Ratings, not Censorship. [long]
be...@sq.uucp
censorship discussion has been going on for some time. I'm sorry
if you're all tired of it, but I have to make my own comments
or I'll start screaming...
I just recently turned nineteen and have been reading comics
for roughly six years. Admittedly, I started with ELFQUEST, which
many readers consider rather `cutesy' (I urge you to glance through
the later books), but I've been involved enough to be fairly
knowledgeable about what's `going on' in the industry. And
the idea of censoring comics in any way drives me nuts!
Now, I'm of the opinion that no form of censorship should
exist for any type of publication. But if it MUST exist, it must
NOT be based on age groupings! I know many comics/sf/gaming
fans that are over forty years old that SHOULD NOT be reading
anything violent -- because they are too easily affected by that
type of presentation. And I know several people younger than
myself who can breeze through the same material and understand
that it might well be a very poor representation of the real world --
they are always aware that violence brings pain, suffering, death,
destruction, and loss. Why should THEY not be allowed to read
good stories, see good art, just because so many of their
peers lack their understanding?
I know -- Yes, I know it's impossible to make any other kind
of grouping. But that's EXACTLY why censorship CANNOT work.
People are growing up on GARBAGE because so much of the good stuff
happens to have a bit of sex, or a bit of violence, in it; and
part of what makes the good stuff good is that it contains glimpses
of things that happen in REAL LIFE.
ELFQUEST has received some interesting letters in the past. Many
parents and teachers have written WaRP Graphics to thank them for
the story, and for the way in which it is told. Near the end,
the book got very violent, with a surprising amount of blood
and gore -- reflecting the growth of the story and the characters.
The QUEST of the title had become bigger and more important, and the
struggle became more fierce, the repercussions FINAL. But that
finality -- and the pain and sorrow involved -- were reflected clearly
in the faces and changing attitudes and dreams of the characters
involved. No reader with any brains (and kids' brains are far
more active than adults') could miss the fact that violence HURTS.
ELFQUEST also had some fairly explicit sex scenes (what might
be AA or R-rated, not X-rated), but what really caused an uproar
was what's now known as `the orgy scene'. Before a major battle,
a large band of elves got together to celebrate life, and those
pages showed the main couple of the story splitting up, one to go
with an old `boyfriend', and one to go with the leader of the new-found
tribe. There were a few letters from people complaining that
those scenes were immoral, and of course they were even more
shocked by the scenes depicting more than two people having sex
together! Gosh! They didn't want their children seeing those
scenes because they were watching after their children's moral
values. But are those things immoral? I doubt I could convince
those parents of my own beliefs -- that above all a child must
be free to choose his own beliefs -- but do you really think that
what was shown should have been censored? If children do not
ever have access to stories about other cultures, other beliefs --
other moral values -- how CAN they ever choose their own? And
where does that leave them if they decide their parents are WRONG?
If ELFQUEST was rated according to a system similar to that
of the movie-ratings, it would have to end up as AA or Restricted,
even though all it showed was the joy of life, the pain of
death. Are those things so difficult for a child to understand
and accept? Is sex, something that comes naturally to all of
us no matter what our tendencies are, so horrible? And do
violence and death not teach us to cherish those times of joy?
In article <10...@zen.BERKELEY.EDU> c50...@dorothy.Berkeley.EDU (E. Stephen Mack) writes:
> What I DO advocate is self-restraint, or what I would like to
>call a "rating system," which I define as:
>
>Rating system -- 1. A system in which a publisher voluntarily submits some
> or all of its comics to an impartial board. The board
> then gives a subjective grade, which is placed by the
> publisher conspicuously on the comic's cover.
A Rating System might well suggest to parents that they do not
need to read the materials their children are buying. I hope
that a parent might not have to deny the child something that he
himself does not understand, but it would be nice if the parent
wanted to understand his CHILD.
Such a system would also encourage the publisher to group
the work he publishes -- in ways that are very unartistic, to say
the least. It's just one more way in which the artist can
become subservient to society, rather than his own vision (yes,
I AM still talking about comics.).
And, again, it's a way of grouping people. Prejudice is
alive and kicking, not only among differing racial groups, or
between (/among) the sexes, but also in age groups. And it is
just as fearful no matter where it is found.
Obviously, I disagree with the movie ratings, and think they're
even worse if applied to comics. So few parents approve of ANY
comics -- which means their children are unlikely to ever see those
books requiring an adult's permission or supervision. Do you
really think that a kid's artistic sensibilities wouldn't be
HARMED by those few comics belonging in the lower ranges?
Some comics I recommend to thinking people of any age:
ELFQUEST, NEXUS, Miller's DAREDEVIL... Try encouraging
comics that are well-written (true to whatever language
it's trying to use...), well-drawn (showing expression,
movement, emotion, and change), and involving characters
that are real enough to CHANGE as the story progresses.
Read and share stories about people... not about sex,
or about violence, or about war, or about flower pots...
If a kid wants to know about sex, he can read a sex
manual! They're not even restricted (if they're GOOD)!
A good comic book can contain sex and violence, but the
STORY is about a person relating to other people and
his own life, and whether he grows through a volleyball
game on the beach or through lots of sex and violence,
that story is going to be of value. If censorship can't
make that kind of careful choice, then it cannot make choices
at all, and SHOULDN'T, because such choices make no
allowance for the individual art, or the individual consumer.
And censorship not enforced is still censorship, guiding
us and our creations into one rule, one way.
Heavy stuff.
Becky Slocombe
Box 293, Station `P'
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S8
P.S. And for something that can give anyone nightmares... Are
there any LOVE & ROCKETS fans out there? That's my #1 favourite,
but it's so unlike any other comic book that it really doesn't
belong in this discussion...