Media Meditation #5: Censorships

When I first moved to the United States at age 15 I was shocked on the censorship laws of advertisements, TV or music. I was used to listening to American music without the beeping out of swear words. I find it very ironic that I listened to all the same artists as American teens did but I was able to hear the original song compared to the censored version.



Back in Germany no words get bleeped out no matter if it is on TV, radio or just music. You are also able to see private parts such as woman's boobs. In my opinion I think it is better if children/teens are exposed to this kind of reality but that might just be because I grew up like that. American parents often say that it is a bad influence if kids hear swear words or see someones private parts, but I don't think I turned out too bad. And come on how long do you want to try and "protect' your child from the reality? They are going to go off to college and go crazy because they are away from parents and for the first time can do what they want, listen to the music they want and watch what they want. In my opinion that is not the way to go and you should educate your kids before they go off to college.



This video shows a German soccer goalie that apparently likes to use swear words but we would never know because it gets bleeped out. It shows a great use of Reality Construction because not the whole truth is being told.

As I read in Chapter 16 in our Media & Culture book censorship and freedom of expression is a big issue and different in every country. The first amendment states that "Congress shall make no law.." restricting speech, yet the government has made many restrictions concerning freedom of speech.

The song "Hollaback girl" by Gwen Stefani came out when I still lived in Germany. I used to listen to it uncensored and never even thought about it that in other countries they would bleep out the word 'shit'. When I moved to the states at age 15, I heard the same song on the radio and was shocked to hear a censored version of it. I asked all my American friends if all the songs get censored and could not believe their answer. Check out Gwen Stefani's censored version

I find it very interesting that your surroundings shape someone to the way they are today. With me growing up in a different culture with different laws makes me have my own opinion on censorship laws which might differ from someone who grew up in the states.