Censorship in America: Pink Flamingos (1972)

Introduction

Generally, within the U.S the subject of censorship that incorporates different public communication or suppression of speech brings up issue regarding the freedom of speech that the first amendment of the constitution of United States lawfully protects. Even though, this fundamental freedom from its enshrinement is observed to be convoyed with controversy and contest. For example, limits that amplified during the times of extensive anti communist sentiments, as demonstrated by House Committee on Un-American Activities' hearings. The United State's constitutions' first amendment is in opposition to censorship lawfully imposed, but fails to protect censorship that is corporate in nature, the authorization of speech by business associates, employees, and spokespersons through threats of loss of access to market place, loss of employment, or monetary loss (Goldberg, Verhulst & Prosser, Pp. 207; Jay, Pp. 208-209). Generally, the courts have approved the laws that bar people from performing acts which may harm the public good; for instance, screaming “fire” in a theater crowded with people despite of any actual threat of fire being present in that place as it might trigger a stampede; public obscenity might cause offense to the sensibilities of the public; publishing uncorroborated rumors might cause irreversible damage on someone's reputation; and publishing movements of troops might compromise national security. These sorts of activities have at all time been responsible to censorship. Therefore, the issue of censorship includes equilibrium between the needs of the society for public order and citizen's rights of expression by press or the speech. This paper discussed censorship in America in a holistic context. In addition to this the paper examines the movie in American history by the title of “Pink Flamingos” that got censored due to sexual content. Furthermore, the paper explains in detail the historical context in which “Pink Flamingos” got censored connecting it to the theories and thinkers studied in the class.

Discussion and Analysis

Since 1971, the press' censorship issue had settled to a considerable extent, even though the arrival the internet and the cable television had emerged new-fangled dimension to this debate, specifically as it linked to obscenity and legal process. Within the constitutional scholars there has been observed a heated debate on the issue that whether the First Amendment's framers at the beginning proposed protection merely for the political expression content and not on issues, which may violate the mores of public. Those against limitations of freedom of speech, despite of incorporating dissemination and publication of pornographic materials, squabble that within a pluralistic society morality cannot be legislated and thus the issue of censorship based on obscenity wrongly inflicts a contracted views of Judeo-Christians regarding decency, and therefore rigorously restricts protected types of expressions by artists. People who were in support responded by saying that artistic expression's claims were merely a front that got utilized by the porn industry in order to desensitize the society towards the hazards of obscenity and legalize pornography that incorporated breakdown within the family relationships, sexual addiction and child prostitution.

Within the decision of ...