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| Summary: Should the government censor lyrics of songs that are violent or expletive, for example “gangsta” rap? |
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Author:Christopher Ruane ( Ireland )
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Created: Wednesday, November 30, -0001
Last Modified: Saturday, February 14, 2009
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There is an ongoing debate about the impact of music on certain listeners – especially music such as « gangsta » rap, with lyrics linked to violence and illegal acts. There is widespread disagreement, for example between the music industry and parents’ groups, about the effect such music has on young listeners, and their behaviour, i.e. does it encourage them to behave in a particular way? |
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| Gangsta rap encourages listeners to criminality. This is so on two levels. First, it sometimes uses language that actively incites crime, for example encouraging weapons use, spousal abuse or homophobic attacks. Secondly, it glorifies a lifestyle that is rich with imagery of criminality (e.g. gun use and drug dealing) and this sends out a subconscious but consistent message affirming criminality. |
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Gangsta rap is a form of entertainment like any other. Some of its purveyors may use words or imagery that portrays certain criminal acts, but that is because they reflect the culture from which it spawned. Critics miss the subtleties of rap music, in which the rapper often takes on a particular persona in a song and so does not necessarily endorse the views or actions it portrays; rap fans are well aware of these ambiguities. Violence and criminality are also endemic in other forms of entertainment, for example opera and classic films often contain large-scale killing and violence. Trying to link gangsta rap to crime is singling it out amongst entertainment forms for political reasons. Would heavy metal, with its comparable content, be picked on instead if it were the music of a black urban underclass? |
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| Gangsta rap is especially pernicious because it targets the youth market at a crucial, receptive adolescent age. Gangsta rappers clearly seek to appeal to a receptive youthful audience, which is why so many of their images use young people and songs refer to events which would strike an especial chord with adolescents and young adults. This is irresponsible, as it represents an attempt by gangsta rappers to use their power to influence young people with a subversive, anti-societal message. |
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Gangsta rappers in fact provide a positive role model for young people. They are self-made success stories who have often achieved considerable fame and wealth despite humble beginnings. Censoring them sends out a discouraging message to other young people who may see them as a form of inspiration to themselves to succeed in life. |
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| Gangsta rap is socially corrosive because it affirms negative stereotypes. Much gangsta rap revolves around the affirmation of stereotypes, such as black violence and wife beating. It purports to be social realism but in fact conveys a very selective portrayal of life which reinforces already damaging social stereotypes, of groups who are often poorly placed to campaign successfully by themselves against such portrayal. It is therefore right for government to censor such negative stereotyping, as it often does when regulating e.g. race relations or criminal acts. |
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Gangsta rap does not employ negative stereotypes more than is reasonable. Mostly it is a form of social realism which simply tells hard truths that many policymakers would rather pretend did not exist, not least because in part they reflect those policymakers’ own failures. Even where such affirmation is concentrated in such a way as to make it an unrealistic representation of everyday life, this is no worse than the same phenomenon in other forms of popular culture e.g. soap operas. |
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| The government has a moral legitimacy in censoring. People correctly look to the government as the public arbiter of common morals, for the wider social good. It is in line with this role, therefore, for the government to take such steps as it thinks necessary to protect the public morality. This may include censorship of things which are likely to cause moral harm, an approach often manifested in e.g. film classification schemes. |
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Government censorship is a dangerous form of statist control. Even if one accepts the argument for some limited form of government censorship to protect public morals, this needs to be very precisely and conservatively defined to avoid the slippery slope towards creeping totalitarianism. Allowing censorship of popular culture on grounds that the lyrics are mildly subversive is unwelcome as it incorporates a very expansive view of the proper ambit of government regulation. This issue is properly the concern of parents, who should take more interest in, and responsibility for, the music (and films, TV, internet use) to which their children are exposed. |
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| Censorship would be an effective method of keeping gangsta rap out of the hands of the people who are most susceptible to suffering from its corrosive message. Those who would proactively go to some lengths to obtain the material through black market channels in the event of censorship are not the intended target for such a censorship to affect. |
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It is very difficult in practical terms to enforce such censorship on a national level. This is especially so because of the global nature of many parts of the music industry, including the cross-country appeal of artists and the international availability of media. Therefore, a ban e.g. on sale of uncensored media could possibly be circumvented by Internet-based file swapping. |
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| | This House believes that children should be protected from subversive cultural influences
This House would censor gangsta rap
This House ain’t no homey
This House prefers iced tea to Ice T
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rachel212
Member
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 05:57 pm |
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| i also wanna know what is so bad about it? its music. its good? some1 reply with the bad part
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rachel212
Member
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 05:54 pm |
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[b][user=46227]aladinonl[/user] wrote: [/b]Quote:
Hi, my point is not to 100% censor gangsta rap but to control it at a higher level.
