group Folk Implosion sang in one of the songs in the 1995 film "Kids" -- itself the cause of a bit of a moral panic -- "Never gonna stop the flow."
The efforts are however mostly in vain. In a free society, culture, for better or worse, finds its way around such things, like a river around rocks. As the indie music group Folk Implosion sang in one of the songs in the 1995 film "Kids" -- itself the cause of a bit of a moral panic -- "Never gonna stop the flow."
32
Can anyone not admit that today's children have lost all innocence ? Do young girls dress like hookers ? They are fed images in cartoons, Barbi dolls and children's programming that encourages them to wear clothes most adult females would call sleazy. Immodesty, immorality, and sex are sold to young children in advertising, and schools, movies, and TV shows, perverts are held up as good decent people. Criticizing decency is the topic of this article, all part of the moral decline of this nation.
6
I am 85 and remember the old days. By reasonable standards there has been no moral decline. Do you really want to bring back racial segregation, Antisemitism, and immigration laws discriminating against Asians and anyone of Italian, Polish, and other southern and eastern European ancestry?
60
Please name one school in which "perverts are held up as good decent people".
4
Barbie dolls were introduced in 1959--you know, back in the good old days. By then, some people were decrying the sexuality of Elvis the Pelvis and the prevalence of "race" music, predicting the end of American civilization. I wore "hot pants" in the 1960s, and my sister wore fishnet stockings and go-go boots, and now we both laugh when we look back at photos of ourselves. Stupid, indeed, but no more stupid or "immodest" than the flappers of the 1920s. To me, if you want to talk about the current decline of American civilization, the biggest culprit is the 24/7 news cycle of idiotic talking heads and fake "reality" stars. But, hey, I'm now an old fogey, too.
23
Zappa also referred to Tipper Gore's group as "The Mothers of Prevention".
18
Wow. I saw that photo and thought this was some sort of comedy or SNL routine. I'd forgotten this whole bit of historical nonsense.
48
Michael - OMGoodness, I am ashamed, embarrassed to say, I thought the same thing, like an amazing, awesome parody, with the eBay-acquired retro padded shoulders, prim-to-the-chin tie-up, the fluffy Texas hair, the perfectly cast ancient mics. I'm so glad I'm in Oregon this weekend, where I can get some legal re-leaf!
2
@Hunter: I have some bad news for you....in about 20-some years, there will be some young whipper-snapper saying the same thing about your ridiculous clothes and your pathetic old-fashioned hairstyle and the weird, dated technology you use -- omigod! smart phones! can you believe how lame that is?
3
Just to clarify the matter, I believe The Third Man, which is a great movie, didn't make the list because it isn't an American movie.
1
The first X-rated film won the Academy Award for best picture of the year. It is so tame that you can now see it, during daytime, on local television. It is called Midnight Cowboy.
32
I would love to see a report on how many albums' sales were helped by those "Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics" stickers. There was a strong appeal to buying cassettes with those little black and white warnings when I was a pre-adolescent, back in the late 80's and early '90s.
Tipper Gore may have sincerely been concerned, but free speech is a protected right and the warnings had no deterrent effect. I strongly encourage parents' imparting their values about sex, violence and usage of four-letter-words, but trying to cover kids' eyes and ears is futile. My friends and I heard the taboo rock songs, saw suggestive videos and came out fine! But my assessment of Tipper's approach has made me reject censorship to this day.
Tipper Gore may have sincerely been concerned, but free speech is a protected right and the warnings had no deterrent effect. I strongly encourage parents' imparting their values about sex, violence and usage of four-letter-words, but trying to cover kids' eyes and ears is futile. My friends and I heard the taboo rock songs, saw suggestive videos and came out fine! But my assessment of Tipper's approach has made me reject censorship to this day.
22
Yeah, no. Warning labels are not censorship, but really, who cares at this point? An article about nothing.
5
You personally came out fine. However, our culture did not -- it has become pornified and debased in ways that utterly pathetic, sad and despairing and particularly in the attitudes that young men have towards women.
2
You mention “a character” in The Third Man… but it's not worth mentioning Orson Welles? Really?
11
I deliberately didn't want to give that key bit of information away, in case some readers have not seen "The Third Man" and may yet wish to do so.
1