Reply #19: What you choose for your family is fine [View All]

However, advocating such absurd and harsh measures to protect your family isn't something that most of us would approve of. Censorship on such a grand scale is more of a violation of the country's civil rights than it is of violating an individual's rights.

If you object to something in a film, then don't bother going to it. If you believe there is a need to take away a filmmaker's ability to make the film he or she chooses to make, warts and all, then you're on the wrong side. There are solutions if you aren't happy with the turnout of a film--don't see it, tell all your friends not to see it, and protest in written form to the studio in order to tell them to upgrade the quality of their film turnout. If people aren't watching the films that are being made, then the studios and filmmakers will scramble to make films that people WILL see.

But just don't try to censor the film's vision that others might want to see. Don't buy the films on VHS or DVD. Tell your local video store why you aren't buying it. Parents have that option. It used to be a "free country" where no one stepped on anyone else's rights to choose their selections of entertainment, sports, literature, etc.

Censorship on this scale--allowing obcenity filters to "create" new works--is against the most fundamental element of a filmmaker's creativity process. It shouldn't be another battlefield on which the filmmakers must wage battle, especially since parents DO have the choice NOW to either accept a film the way it was conceived, created and filmed, or not buy it at all.

Free speech needs to be protected--otherwise, this kind of measure will surely grow, and the first amendment we all cherish will be just another cut on the editing floor of John Asscroft and his evildoers.

However, as you have the same right, to speak as you wish, remember that our founding fathers fought long and hard, and often died to give us this right. Don't allow your puritan sensibilities to try and make a decision on censorship for all of us. Buy or do not--that's your choice.