@therealslimshady49: theres nothing to do w racism here. Stop paranoid as a "racist aware".
1st, I think most of u are missing the main point. U keep saying that gangsta rap doesn't affect u or adults in general, at all. I hope so, which I don't believe so. I assume all of us here are mental - healthy and intellectual. But around us, there r bunch of mental-ill and unintellectual people. They might kill themself by jumping from 10th building, or by listening to gangsta rap, they will take a gun and shoot out.
About kids, they r a lot easier to be affected by wat they watch, listen and see. If u r not sure that adults r not totally immuned from gangsta rap, can u be sure that kids are immuned from that?
Some people r saying gangsta rap is multi-billion industry and we can't clear it out in any way. I agree so. However, drugs or other crimes is also multi-million industry. And yup, we can't entirely clear drugs out. So should we allow it? of course not. If police can't stop all crimes, should we just disband police and let crimes happenning? We do what is good for human being, and if it can't be cleared out, we then try to prevent it as much as possible.
Some people say rapping is a form of freedom of speech and expression. I agree. But if freedom calls women b*tch or employs crime, drugs as daily materials, I don't think that freedom is what human should embrace. why we bother to define women equality or fighting against crime, drug then?
Some then say its a culture. Human has long time culture of wildness and stupid supersticious. Why we get rid of them? Again, pls don't take culture or habit to defend anything. For the sake of human progress, we have to take action for the good sake.
if u compare gangsta w death metal, its a big mistake! Death metal does employ death emotion but to evoke sadness against the cause of death, not to show off or glorify the nasty causes of death.
whoa...kill themselves? i want proof that happened in the first place. Bitch just isnt taken as an insult anymore. niether is whore, slut, hoe, anything else. drugs:day and night-kid cudi. listen 2 it, its great and about drugs. not every1 does it so wtf. death metal in my opinion sucks. metal sucks. speaking of types of rock...rock is like rap but without the make up and guitars. cesnoring it is stupid. i listen to rap nonstop and i dont do drugs, i havent tried suicide, and i call all of my friends bitches and everything. im not even rappin and im cursing. if rap is cesnored then we should just get censors over our mouth! blockin it out wont work bcuz people curse and shit anyway
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rachel212
Member
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 05:48 pm |
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[b][user=49413]mommasaid[/user] wrote: [/b]Quote:
Music is an expression of self and is protected under the first amendement. I don't think that music influences people as much as suggested because the majority of rap cd sales are in white suburban areas and you don't see any of those kids carying guns or comitting crimes. People who do these things and also listen to these songs are already going to commit the crime and the music doesn't affect that.
"Music is just expression of self. we just explain it then we get our checks in the mail."
This explains the whole biz. Rap has become a multi-million dollar business. They look at what sells and rap about what people want to hear.
OMG THATS EMINEM I LOVE HIM.
it shouldnt be censored because...ill be honest i listen to alot of rap...some of it i listen to is just bad (as in the lyrics suck) and the other things are great. in 6th grade me and my friends had a blast singing it, catholic school to ;) and theres a song that makes me cry and its rap..Something You Forgot by Lil Wayne. if its censored how do you expect people to have a good time? not even that, people but cds with their credit cards, which means money, money means taxes, i think taxes should be low also but the gov't wouldnt like it. I swear if they censor music more often im startin a protest, and if we get thrown in jail, were gonna sing rap songs, rap up our own, and piss them off. ooh and forget about the racist part of rapping. most say *nigga* in it, white people listen to it too, were gonna sing EVERY word in it. racism is important in music because without some songs wouldnt be made.
listen to the curses in the verses
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