Visual graphics and censorship

2.  Photography invented 1839. It appeared 50 years after
the 1st Constitutional amendment which protects “free
speech”. Pictured is President Polk 1840.
 At the time of the 1st Amendment and up to the 1960’s
certain written content, graphic images, and later
photography/movies could be censored for the public
good.
 Censorship laws of some type existed in the media in
every state for 180 years. Most of the media had well
developed codes of ethics in times past. Why?

3.  Speech whether written or graphic could be
curtailed for the public good if it went too far
to undermine
▪ Respect of the home
▪ Respect of one’s personhood or life
▪ Respect of one’s word – truthfulness
▪ Respect of one’s property
▪ Respect of a neighbor’s property or reputation
▪ Respect of one’s faith or that of another
▪ A civil sacredness to life ruled a secular
worldview. It discriminated against the profane.

4. Culturally America’s heritage had a Theistic - Judea Christian
beginning and consensus.
 Examples
▪ Prayer and Bible reading required in public education
▪ Congress opened with prayer
▪ Public gatherings often began briefly with a benediction, or invocation.
▪ A high regard existed for the respect of One’s Creator and one’s family.
Human sexuality was considered sacred as well as one’s word,
possessions, and personhood
▪ Constitutionally a federal religion was prohibited. However, several of
the original states had state churches. The sacred was preferred above
the secular.
▪ WTVJ in Miami in the 1950’s always a secular TV station since its
appearance would start at 7AM programming with Perry Como signing
“The Lord’s Prayer”.

5. Notice the Christian Flag above the American
Flag. This New Testament went to 15 million
soldiers of Word War II by President Roosevelt

6.  Movies appeared about 1900AD
 With the arrival of the movie industry concerns arose about
this new graphic presentation
 Human behavior could be modeled for the better or worse
to the entire nation
 Hollywood begin to push the limits of expression until a
series of behaviors of actors or films could no longer be
ignored.

7. • The Supreme Court when challenged about the government’s
interest in censoring movies YES! Mutual Film Corp. v.
Industrial Commission of Ohio, 236 U.S. 230 (1915) Motion
pictures are not entitled to free speech protection because
they are a business, not a form of art (overruled by Joseph
Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952)).
▪ Movies were an item shipped across state lines and
therefore the government could control it just as it
controlled food or drugs for the public good.
▪ The interest of the state to preserve a wholesome ambiance
for the culture protecting the young, women, and others
superseded the right of others to profit from exploitation.

8. In 1921 we had Prohibition. The story involved
illegal use of liquor, a rape, and a murder.
Hollywood thereafter was expected to have
celebrities of moral character

9. Jean Harlow
Joan Blondell

10.  To monitor excesses the government and
Hollywood agreed the best remedy was to have an
independent nongovernmental agency regulate
content coming out of Hollywood.
 From the 1930’s to about 1968 the Hays “censor
board” existed in Hollywood. Any movie had to
abide by its rules. Turner Classic Movies come from
this era.

11. Hays Committee Rules for
Hollywood 1930 to 1968
This movie was
almost prohibited
from release because
of one word at the
end of the movie

12.  V. Profanity - Pointed profanity (this includes
the words, God, Lord, Jesus, Christ - unless used
reverently - Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd), or every
other profane or vulgar expression however
used, is forbidden.

13.  In the mid sixties the Supreme Court overturned two
centuries of legal tradition regarding censorship of all
the states.
 Hollywood went to a G, PG, PG13, R etc. rating system.
 Movies were not ruled a product to be controlled but an
idea or free speech. Anything could be stated verbally
or presented in graphic form.
 An unelected court of a finite number of lawyers over
rules the laws regarding censorship
A Non-Theistic amoral Secularism
became the State sponsored Worldview

14.  Does “freedom of speech” cease when one
yells fire in a crowded theatre?
 Can my place of employment restrict my
speech?
 Can certain speech can be considered slander
or libel?
 Can I say I am the police and I am not?

15. Awarded for Black on Black verbal abuse in the workplace

16. Berkley Free Speech Movement 1964
Berkley free Speech
Movement 1964 Larry Flint Lawsuit
Larry’s lawyer prohibits people who
attend a place of worship from
being on the jury
Larry died a billionaire
Of the top 10 Web visits across
America 3 are pornographic sites
Unpopular
throughout
California. The
election of Ronald
Reagan as
governor in 1966
occurs

17. Abby Hoffman’s profane outburst
in Washington DC under the new
freedom of speech ruling. This
occurred October 1967
Jim Morrison’s (the musical group
Doors) arrest one of the charges
public profanity

19. WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday struck
down a longstanding U.S. ban on trademarks on "immoral" or "scandalous"
words and symbols, ruling in a case involving a clothing brand with an
indelicate name that the law violates constitutional free speech rights.
The justices ruled against President Donald Trump's administration, which
defended the law that had been in place since 1905, and in favor of Los
Angeles streetwear designer Erik Brunetti, who was turned down by U.S.
Patent Office when he sought to trademark his brand name FUCT.
The justices upheld a 2017 lower court ruling striking down the law as a
violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right to free expression.
The Supreme Court's decision removes the authority of government officials
to bar federal trademark registration for profane language or sexually graphic
images.
The Trump administration had warned that invalidating the law would
unleash a torrent of extreme words and sexually graphic images on
the marketplace.

20.  The arrival of the Computer Age in the 1980’s
permitted the converting of any graphic content
into bits and bytes.
 Production and editing software such as
“Photoshop” of any type could occur of visual
images.
 Any content could now be delivered in a digitize
form and transmitted anywhere across the
globe.

22. Iconoclasm - a strict literal interpretation of the Ten
Commandments – “Graven images” are forbidden. The
degree of iconoclasm among Biblical faiths varies from none,
some, to everywhere.
Examples: Prohibition of visual art in certain faiths. Can
Mohammad in Islam be illustrated in a movie, portrait, or
cartoon? Orthodox Judaism has prohibitions. Some Biblical
faiths have strict prohibitions.

23. I. In Christian Europe 1500AD Michelangelo was asked why any sense
of modesty was missing in many of his church paintings that adorn
St. Peters.
His artistic answer was he wished to illustrate people as God saw
them. The Pope responded “ Michelangelo you presume too much.
Are you God?” (The Agony and the Ecstasy)
II. At the other end would be the multi billion dollar pornography
industry. It is bigger than Amazon and Microsoft combined. To those
who hold to classical morality it degrades and exploits. To others it
may be gratuitous violence in video games and movies.

24.  Do I have a person’s permission to alter or take their graphic
image? In the case of Instagram and Facebook one gives up
their copyright to graphic content
 Do I wish a visual image to be portrayed in a way that
degrades one’s personhood?
 Is it in good taste and civil? Is there a better way to convey a
thought or idea?
 Is what I am doing exploiting another person for self centered
reasons?
 Can I agree it’s Ok to voice objection to another’s point of
view in a civil way. Attacking an idea must not turn to
attacking or degrading another person